Bakery top category for ancient grain boom

The use of ancient grains in new products continues to boom in Western Europe, and the top category last year was bakery, according to Innova Market Insights.

Compared to H1 2012, H1 last year saw a rise in new product launches containing ancient grains across Western Europe, up 27%. The top category for launches was bakery and within this spelt was the top ingredient used, Innova data showed.

For 2013, the highest growth rates reported were for sorghum (up 190%), chia (up 153%) and amaranth (up 133%).

Earlier data from Datamonitor on the US indicated that chia and quinoa led the field in US new product launches that contain ancient grains. It said that new US food launches containing ancient grains or seeds had almost tripled since 2008.