Nutrition Outlook 2006: Whole Grains Go Mainstream with a Little Help from White Flour

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. The latest proof of the old maximis in the bread and bakery aisle where enriched white flour andwhole-grain flour work better together than separately when it comesto attracting and satisfying mainstream consumers who aren't ready togo 100 percent whole grain.

Following the success of its white bread made with a blend ofwhole-grain flour, Sara Lee today is helping launch 2006 as the yearwhole grain goes mainstream by entering the breakfast bread andEnglish muffin segments with product introductions that combine whiteflour and whole-grain flour so they taste like traditional baked goodsbut include whole-grain nutritional benefits.

In 2005, more than 400 whole-grain foods were introduced,according to ProductScan, and sales of wheat, whole-wheat andwhole-grain bakery items far outpaced white-flour products over thepast year. But the majority of consumers are still buying breads,buns, bagels and English muffins with nary a whole grain in them.

That's why the most successful whole-grain product of 2005 and themost successful enriched white-flour product in 2005 were one and thesame. Sara Lee Soft & Smooth Made with Whole Grain White bread, madefrom a blend of enriched white flour and whole-grain flour, hascatapulted to the best-selling loaf of bread in America since itslaunch in July 2005 - delivering more than 125 million servings ofwhole grain to white-bread lovers in three months. The table has beenset for 2006 to be the year whole grain goes mainstream throughout thebread aisle.

Waking Up to Whole Grain

Using its recipe for mainstream success - blending whole-grainflour with enriched white flour - Sara Lee today introduced three newvarieties of breakfast breads and two new varieties of English muffinsthat combine traditional taste with whole-grain nutrition.

-- Sara Lee breakfast breads come in three varieties -Brown Sugar Cinnamon, Cinnamon with Raisins, and Blueberry Crumble - that deliver the sweet taste, texture and aroma of all-enriched flour breakfast breads while using between 35 percent and 45 percent whole-grain flour. Each variety also is a good source of fiber and has no trans fat. Sold in 16-ounce loaves, the breads feature moist, half-inch thick slices. The average suggested retail price for Sara Lee breakfast breads is $2.99 per loaf. Prices vary by region of the country.

-- Sara Lee Original English Muffins Made with Whole Grain have the taste, appearance and color of traditional plain English muffins while using 14 percent whole-grain flour. Each muffin has 5 grams of whole grain, or more than 10 percent of the daily minimum amount recommended by the U.S. Dietary Guidelines. Naturally flavored with pure honey, the muffins contain no trans fat, artificial colors or flavors and are sold in six-count, 14-ounce packages. The average suggested retail price for Sara Lee English muffins is $2.49 per package.

-- Sara Lee Heart Healthy Wheat English Muffins Made with Honey use 30 percent whole-grain flour to provide a wheat flavor and 10 grams of whole grain per muffin. Sold in a six-count, 14-ounce package, they have no trans fat and no artificial colors or flavors. The average suggested retail price for Sara Lee English muffins is $2.49 per package.

The new breakfast breads and English muffins join new Sara LeeMade with Whole Grain Plain Bagels to form a full breakfast portfoliothat pairs whole grain and refined grain in products that have thetaste, appearance and texture of mainstream baked goods.

-- Sara Lee Made with Whole Grain Plain Bagels taste and look like traditional plain bagels but are made with 15 percent whole-grain flour to deliver 9 grams of whole grain per bagel. Introduced in October 2005, they are sold in a six-count, 20-ounce packages. They contain no trans fats and no artificial flavors or colors. The average suggested retail price is $3.19 per package.

"Sara Lee has enjoyed great success with its lineup of wheat andwhole-grain breads, but the biggest opportunity remains with themajority of consumers who buy white bread, plain bagels, traditionalEnglish muffins and other popular white-flour products," said BillNictakis, president of Sara Lee Food & Beverage's U.S. Fresh Bakery."By using a flour-blend strategy, we've created the No. 1 selling loafof bread in America - Sara Lee Soft & Smooth Made with Whole GrainWhite Bread - that has been embraced by the important mainstreamconsumer. Now, we're building on that success by introducing similarproducts for the nutritionally important breakfast meal."

Evolving Consumer Attitudes

Interest in whole-grain products has soared in recent years as aresult of the popularity of low carbohydrate fad diets, new studiesshowing whole-grain health benefits and the issuance of the revisedU.S. Dietary Guidelines.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's new MyPyramid Food GuidanceSystem calls for Americans to consume at least three 1-ounce servingsof whole-grain foods per day (or 48 grams of whole grain) and tobalance their consumption of enriched-grain foods with whole-grainfoods. Whole-grain consumption has been correlated with decreased riskof heart disease, stroke, some cancers and type-2 diabetes, and mayaid in weight maintenance.

The sales of wheat, whole-wheat and whole-grain breads, buns,bagels and English muffins have increased over the past year, but themajority of sales are still white bread, white buns, plain bagels andtraditional English muffins, according to supermarket sales datacompiled by Information Resources, Inc., for the 52 weeks ended Oct.30, 2005. Dollar sales of wheat bread, buns, bagels and Englishmuffins increased by 7.8 percent in the past year, while sales ofwhite bread, buns, bagels and English muffins decreased by 1.9percent, according to IRI. White products are still the biggestseller. Of the pounds of packaged bread, buns, bagels and Englishmuffins sold, 57 percent was white products, 30 percent was wheatproducts and 13 percent was other flavors or varieties.

"Flour-blend products can help close a critical nutritional gapfor people who have traditionally rejected whole-grain foods becausethey prefer the taste of enriched white-flour products," said JulieMiller Jones, Ph.D., a leading whole-grain expert and professor ofnutrition at the College of St. Catherine, St. Paul, Minn."Whole-grain foods have never tasted so good, and that's going to havea positive impact on American diets in 2006."

Market research shows that Americans understand the benefits ofwhole-grain foods, but the largest barriers to consuming morewhole-wheat and whole-grain breads are color, texture, softness andtaste.

"With the USDA's recent recommendation for Americans to make halftheir grains whole, many consumers are searching for a way to do justthat, but without sacrificing great taste," said Frances Coletta,R.D., Ph.D., director of product nutrition for Sara Lee Food &Beverage. "Sara Lee breads, bagels and English muffins made with ablend of whole-grain and white flour will help many consumers make thetransition to whole-grain foods without shocking their tasteexpectations. A similar transitional approach was successful in thedairy aisle - with consumers moving from whole milk to 2 percent milkto skim milk."

Sara Lee Brand Success

The Sara Lee brand is the largest and fastest growing fresh bakerybrand in the country on the strength of the company's leading productportfolio in fresh bread, buns and bagels. The brand will enter thebreakfast bread and English muffin segments by introducingdifferentiated products using the company's flour-blend strategy.

"The Sara Lee brand has great consumer recognition andacceptance," Nictakis said. "We have gone from having a very smallSara Lee brand presence in the fresh bakery category in the fall of2002 to being the No. 1 brand and fastest growing. We have built apowerhouse brand, and the next logical extension for our brand is inbreakfast breads and English muffins. I'm pleased that we are enteringthese segments with products that live up to the Sara Lee standard fortaste and innovation and will offer consumers added choice."

Additional information about Sara Lee fresh breads, buns, bagelsand English muffins and nutritional trends is available atwww.breadrules.com. The Bread Rules Web site contains information fromnutritionists about healthy diets, complex carbohydrates, whole grainand other nutritional trends.

Sara Lee Food & Beverage is the North American retail fooddivision of Sara Lee Corporation (NYSE:SLE). Based in Downers Grove,Ill., Sara Lee Food & Beverage develops and markets many of theworld's favorite high-quality baked goods, packaged meats and coffee.Leading brands and products include Sara Lee fresh breads, frozendesserts and deli meats, Hillshire Farm lunch meats, Jimmy Deansausage and breakfast foods, Ball Park franks and the Senseosingle-serve premium coffee system.

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