Bakery has a powerful emotional pull: the smell of freshly baked bread, pastry and cake can evoke comfort, nostalgia and wellbeing. Now other industries are borrowing those sensory cues, from croissant-inspired perfumes to gin and protein products. What can industrial bakers learn from the growing value of the “freshly baked” experience?

Before a customer reaches the counter, their brain has already started deciding. New insight from The Original Baker reveals how the aroma of freshly baked pastry, working alongside the audible snap of good lamination and the visible flake of skilled layers, is quietly shaping buying decisions across Britain’s bakeries. When these sensory signals align, customer confidence follows. When they don’t, trust evaporates just as fast.