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The recent popularity of sourdough has been hard to miss. From supermarkets to cafes, from bakeries to home bakers, sourdough bread has become one of the most popular food products on offer in today’s multi-choice world. So much so that the global sourdough ingredients market is expected to grow to some USD $5.8bn in 2025, a huge market by any standard.
But sourdough’s recent popularity disguises its historical roots. It is one of the oldest methods of leavening breads, thought to have originated in Egypt as long ago as 3500BC. Up until the Middle Ages it was the most common method of leavening bread, until bakers discovered that the foam from the beer brewing process, known as barm fermentation, could be used to leaven bread in a more efficient and reliable way. In the UK, this process endured as the norm until it too was overtaken about 150 years ago, this time by purposefully cultured yeast, because bakers found it more reliable to use and often faster to take effect. Over time, purposefully cultured yeast became established as the most common way to leaven bread in both the UK and North America. But in other parts of the world, including in continental Europe, the use of sourdough persisted due to its distinctive flavour and texture, longer shelf-life and nutritional benefits such as prebiotics, a lower GI (glycemic index) profile and lower levels of sugar.
Sourdough is a mixture of flour and water, fermented by lactic acid bacteria and yeast which determine its characteristics in terms of acidity, flavour and texture. Each sourdough is unique. The final flavour and texture depend on the combination and type of flour, bacteria and yeast. The sourdough culture is inherently unstable, so whilst it has existed for millennia, it has traditionally been confined to small scale, artisanal production. This small scale, localised production encouraged regional variations to develop. For example, countries in northern and eastern Europe tend to use rye flour mixed with a higher proportion of sourdough resulting in a heavier, more strongly flavoured bread.
Countries in southern Europe tend to use wheat flour mixed with a lower proportion of sourdough, resulting in a lighter, less strongly flavoured bread.
Historically in the UK, given the adoption of purposefully cultured yeast as the most common form of leavening bread, most bread eaten by consumers was produced on an industrial scale and there was no real tradition of sourdough bread. As consumer tastes and preferences evolved over recent years, our UK and Ireland team identified a gap in the market for higher-quality sourdough bread, so we worked to develop the know-how and technology to transform this traditional craft-oriented process into an ingredient that could be produced at scale.
Replicating this production process, we launched sourdough to customers in all our markets. We created a core portfolio of sourdough products that could be consistently and reliably replicated while also being adapted to appeal to regional preferences. Around the world our customers, in particular the industrial bakers, now have a sourdough that is easy to use and produces consistent, high-quality sourdough products.
A crucial differentiator is our ability to tailor our core portfolio to develop bespoke sourdough for customers based on their specific requirements, rather than simply selling generic ‘off the shelf’ products. We work closely with our customers to develop sourdoughs that are unique to them, maintaining their own distinctive style while embracing the convenience of a consistent sourdough.
In addition to our core portfolio of sourdough, we have also been developing ready-to-use sourdough products. Two sourdough products now tap into this market: our Scrocchiarella range of frozen sourdough bases for the B2B market developed by our team in Italy, and fresh yeast with sourdough for the B2C market in Argentina.
Turning first to Italy, where sourdough has a long history and is considered part of the nation’s great culinary heritage, our team set out to create a product that combined the high-quality, artisanal method of producing sourdough with the ease and convenience desired by our customers. The result was Scrocchiarella, a range of frozen sourdough bases used to make pizza and focaccia. The inspiration for our brand comes from the Italian word ‘scrocchiare’, which is used to describe something very crispy. Our Scrocchiarella bases use the highestquality ingredients to create a product with superior flavour and texture. The bases bake from frozen in five minutes, a highly convenient option for those who still want to enjoy the taste of sourdough but do not have the time to nurture the sourdough themselves. Our Scrocchiarella range is sold to customers in the foodservice industry including restaurants, bakeries and cafes, who use our Scrocchiarella bases to produce great tasting pizzas and focaccias for their customers. To promote the range, we launched ‘Le Preferite’, a promotional campaign featuring famous Italian pizza chefs using the Scrocchiarella bases to create pizza recipes including ‘Oro Nero’, a recipe developed with Acetum, ABF’s balsamic vinegar business, using Mazzetti’s L’Originale Etichetta Nera Balsamic Vinegar. The range has been a success in Italy and, building on this, we have recently launched Scrocchiarella in other countries.
In Argentina, as in many places, home baking exploded in popularity during the pandemic and this popularity has endured. Calsa, our consumer yeast brand in Argentina, recently launched a fresh yeast with sourdough for the B2C market, enabling bakers to create consistently high-quality sourdough bread at home. This is the first time that sourdough has been successfully combined with fresh yeast in Argentina. To maximise the impact of this innovative product, we partnered with a well-known influencer to promote the launch on social media, creating a place where people can share recipes and baking tips.
The product has proved very popular with consumers. As Calsa’s 100th anniversary approaches next year, this innovation combined with our long heritage positions us well to continue into our second century.