I did find a little bit of news about Flowers Foods and Home Pride Bread this week. Earlier this week Flowers Foods secured backing for the loans they need to purchase the bread brands from Hostess. In their press release they also mentioned that the required regulatory review is underway. I am sure that we will hear more news once the regulatory review is completed, hopefully we will get a time line for when product will return to the shelf.

This week I have been trying out Open Nature 100% Whole Wheat Bread.

This bread is yet again just a standard wheat bread. Basically another Safeway house brand as it is from Lucerne Foods. The first couple slices had a bit of an odd taste, but then it went away. I find that over time the taste of a loaf of bread will change a bit. This is to be expected as the bread dries out and ages, but it usually does not start tasting better :-). The bread worked OK for my morning toast, but there are better options that I have tried. This one is definitely being relegated to the list of breads that have not passed the test.

The front runners remain Oven Joy from Safeway, Roman Meal Sungrain 100% Whole Wheat and Roman Meal Thin Sliced Sandwich Bread.

The breads that had not passed the test were Sara Lee 100% Whole Wheat , Safeway’s Butter Top Wheat, Oroweat Soft Family 100% Whole Wheat, Sara Lee Honey Wheat, Bimbo Soft Wheat Family, Cascade Pride Split Top Wheat , Oroweat simply 100% Whole Wheat and Open Nature 100% Whole Wheat Bread

You can click on the bread names above to visit the posts where I reviewed them.

In the comments on my last post about Home Pride bread Karen in California recommended that I try Rainbow brand white bread. I could not find Rainbow brand on the internet, but when I went to Target today I found Rainbo bread. I am sure that this is what Karen was referring to.

I did not buy the white bread, but did pick up a loaf of Rainbo Wheat Bread.

Rainbo is distributed by Sara Lee, which means that the distribution in California is changing to Flowers Foods. The bread market is definitely full of interesting tangles. I am wondering if this is part of the new distribution by Flowers Foods. I am not sure if the April 22nd mentioned in my post last week is when the new distribution will be complete in the southern portion of the Central Valley or whether it is the start date. In any case, there is another bread choice at Target that was not there several weeks ago. Perhaps this bread is coming from the bakery that Flowers Foods acquired in Stockton.

I am also looking out for Nature’s Own bread to see when it will be available here. I am sure that Flowers Foods will introduce their flagship bread brand here as soon as possible. Plus, Nature’s Own has been mentioned as a good alternative to Home Pride bread.

Hopefully more details about Home Pride Bread will soon be released.

Steven

To see my other posts, click on Home Pride Bread.