There’s a big, beautiful world of scrumptious baked goods to explore beyond ubiquitous go-tos like the American donut or French croissant. This is not breaking news, but what is striking today is the proliferation of both large chain and smaller concept global bakeries across the country.

American consumers are enthusiastically embracing their craveable, creative sweet treats and savory snacks. Bolstering that demand is the growing phenomenon that sees consumers adopt a “small luxuries” mentality, seeking out moments of indulgence and connection. “All culinary is undergoing a transformation, with fads and trends being shared faster than ever thanks to TikTok,” says Alex Sadowsky, director of culinary, beverage and menu innovation for Twin Peaks. “Interest in globally inspired items will continue to explode, and what better opportunity to leverage this interest than with global baked goods? ‘Travel’ the world with low commitment. Lebanese, Polish, Vietnamese, Greek, Japanese, Mexican, Filipino, Nordic—all these influences are popping up in sweet and savory bakery applications.”

A virtual afternoon stroll through a few modern bakeries provides a flashpoint of menu ideation, teed up for breakfast, dessert and snacking occasions alike. First stop: Smoking Tiger, a Korean-inspired bakery with multiple locations in Southern California. Flavor combinations are both surprising and delicious, serving up a font of today’s biggest trends. The concept’s Chubby Cheesecake is a play on Japan’s fluffy cheesecake, with a nod to Spain’s Basque cheesecake as well, featuring a spectrum of global flavors from matcha to ube. Smoking Tiger also menus Coin Bread, a nostalgic Korean street food centered on salt bread dough. Another menu standout, the Kroong-Ji, is a shatteringly crisp, pressed and glazed croissant that comes in both classic and whimsical flavors, from Nutella to Pop Tart. “I love the pressed croissant and think there’s room for play there,” says Sadowsky. “You could use it as a carrier for a ‘toast’ upgrade or turn it savory with a hot, cheesy filling, for example.”

Saint Bread, an eclectic bakery in Seattle, serves up third-culture cooking that pulls from Asian pantries, applying unconventional ingredients to classic pastries. The Soy Caramel Apple Danish is a great example, featuring laminated dough with apples cooked in a sweet-salty soy caramel, topped with Chinese five-spice pastry cream and a drizzle of the soy caramel.

Credit: La Panadería

San Antonio’s La Panadería is a Mexican-inspired bakery, attracting lines around the block thanks to an eclectic menu of baked goods. It’s home to items like these colorful conchas and the Tres Leches Croissant, split and filled with tres leches cream and fresh strawberries.

Larger international bakery chains are helping drive momentum and deepen familiarity. Uncle Tetsu, a Japanese bakery concept with outlets in California and Texas, helped bring the impossibly fluffy Japanese cheesecake stateside a few years ago. Indeed, this craveable treat was among the first in a new wave of global baked goods to break through to the American consumer, helping usher in an exciting world of discovery in this segment. Tous les Jours, a French-Asian bakery concept that hails from South Korea, is another pioneer on the chain side of global bakeries. It helped introduce the cloud cake to the U.S. market; this soft, pillowy treat with a subtle sweetness and delicate flavor has captured a solid fan base here, particularly among younger consumers. Tous les Jours carries other intriguing bakery offerings, like the Honey Cheese Mochi Pancake and the Yuzu Pie. Beard Papa’s, a Japanese bakery chain specializing in eclectic cream puffs, has also gained traction in the U.S., introducing its customers to fun flavor combinations and craveable textural play. Its signature cream puffs feature a choux pastry shell that is covered in a pie crust and then filled with a mixture of whipped cream and custard, yielding a light texture. Flavors range from the classic vanilla to matcha to green tea to pumpkin.

SWEET Opportunity

Consumers continue to seek out third spaces, carving out time for social connection while enjoying little luxuries. On a parallel track, snacking occasions post-pandemic have multiplied, with more consumers creating personalized schedules rather than traditional 9-to-5 routines. These factors point to big opportunity in offering globally inspired baked goods.

“I think there’s a lot of potential for menu differentiation inspired by the world of baked goods that is emerging on the American foodservice landscape,” says Claire Conaghan, Datassential trendologist and associate director. “The main reason is the giant need for appealing breakfast fare and/or anytime snacks. That afternoon daypart reflects today’s consumer need states. It’s a space that we’re always trying to fill as operators and innovators.”

Manufacturers are already doing their part to innovate and help meet this new demand, Conaghan adds. “This is great news for chain operators, helping to ensure consistent execution.” She points to the concha, the iconic Mexican sweet bread, as an example. “Once they are in broader distribution, we’ll be seeing them adopted, and adapted, at the chain level. They can work with any trending flavors.” Indeed, the concha is already making moves on menus here, showing up with bright colors, while also moving into different formats, like waffles and French toast.

Credit: Hill’s Kitchen

At Hill’s Kitchen in Park City, Utah, the distinctive hue of the Ube Roll is one draw for Insta-focused diners.

Thanks to the warm embrace of global mash-ups and third-culture cuisine, innovation prevails over authenticity of origin. Seattle’s Pan de la Selva, a small-batch panadería specializing in baked goods inspired by Mexican and Central American cuisines, showcases the opportunity in building on traditional pastries with inventive items like the Cranberry & Quince with Cream Cheese Empanada or the Pan de Muerto with totomoxtle (corn husk) ash, marigold, anise and orange zest. La Panadería, a Mexican-inspired bakery with four locations in San Antonio, Texas, regularly boasts lines around the block thanks to an eclectic menu that delivers on craveability. Standouts include a tequila-almond croissant served with berries and whipped cream and fun takes on concha flavors, from pumpkin to red velvet.

Playfulness is a marker of this trend, keying into the universal appeal of whimsy when it comes to sweets and snacks. Okayama Kobo, the famed Japanese bakery chain with locations in Southern California and Honolulu, puts fun squarely in the crosshairs. Offerings are wholly original, while placing craftsmanship above all else. The creative menu includes Matcha Sunrise Soft Bread covered in a crisp layer of matcha cookie crust and the Oyaki Mentai Caviar, a Japanese savory bun filled with mentai (spicy cod roe) and mochi.

Filipino-inspired baked goods offer great color and textural play, helping bolster the trend. Jane Bayle, pastry chef at Hill’s Kitchen, a café in Park City, Utah, hails from the Philippines, and her cultural influences are reflected in items like the Ube Roll with cream cheese frosting, puffed ube rice and ube sugar, and the Ube Kouign-Amann with ube crème and housemade honeycomb candy.

“It’s exciting to think how far and how deep the trend in global baked goods can extend,” says Datassential’s Conaghan. “We’ve got so much more to explore.”