Americans are paying more attention than ever to portion size, and when it comes to grabbing a quick snack, portion-controlled baked products have been successful since their introduction five years ago.

Nabisco, Entenmann’s, Hostess, Pepperidge Farm and Quaker Oats are among the bigger players in the 100-calorie-pack wars, while smaller bakers have introduced their own versions of portion-controlled products.

But those introductions don’t come without added packaging costs, line reconfi guration and other headaches for wholesale bakers.

While some bakers, such as Carousel Cakes, Ridgefi eld, N.J., can easily introduce cupcakes into their line of baked products, other bakers, like Stephen Lincoln of Protein Bakery, New York, remain unconvinced that the portion-control craze has staying power. In the privacy of their own homes, for instance, might not consumers eat two 100-calorie packs instead of one?

But, recognizing the trend, Lincoln has made sure to off er his cookies and brownies in individually packaged sizes all the same.

Consumer interest is there

A 2010 health and wellness survey by the Grocery Manufacturers Association found that the number of single-serving products has grown by 7 percent over the past three years. Datamonitor, a firm that tracks new market offerings, found that in 2009, companies introduced 206 new 100-calorie product offerings, up from previous years.

And a 2009 survey from market research fi rm Mintel found that 14 percent of consumers say they’ve purchased 100-calorie packs of snack food. Consumers aged 25 to 44 appear more aware of portion control issues and more interested in individual-sized baked products and other snacks, says Bill Patterson, Mintel senior market analyst.

About 25 percent of respondents said they were curious about the products, even if they didn’t purchase them regularly.

“ e older and younger age groups don’t seem to be very interested in calorie-controlled packages,” he says. “But there’s some kind of latent demand there, even though a relatively small number of people are buying. “And around a quarter of the people we spoke to said the size of prepackaged food is always too small,” he adds. “You can already feel the battle between the 100-calorie pack and the ‘honestly, it’s just too small’ mentality.”

Added costs

 e portion-control trend started with salty snacks like crackers and has trickled down to include cookies, muffi ns and other sweegoods, says Kirk O’Donnell, vice president of education at AIB International. He’s also seen some introductions in the breads and rolls category, though those have been limited.

For the wholesale baker looking to introduce a product into the portioncontrol market, O’Donnell says added costs will come mostly as a result of packaging changes.

“For the most part, the production side doesn’t change a lot,” he says, “though it does depend on the product. The 100-calorie pack cookies are often smaller cookies than the producer’s other cookies. Also, with the mini muffins, that product didn’t even used to exist.”

Bakeries featuring products that require reconfiguration will see added expense on the production side, he says.

“For example, if you used to make layer cakes and have a production line for them, that market isn’t really growing across the board nationally,” O’Donnell says. “So you could use your existing equipment to make smaller cakes and mini muffins and cupcakes, but you have to get smaller cake pans and then reconfigure between ingredients and packaging.”

Carousel Cakes, which ships nationwide, had no packaging or equipment issues when stepping up the focus on the bakery’s cupcakes to keep up with the popularity of individual-portion sizes, says Nancy Finkelstein, co-owner. The bakery already was making cupcakes, so increasing production wasn’t much of an issue.

The bakery offers a few of its cakes in individual slices for portion control, although the 7- and 11-in. cakes continue to sell well.

“Most people split desserts anyway,” Finkelstein says.

But in keeping with the pervasive cupcake trend, her bakery recently launched Cupcakes by Carousel.

“The cupcake business wholesale is thriving,” Finkelstein says. “Not only standard cupcakes but also baby cakes or mini cupcakes. A lot of people tend to buy those in bulk for parties and entertaining.”

The cupcake business is on the rise because cupcakes are naturally a controlled-volume food and “just kind of fun,” O’Donnell says. “People enjoy them because they can indulge–it isn’t a huge portion–and companies are making them fun,” he says.

Indeed, Finkelstein’s bakery, like many others, offers cupcakes in a variety of unique flavors, such as red velvet and Key lime.

Tying trends

About 25 percent of respondents to the AIB International survey said they wanted their in-store bakery to offer baked products in individual portion sizes, according to O’Donnell. To him, that number indicates that the portion-control trend extends beyond the popular 100-calorie package and that instore bakers and other wholesale bakers have a place within the portion- control market.

AIB has considered how bakers might link the portion-control trend with another ongoing trend–that of ethnic foods and flavors. For instance, the International Dairy-Deli- Bakery Association (IDDBA) stated in its 2010 What’s In Store, an annual trends report, that cake balls (similar to donut holes) will join cupcakes as a portion-control trend.

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