INTRODUCTION

Bread is the most frequently consumed bakery product in many countries and it is mainly produced using wheat flour, with daily intake reaching even 300 g per capita. Since bread is mostly produced using wheat flour, its nutritional and functional improvements can be the basis for upgrading the health status of the population with the preference to new special types of bread.

The possibility for improving the functional profile of white wheat bread is the use of nutritionally and functionally rich ingredients. These ingredients are, for example, pseudocereal flours (Alvarez-Jubete et al., 2009; Alvarez-Jubete et al., 2010) among which buckwheat flour dominates (Sakač et al., 2012; Sedej, 2011; Sedej et al., 2010; Sedej et al., 2011).

Although white buckwheat flour is more frequently used compared to wholegrain buckwheat flour, the latter represents a better source of dietary fibers, polyphenols and tocopherols (Lin et al., 2009; Sedej et al., 2010). The production of wholegrain buckwheat flour is favored by the fact that it results in minimal amounts of milling by-products, and, therefore, it contributes to better utilization of milling raw material.

Having in mind the above-mentioned facts, as well as the lack of statistically significant differences in rheological parameters of the dough containing 10-50% of white or whole-grain buckwheat flour instead of white wheat flour (Sedej et al., 2011), Stokić et al. (2015) formulated and characterized a special type of bread made by a modification of the standard white bread formulation containing wheat flour T-500 in which 50% of wheat flour was substituted by wholegrain buckwheat flour (buckwheat-enriched wheat bread).

Functionality of buckwheat-enriched wheat bread was achieved by the presence of dietary fibers and polyphenols originating from wholegrain buckwheat flour (Alvarez-Jubete et al., 2009; Sedej et al., 2011; Zieliński et al., 2009). Rutin and quercetin represent the dominant flavonoids in buckwheat flour (Kreft et al., 1999; Park et al., 2000), which significantly contribute to the functionality of buckwheat-enriched wheat bread. They were not detected in white wheat bread made from wheat flour T-500 because of their absence in white flour (Adom and Liu, 2002). The presence of these flavonoids in buckwheat-enriched wheat bread resulted in its significantly increased antioxidant capacity determined measuring the scavenging activity on DPPH radicals compared with white wheat bread. The increase in antioxidant capacity of buckwheat-enriched wheat bread as a result of the presence of flavonoids was also observed by other researchers (Lin et al., 2009; Vogrinčić et al., 2010).

Although the possibility of successful placement of buckwheat-enriched wheat bread on the market can be primarily related to its functional and health benefits (Stokić et al., 2015), as well as exceptional sensory profile, which gave additional advantage in terms of sensory acceptability compared with white wheat bread (Jambrec et al., 2014), it was necessary to assess its market position by developing marketing and production plans, which were recognized and defined as a topic of the current paper.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Material

Two types of bread (white wheat bread and buckwheat-enriched wheat bread) with the nutritional and functional properties presented in Table 1 (Stokić et al., 2015) were used to analyze the position of buckwheat-enriched wheat bread on the national market.

Marketing plan

Marketing plan focuses on consumers and satisfaction of their needs and requirements regarding the placement of buckwheat-enriched wheat bread. In this regard, it is necessary to plan activities to acquire new consumers and retain consumers who already have a tendency towards consumption of special types of bread.

Тarget market

The target group of consumers of buckwheat-enriched wheat bread involves people with hyperlipidemia due to the proven facts about its beneficial effect on their health status. Furthermore, consumers who care about their healthy eating habits and like characteristic taste and flavor of buckwheat also belong to the target group of

consumers. Production and marketing of buckwheat-enriched wheat bread would take place in bakery chains, supermarkets and megastores, which possess appropriate production facilities.

Market size depends on the total consumer demands for functional foods, i.e. special types of bread. As functional food market increases in size, there is a possibility of placing the production of buckwheat-enriched wheat bread on the worldwide market.

Market supply

Wholegrain buckwheat flour is available on the national market. Purchasing of other ingredients for bread production is established practice of the producers. Packaging of the buckwheat-enriched wheat bread consists of paper and cellophane, which are available on the market at affordable prices.

Product marketing mix

Marketing mix is used to make important decisions that lead to the execution of a marketing plan. The marketing mix is a crucial business tool used in marketing and by marketers. It is crucial when determining a product or brand's offer, in order to meet consumer needs and requirements (Kotler and Amstrong, 1996; Vasiljev, 2010). The 4Ps make up a typical marketing mix - Product, Price, Place and Promotion.

The marketing mix of buckwheat-enriched wheat bread comprises the following:

• Product: Buckwheat-enriched wheat bread was created based on the needs of consumers with special dietary requirements, which had been obtained on the basis of market research. Buckwheat-enriched wheat bread has to be considered as a special type of bread, which offers valuable buckwheat-containing components in comparison to competitive breads. Consequently, its consumption can contribute to the consumers with hyperlipidemia to improve their health status. This bread is packed in attractive packaging made from bio-materials derived from renewable energy sources.
• Price: The customer’s perception of value is an important determinant of the price charged. The danger of using low price as a marketing tool is that the customer may feel that quality is being compromised. It is important when deciding on price to be fully aware of the brand and its integrity. Estimated retail price of buckwheat-enriched wheat bread would be 71.76 RSD for a 400 g loaf (Table 4). It is very competitive price considering the prices of other special types of bread, which range from 60 to 160 RSD.
• Place: Place, as an element of the marketing mix, is not just about the physical location or distribution points for products. It encompasses the management of a range of processes involved in bringing products to the end consumer. Buckwheat-enriched wheat bread would be found in all the major supermarket chains, small shops, health food stores, various bakeries, etc., making this bread very accessible for the consumers.
• Promotion: The promotion aspect of the marketing mix covers all types of marketing communications. One of the methods employed is advertising, which is conducted on TV, radio, in cinema, online, using poster sites and press (for example in newspapers and magazines). The skill in marketing communications is to develop a campaign which uses several of these methods in a way that provides the most effective results. Since the buckwheat-enriched wheat bread is a special type of bread, which has a target group of consumers, it is necessary to stand out from the mass of similar products. This can be achieved by various sales promotion activities, which further stimulate the target consumers to purchase. Some of them are special ways of exhibiting and displaying bread, as well as giving free samples to test potential consumers, so that they will be able to assess the quality of the product.

Plan of production

Production of buckwheat-enriched wheat bread does not need any additional investment in the equipment, because existing equipment is adequate for its production. The only change in the technological process of buckwheat-enriched wheat bread production is an additional step, i.e. hydro-thermal treatment of wholegrain buckwheat flour (Stokić et al., 2015).

The production capacity of buckwheat-enriched wheat bread depends on the existing capacity of the bakery which would bring this bread into its production program.

CONCLUSION

Based on the analysis of the market position of buckwheat-enriched wheat bread including demands, offer and competition, elements that affect its overall retail price, SWOT analysis and marketing plan with target market, market supply and product marketing mix, it could be concluded that this product should be positioned on the national market, especially for people with special needs and requirements. Production plan does not need to be changed concerning investments, while only one step needs to be added in the technological procedure.

АCKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This paper is a result of the research within the project TR31029, entitled Functional bakery products for the people with metabolic disorders, financed by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Republic of Serbia. Authors wish to thank Mrs Radmila Lukić and Miss Nina Nedeljković for suggestions regarding the calculations of bread costs and SWOT analysis.

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