The great British bake’s off – sales of cake ingredients slump as Britons shun sugar
BRITAIN’S love of baking appears to have developed a soggy bottom, as spending on cake-making ingredients has slumped by £26.8 million.
The news will alarm bosses at Channel 4 who are preparing to relaunch The Great British Bake Off after poaching it from the BBC for £75million.
In recent years the show has been credited with prompting a revival of Britain’s bakery trade.
But supermarket sales of ingredients including flour, dried fruits and decorations, have fallen 3.8 per cent in the past year, according to the latest research by analysts Kantar Worldpanel.
Kantar’s Thomas Steel said the downturn was not because Mary Berry declined to sign up to the new show, but because people are becoming more health-conscious. He added: ‘Consumers are purchasing both less per trip and not as often.
‘Health will be a factor as consumers are being exposed to more messaging around excess sugar consumption.’
Bakers are ditching sugar – sales were down £5.2million – and opting for alternatives such as agave, honey and maple.
Sales of plant-based sweetener stevia are up 4.5 per cent.
Supermarket chiefs will be hoping that Channel 4’s newlook Bake Off brings customers flooding back.
Jan McKee, of ingredients firm Dr Oetker UK, said: ‘Channel 4 brings new opportunities for brands, such as advertising and sponsorship within the show.’
Channel 4 is expected to relaunch the show in September with only Paul Hollywood staying on from the original presenting and judging team. The new line-up includes Prue Leith, Sandi Toksvig and Noel Fielding.
It remains to be seen whether Channel 4’s show will enjoy the popularity of the BBC version which pulled in 14.8million viewers for its finale.
SHE was the original ‘glamorous assistant’ who became one of television’s best-loved game show co-hosts.
Isla St Clair appeared alongside Larry Grayson on BBC1’s The Generation Game, which attracted 18 million viewers on Saturday evenings between 1978 and 1981.
Now 65, the Scot has given her seal of approval to the show’s impending revival.
‘At last!’ Miss St Clair told The Scottish Mail On Sunday. ‘I don’t know what’s taken the BBC so long to revive such a fun family format enjoyed by all ages.’
The show, initially hosted by Bruce Forsyth, involves family pairs from different generations competing to win prizes shown on a conveyor belt – including the trademark cuddly toy.
Dates for the new run are yet to be set but there will be an initial four episodes, hosted by former Great British Bake Off stars Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins.
Grangemouth-born Miss St Clair said: ‘Mel and Sue will be the cherries on the cake. It’s a clever idea casting these hugely popular women to present The Generation Game.’ But she is curious to see if the pair will get a glamorous assistant – and whether it will be a man. She said: ‘It would be wrong to alienate men by ignoring them – after all, it is a family show.
‘A smart young man everybody can identify with would work. Find somebody new and give them a break, like I had.’
Miss St Clair started performing aged three and by her teens was an award-winning folk singer. She hosted numerous music shows before being spotted by a producer of The Generation Game. She said: ‘I was the girl next door and they put me into glamorous frocks.’
After The Generation Game, she hosted the BBC’s Songs Of Praise and ITV’s Highway, and appeared in various stage shows. But her main focus has been recording albums of traditional Scottish songs.
She said: ‘I still take a great interest in furthering the awareness of traditional Scottish songs and ballads and I am working on a project to record many of them for the archive.’
As for the upcoming Generation Game revival, Miss St Clair, who lives in Buckinghamshire with film-maker Patrick King, said: ‘I’ll be watching from the comfort of my armchair with fond memories... and my cuddly toy!’