A slice of bread with jam now conjures up a rather outdated image, at least in the German breakfast. Especially during the week, many people take breakfast in hand and eat it on the road on the way to the office, or others choose healthier alternatives such as cereal and oatmeal. For producers of jam – or more correctly, jam – the market is becoming more and more difficult.

“Fewer and fewer young adults are eating breakfast at home on weekdays. It is not only the consumption of coffee that is affected, but also the consumption of jam or jam as well as honey,” summarizes the situation in a report by Consumer Panel Services GfK, owned by YouGov, from last July. Several analysts come to a rather bitter conclusion for sweet spread makers: “The main consumer group for products such as jams, jams and honey are now older people.” And all of them… for how much longer?

Jam? Jam!

First let’s clear up a rather confusing term: What is called in everyday language “jam” is, according to EU rules, in most cases jam, depending on the fruit content sometimes and jam extra. Jam is defined only as a spread made from citrus fruits.

Less telecommuting – less jam

Jam consumption has been steadily declining in Germany for some time – as have almost all hitherto traditional breakfast products, says Camila Dubay, of market research firm NielsenIQ (NIQ). Revenue can only be partly maintained through price increases. But: “After the big increase in consumption during the pandemic, consumption is now starting to decline.” According to Dubai, this could be because people are either skipping breakfast as a meal more often, or due to a decrease in telecommuting, as they are eating away from home more often – for example, with a sandwich from the bakery on the way to work.

This year, jams were down 54,000 tonnes compared to the previous year – equivalent to a 3.2% drop, the expert said based on data collected up to the end of September. In jams, respectively, the drop was 2,300 tons, i.e. a 15.4% reduction. Consumption of cereals and oat flakes remained almost unchanged. For this reason, several producers now advertise jam as a cereal supplement.

Finally, NIQ expert Camilla Dubai points out: “After last year’s price increases, some producers are now lowering their prices to make themselves more attractive to the public again.”

Edited by: Chrysa Vachtsevanu