Several foodservice segments central to snack and bakery businesses continue to demonstrate strong levels of innovation. New chains focused on customization have emerged, while others continually shift and evolve to capture away-from-home food dollars from competitors.

With Americans eating more of their meals on the go, it’s no surprise that breakfast is increasingly consumed behind the steering wheel, on the train or at the office.

Every year, as students of all ages head back to school, parents inevitably find themselves searching anew for the latest, better-for-you, healthy school snacks that their kids can pack into their lunchboxes and backpacks—snacks that feed their mind, as well as their belly.

Hostess introduces a new recipe for their classic mini muffins. 

Hostess Brands will announce today that a majority stake in the company was sold to the Gores Group, an investment firm, for about $725 million.

When it comes to sweet goods like doughnuts, Danishes, sweet rolls, muffins and coffee cake, the market is in a state of flux. As Walter Postelwait, president of Pak Group LLC/Bellarise Baking Ingredients, Pasadena, CA, puts it: “The total segment appears to be growing slowly, but has hot pockets of activity.”

The frozen breakfast category, anchored by waffles, pancakes and French toast, has produced its share of picks and pans over the past year, largely dominated by a handful of big-dollar items with little variation in sales.

Tradition is the foundation that grounds much of the bakery industry’s continued success. We see this immutable fact across nearly every category, with leading companies selling billions of dollars of traditional baked goods that have long stood the test of time. These are core products beloved by millions of shoppers.

The well-known sweets brand has launched 20 prepackaged sweet treats that consumers can purchase at retailers nationwide and online.

Otis Spunkmeyer is in the process of launching a new range of clean-label muffins, cookies and snack cakes.