IN a refreshed move aimed at rebuilding sales squeezed by growing competition in the bread market Consolidated Baking Company, which trades as Purity, has expanded its product portfolio to include a new line of snack bars.

The protein product, called Vybez Bar, was released under the Miss Birdie brand earlier this year and is one of several products launched by the company in recent times, including the Miss Birdie Rock Cake and the Miss Birdie Amaaazin Cinnamon Raisin Loaf.

Chairman and Managing Director Anthony Chang told the Jamaica Observer that the company will continue to leverage value in the Miss Birdie brand as it works to realign its product portfolio towards more promising segments in response to the competitive pressures and market shifts.

“What will change is that people want value for money but the taste profile may change [as] Jamaica today is a little different from five, 10 years ago. That does not mean that things like bulla and donuts won’t sell, and so we will still [be] in the baked goods business but we just have to look at other products where there is greater room for growth,” Chang said.

Largely made from almonds, the Vybez Bar brings direct competition to imported brand Nature Valley which has developed a reputation locally as a go-to protein snack. The brand is owned by American-based food processing company General Mills.

Consolidated Bakeries is positioning itself to chip into import sales at a time when business in the bread market is increasingly competitive with the roll-out of various bread sizes, nutritional health levels, and flavours now available to respond to consumer demands.

For example, Honey Bun, which is one of Consolidate Bakeries’ largest competitors, hit record sales from the roll-out of shorty bread, half the size of the traditional hard-dough bread at 32oz. National Bakery and HTB which produces the Yummy brand, has also hit the market with the National Short Week bread and Yummy Likkle Bread, respectively.

“I think those companies are seeing what we are seeing — the bread market is mature, and when you are in a mature market the growth phase is not necessarily robust. It’s a grab for market share. And how do you grab market share? It’s about price, more for less, etc,” Chang said.

“But that’s a low margin, so what we want to do is look for things that we can do well now and do well in the future,” he added.

Chang said that Vybez Bar is the first of many snacks to be rolled out by the company but he declined to give further details, citing competitive reasons.

The company — which is in the business of making bread, biscuits, buns, pastries, and snacks — has been working to boost revenues year on year after sales plummeted during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

For the financial year 2023 it grew revenues by 11 per cent year on year, however profit declined. It’s off to a positive start for FY 2024, raking in earnings of $20.1 million for the first quarter ending in March, with revenues climbing to $525 million.