Bakers put low-carb diet into the mix

Fox Valley businesses respond to popular weight-loss strategy

By Elaine Kauh
Gannett Wisconsin Newspapers

Ask Leslie Denis about low-carb bread and she shrugs.

As far as she’s concerned, it’s an oxymoron.

The owner of Not By Bread Alone, a bakery and cafe in Ashwaubenon, is doing well with breads and desserts made the traditional way — white flour and sugar.

“Will we make soy flour bread? No,” Denis said.

The rising popularity of low-carb diets is a quandary for bakers, who see it as a challenge to their businesses. Some, like Denis, won’t do anything differently. Others are figuring out how to make low-carb versions of their baked goods.

Replacing some of the wheat-based flour in bread with soy flour is common in low-carb bread recipes.

“We’ve been experimenting,” said Richard Specter, owner of Uprisings bakery and cafe in Green Bay and Lox, Stock & Bagel in Allouez. Uprisings, which makes artisan breads, has offered low-carb bread and the bagel cafe is working on a low-carb version.

The crusty, chewy texture of artisan bread is what makes it appealing. With low-carb ingredients, “it’s really hard to mimic that,” Specter said.

“We have to respond to what the market’s demanding, but it’s exasperating,” he said, wondering aloud if eating less and exercising would help people lose weight just as well.

Uncle Mike’s Bake Shoppe in De Pere is introducing a low-carb bagel and will look at other breads. Owner Mike Vande Walle is researching more ideas from a national trade group.

“It wasn’t hard — we’re consumer-driven,” he said. “It’s definitely going to be here for a while.”

He said the new soy flour-based bagel tastes good and low-carb dieters should be pleased with it. “You can definitely tell it’s a different product,” he said.

Sometimes, a customer will order a sandwich item without the bread, as Denis and Specter have seen.

Natural Ovens of Manitowoc, which produces healthy breads and baked goods for grocery stores, has two kinds of low-carb bread, a low-carb bagel and other varieties in development.

“We’re playing around with trying to create a low-carb cookie,” said Glen Hietpas, vice president of operations.

The low-carb trend had affected bread sales, but Natural Ovens turned it into an opportunity with the new low-carb versions. Now, the company is seeing growth in its distribution network and home-order sales. “It’s our top-selling item,” Hietpas said.

It’s hard to say how long the trend will last. Hietpas thinks low-carb will stick around, but it will evolve as consumers become more educated. He noted that in the later stages of low-carb dieting, people do eat whole-grain carbohydrates while eschewing foods made with white flour or sugar.

Elaine Kauh writes for the Green Bay Press-Gazette.