Driven by the wave of national healthy consumption, the domestic baking industry is undergoing a profound value restructuring. Once regarded as a "health gimmick", whole-grain baking products have now completely shed their niche label and become the core competitiveness of offline baking stores and the core direction of product innovation. Displayed and shared widely at the Baking ingredient Exhibition, whole grain solutions are gaining huge industry attention. As a core platform for gathering baking raw material suppliers, technical experts and industry practitioners, the Baking ingredient exhibition has become a key window for observing the development trend of whole-grain baking, connecting upstream raw material R&D with downstream terminal innovation. From chain brands to community stores, from product R&D to shelf display, whole grains are rewriting the development pattern of the baking industry with an irreversible momentum, promoting the industry to transform from extensive development focusing on "taste first" to a high-quality development stage featuring "coexistence of health and flavor".

In recent years, consumption upgrading and the comprehensive awakening of health awareness have completely changed the consumption logic of baking products. According to relevant industry reports, in the current baking market, health attributes have become the primary consideration for consumers when purchasing products. More than 60% of consumers said they would prefer to choose baking products labeled "low-sugar, low-GI, whole-grain". Among them, four groups—mothers, workplace elites, trendy women, and fitness enthusiasts—pay the highest attention and have become the core consumer force of whole-grain baking products. This group of people is not only highly sensitive to "no additives and clean labels" but also willing to pay a premium for natural, nutritious and healthy products, forcing baking stores to accelerate the adjustment of product structure. This consumption trend has been fully reflected in the Baking ingredient exhibition, where more and more exhibitors focus on whole-grain raw materials and innovative products, responding to market demand in a timely manner.

In response to the enthusiasm of the consumer side, the proportion of whole grains used in baking ingredients is continuously rising. Different from the previous superficial layout of "surface decoration"—many stores only sprinkle a few grains of oats on the surface of bread or mix a small amount of whole-wheat flour and then label it as "whole-grain"—the current industry trend is that more and more baking brands have begun to take whole grains as the core raw material from the top-level design of the product line to build a professional and systematic product matrix. Whether it is staple bread focusing on daily needs, or dim sum and European-style bread for light meal scenarios, whole grains are everywhere, becoming a key tool for stores to attract customers and improve repurchase rates.

The reason why whole grains can rise rapidly lies in their dual advantages of both nutrition and flavor. Unlike refined flour, which loses a lot of nutrients during processing, whole grains completely retain the germ, endosperm and bran of grains, rich in dietary fiber, B vitamins, minerals and a variety of bioactive substances. Their nutritional density is several times higher than that of refined flour, which can effectively meet consumers' core demand for a healthy diet. At the same time, the natural grain aroma of whole grains can endow baking products with richer flavor layers, breaking the inherent industry perception that "health and deliciousness cannot coexist" and becoming an important breakthrough for product differentiated competition.

However, the large-scale application of whole grains in the baking field is not without obstacles. For the baking industry, the technical threshold of processing whole-grain dough has become a "stumbling block" for many stores to enter the whole-grain track. According to industry professionals, the dietary fiber rich in whole grains makes the dough extremely absorbent, and a little carelessness during stirring will affect the dough texture; at the same time, bran and germ will damage the integrity of the gluten network, leading to reduced dough fermentation tolerance and insufficient expansion force, resulting in small volume, compact structure and dry taste of the baked bread; in addition, the inherent astringent taste of raw grain flour and the easy oxidation of unsaturated fatty acids in the germ will also greatly shorten the product shelf life and increase the difficulty of store quality control.

The existence of these technical problems has put many small and medium-sized baking stores in a dilemma of "wanting to do but not being able to do well", and also spawned an urgent demand for professional baking raw materials. Industry insiders point out that the key to breaking the situation in whole-grain baking lies in the choice of raw materials at the source—stores need not simple primary ground grain flour, but special raw materials that have undergone professional R&D and can systematically solve processing pain points. The Jinshan Grain Flour Series launched by Yihai Kerry Arawana Holdings Co., Ltd. precisely meets this market demand, providing a one-stop solution for professional baking scenarios and promoting the transformation of whole-grain baking from a "technical problem" to "standardized implementation".

As a whole-grain raw material specially created for the baking industry, the core advantage of the Jinshan Grain Flour Series lies in the dual characteristics of "clean nutrition + easy processing". The series covers multiple categories such as oat flour, quinoa flour, black whole-wheat flour, highland barley flour and buckwheat flour, adopting a pure grain grinding process without any preservatives or artificial flavors added. The ingredient list only contains a single grain, and all products have passed authoritative whole-grain certification, maximizing the retention of natural nutrients in grains, so that baking products have a "health label" from the formula level, which is in line with consumers' current demand for transparent raw materials.

What is more noteworthy is that through professional process optimization, this series of grain flours not only deeply stimulates and fixes the natural aroma of grains, making the product flavor more prominent, but also specifically solves the pain point of high difficulty in processing whole-grain dough. Compared with conventional grain flours on the market, the Jinshan Grain Flour Series greatly improves the ductility and expansion force of the dough, reduces the technical threshold of stirring and fermentation. Bakers can easily make soft, delicious and delicate whole-grain bread without complex process adjustments, effectively solving the problems of unstable store quality control and poor product taste, and making the large-scale implementation of whole-grain baking possible.

With the continuous heating up of the whole-grain track, the innovation direction of the baking industry has gradually become clear. From the perspective of current consumption trends, consumers' demand for baking products has shown three clear characteristics: first, micro-innovation of classic products is more favored, and integrating whole-grain elements on the basis of familiar tastes has become an important path for brands to break through; second, the trend of localization flavor integration is obvious, and combining local grain ingredients with baking technology is more likely to arouse consumers' emotional resonance; third, health concepts have penetrated deeply, and natural, pure and high nutrition have become the core competitiveness of products. As a representative of healthy ingredients, whole grains are becoming the core starting point for store product innovation.

From the perspective of industry development, the rise of whole-grain baking is not only an inevitable result of the upgrading of consumer demand but also an important embodiment of the high-quality development of the baking industry. According to the data in the "2025 Baking Category Development Report", the current market scale of baking specialty stores is constantly expanding, and it is expected to reach 116 billion yuan in 2025. The growth rate of healthy baking products such as whole grains is far higher than the industry average, becoming a new driving force for market growth. At the same time, the recognition of high-quality domestic baking raw materials continues to improve. Professional raw materials such as Jinshan Grain Flour are helping stores reduce the threshold of innovation and achieve product premium through their quality advantages, promoting whole grains to truly become a "store necessity" from a "niche label".

Industry experts predict that in the next few years, the whole-grain baking track will enter a stage of "involutionary innovation", and brand competition will shift from superficial raw material addition to in-depth technological R&D, flavor innovation and supply chain optimization. For baking stores, only by jumping out of traditional thinking, taking whole grains as the core for product innovation and building a differentiated product matrix can they seize the opportunity in the fierce market competition. The empowerment of professional raw materials will become a key support for stores to break through technical bottlenecks and achieve sustainable development.

Today, whole grains are no longer an "option" for the baking industry, but a "must-have" that determines the future competitiveness of stores. From raw material R&D to product implementation, from consumer demand to industry trends, whole grains are reshaping the development logic of the baking industry with comprehensive penetration. In the future, with the continuous upgrading of technology and the continuous optimization of raw materials, whole-grain baking products will achieve a higher level of integration of health and flavor, become the core engine for the high-quality development of the baking industry, and bring consumers a more nutritious and tasty baking new experience.

Bakery China 2027 will continue to share more industry professional content with you, so please stay tuned!

Bakery China 2027, organized by China Association of Bakery and Confectionery Industry (CABCI) and Bakery China Exhibitions Co., Ltd. was launched since 1997. Bakery China 2027 is the Asia Pacific’s leading event serving the entire value chain for the bakery and confectionery market. The event presents all range of ingredient, equipment, packaging and services, and enables global leading professionals and buyer delegates to meet and share the latest innovations and thinking on manufacturing & distribution, R&D, applications and related services for bakery industry. It is the first-choice trade fair to enter China’s bakery market.

The 2026 ASEAN International Bakery Exhibition (Bakery ASEAN), will be held on August 27-29 at JIExpo (Jakarta, Indonesia), co-located with renowned WEPACK Indonesia, Cafe Show Indonesia held by Reed Exhibitions Group, is a premier trade event focusing on the bakery and related industries in ASEAN and global markets. the shows will be covering 20,000 square meters, expecting more than 500 exhibitors and 50,000 professional buyers including distributors, imports and exports, manufacturers, chain stores, supermarkets, convenient stores, hotels and cafes, etc. from not only the ASEAN but also the rest of the world.

Source: Tokyo Baking Professional