Bakery Chains Compared

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Bakers Delight whips up second win in bakery chain ratings

It’s hard to walk past a bakery without taking a peek to see what’s on offer. The smell of freshly-baked carbs is simply too hard to resist for many of us! Whether you stop at a bakery on every shopping trip or just on a special occasion, you’re never short of options. So, if you knead to know which bakery chain you can trust for a perfectly fine crust, you’ve come to the right place!

In Canstar Blue’s latest bakery chains review, we asked more than 500 shoppers about their experiences when buying bakery items from their local store of choice. They rated retailers on the quality & freshness of products, variety of products, deals or specials available, value for money, customer service, store layout & presentation and overall customer satisfaction. The bakery chains which received the minimum sample size of 30 responses are compared in this year’s report.

So, what’s the hot favourite? Bakers Delight has risen to the occasion for the second year in a row, after rating best for overall satisfaction and most other categories.

Best Bakery Chains

Here are the best bakery chains in Australia, as rated by consumers in Canstar Blue’s latest review:

1. Bakers Delight
2. Banjo’s
3. Brumby’s
4. Breadtop

Bakers Delight puffed up to the top with five stars for overall satisfaction, while Banjo’s and Brumby’s trailed just behind on four stars. Breadtop rounded up the scores with a three-star rating overall.

Banjo’s was the only chain to beat our consecutive rating’s winner, for its deals and specials available, with five stars. It also achieved full marks for value for money, alongside Brumby’s and Bakers Delight.

Bakery Purchase Type

There’s certainly a lot to pick from when you go to a bakery, so what have Aussies most recently purchased? Here’s what our survey respondents picked up:

• Bread: 78%
• Savoury baked goods: 36%
• Sweet baked goods: 32%
• Hot food: 19%

Bread is a staple for many Aussie households, but savoury pies and sausage rolls are also classics for a quick lunch. And who doesn’t love sweet treats from the bakery? Jam doughnut, anyone?

From our research, three in five (66%) respondents said they prefer bakery bread over packaged bread, with a third (33%) primarily visiting a bakery to buy speciality bread such as sourdough or tiger bread.

Bakery Bread Slice

We’ll stop loafing around and get down to the serious business now – how do you like it sliced? If you thought choosing between the type of bread was hard, wait until you get asked about the ‘cut’ you’re after. Our survey identified Aussies’ preferences as:

• Thick: 59%
• Thin: 31%
• Unsliced: 8%

With most packaged loaves of bread typically sliced thin, it’s perhaps not surprising that when consumers get their bread from the bakery, they opt for a thick slice.

Bakery Chains

Bakers Delight

Bakers Delight is an Australian-owned bakery franchise chain with outlets in Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Its first store opened in 1980 in the Melbourne suburb of Hawthorn, Victoria, before expanding to now have more than 700 bakeries, offering a huge range of baked goods.

• Bakers Delight continues to delight Aussies after being rated best for quality and freshness of products, variety, value for money, customer service, store layout & presentation and overall satisfaction. The one exception was deals or specials available, where it got four stars.

Banjo’s

For anyone looking for an environmentally-friendly coffee takeout spot, Banjo’s uses bio coffee cups and lids. These are said to be made from natural resources and apparently decompose into biomass, carbon dioxide and water.  Since opening in Tassie in 1984, you can now also find Banjo’s across New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia. It offers a variety of preservative-free and artisan bread.

• Banjo’s mixed things up after it rated best for deals or specials available. It also got full marks for value for money, before ultimately landing on four stars for overall satisfaction and most of the remaining categories. It got three stars for variety of products.

Brumby’s

Established way back in 1975, Brumby’s was born out of Ashburton, Victoria, and now has over 320 franchises across Australia and New Zealand. Brumby’s has you covered in all departments including bread, savoury and sweet pastries, sandwiches and rolls.

• Brumby’s stirred up a five-star rating for value for money, and a smooth four stars for overall satisfaction and majority of the categories. It got three stars for quality of products.

Breadtop

Breadtop is also an Australia-based bakery franchise, originating in the suburb of Box Hill, Victoria. Since 2002, it has opened 70 stores across the country and sells a range of Singapore-style breads, cakes, buns and pastries.

• Breadtop was the final sprinkle in our bakery chains ratings, having achieved a respectable four-star review for value for money. It ultimately ended on three stars for overall satisfaction and everywhere else.

About the author of this page

This report was written by Canstar Blue’s home & lifestyle journalist, Tahnee-Jae Lopez-Vito. She’s an expert on household appliances, grooming products and all things grocery and shopping. In addition to translating our expert research into consumer-friendly ratings reports, Tahnee spends her time helping consumers make better-informed purchase decisions on all manner of consumer goods and services, while highlighting the best deals and anything you need to be aware of.

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