Ankerbrot, Austria’s largest bakery group, has partnered with sugar-free snack brand NEOH to offer a vegan donut with no added sugar.
The donut features a plant-based hazelnut cream filling with a crisp chocolate shell and roasted hazelnut pieces. It is free of palm oil and uses NEOH’s sugar substitute formula, which has little effect on blood sugar levels and is a source of fibre.
The product has been launched just in time for Lent, when many people give up refined sugar.
“The donut is our first collaboration with a bakery company and opens up a very interesting new sales channel with a lot of potential for us. I am convinced that this will be a successful start project for a long-term collaboration,” said Adel Hafizovic, co-founder and CSO of NEOH.
“A completely new area”
Despite having been founded in 1891, Ankerbrot has moved with the times. The chain opened an all-vegan store in 2018, and about a third of its regular range is vegan. Some of the bakery’s recipes, such as its strawberry-vanilla pastries, have been modified in recent years to remove animal ingredients.
Research indicates that the market for vegan confectionery will be worth $2.62 billion by 2030, expanding at a CAGR of 9.9%.
“As the largest bakery chain [in Austria], we claim to optimally meet the wishes of our customers,” said Tina Schrettner, Marketing Manager at Ankerbrot. “Now we are opening up a completely new area, because sweet pastries and sugar-reduced do not have to be opposites. We were the first great bakery with a varied vegan range. Now we are pioneers again with NEOH and go one step further: vegan and without added sugar. With the new NEOH Donut with hazelnut cream, we are offering another alternative in the sense of conscious nutrition and sustainability.”
