As more Americans cut back on carbs, bread makers are being left with a smaller bottom line.
By David Sharp
Associated Press Writer

PORTLAND (AP) – Stephen Lanzalotta is passionate about bread. A sign in his bakery says, “Senza il pane tutto diventa orfano.” In Italian, that means, “Without bread everyone’s an orphan.”

These days, fewer customers are as passionate about his European-style breads as they were 3 years ago when he opened Sophia’s.

Thanks to the Atkins diet, many former regulars have stopped buying Lanzalotta’s bread and pastries to cut back on carbohydrates. Two to three former customers drop by daily to offer meek apologies.

“They’ll say, ‘I’m sorry. I haven’t been in for six months because I’m on the Atkins diet,”‘ said Lanzalotta, whose muscular arms are a testament to long hours spent kneading dough. “It’s ‘Gee, I’m sorry, I can’t eat bread.”‘

As National Bread Month begins, millions of Americans are part of a dieting phenomenon created by the late low-carb guru Dr. Robert Atkins.

Nationwide, bread sales are flat or down slightly, industry officials say, while bread-bashing seems to be at an all-time high.

The National Bread Leadership Council, which says 40 percent of Americans are eating less bread than a year ago, has scheduled a “summit” this month in Rhode Island focusing in part on low-carb diets and how to educate the public that breaking bread is still part of a healthy lifestyle.

Bakeries specializing in bread and rolls may face the toughest challenge. Lanzalotta estimates his business dropped 40 percent between the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and low-carb diets.

When he opened his bakery, bread accounted for 75 percent of sales. Now it accounts for just 15 percent. He has boosted his dessert offerings and has begun offering sandwiches to try to make up the difference. He also adapted by selling artwork, including his own paintings.

Needless to say, he’s no fan of Atkins. And he serves as a fitting example of the benefits of a balanced diet – including bread.

“I’m 45, I’m in great shape, and I eat bread,” he said. “I’m the same size and build as when I played football when I was 17.”

At Standard Baking, another bakery in Portland, Alison Pray said sales are “nearly flat” after growing 10 percent to 15 percent a year previously.

Like Lanzalotta, Pray sees plenty of couples stopping by, but often only one partner is eating. The other is cutting carbs.

She’s a bit incredulous when customers ask if she produces anything consistent with the Atkins diet. “This one person asked me, ‘Can you make a low-carbohydrate bread?’ I said, ‘I wouldn’t know how to do it,”‘ she said.

A few blocks away, Anthony’s Italian Kitchen has adapted. At a customer’s request a few years ago, it began offering sandwiches, like the “Tuscany” with prosciutto and provolone, without bread. Owner Tony Barassa jumped on the Atkins bandwagon himself and lost 40 pounds.

These days, Anthony’s customers are ordering Syrian wraps without the wrap and panini sandwiches without the panini.

They’re even ordering meatballs without the spaghetti.

On Atkins, people can eat cheese, eggs and meat as long as they strictly limit carbohydrates and avoid refined carbs like white flour. White bread, pasta, potatoes and other carbo-loaded foods are blacklisted, especially early on.

The diet was once scorned by the medical establishment, but recent studies have shown that people lose weight without compromising their health.

Judi Adams, president of the Wheat Foods Council and a registered dietician, believes Atkins is just another fad diet.

Adams noted that the nation’s obesity rate has continued to grow as flour consumption has declined. Wheat flour consumption has dropped by about 10 pounds a year per person since 1997, she said.

The real problem, she said, is that Americans eat too much of everything.

“We eat 300 more calories a day than we did in 1985,” she said. “We supersize everything. We eat constantly.”

Big Sky Baking Co. in Portland appears to have avoided the worst of the low-carb fallout because it uses whole wheat, the kind recommended for carb-cutters who can’t resist a slice of bread every now and again. Weight Watchers even sends customers to Big Sky, said owner Martha Elkus.

Nonetheless, she recognizes that times are changing. “The food pyramid has been turned upside down,” she said.

Makers of “pane” aren’t the only ones feeling pain. The pasta industry, the tortilla industry, bagel makers and even brewers of beer have taken their lumps for having too many carbohydrates.

The Tortilla Industry Association held a seminar last spring titled, “An Industry in Crisis: The High-protein, Low-carb Diet and Its Effects on the Tortilla Industry.” The National Pasta Association has a “Diet Matters” section on its Web page that focuses on low-carb diets.

Estimates of the number of Americans on low-carb diets vary widely, from 5 million to 50 million. And the bread market was flat even before Atkins, said John McMillin, a food industry analyst.

“It was lackluster before Atkins and now you really have to worry,” said McMillin, who works for Prudential Equity Group Inc. in New York.

But bakers are fighting back.

Flowers Foods’ low-carb bread, “Nature’s Own Wheat ‘n Fiber,” has proven to be the company’s most successful new product launch to date, said Mary Krier, spokeswoman in Thomasville, Ga.

George Weston Bakeries Inc. has launched “Carb Counting” bread under its Arnold label that carries the Atkins seal. Auburn-based Lepage Bakeries has introduced Country Kitchen “Lower Carb” wheat bread.

There’s even beer touted as low-carb. And if you’re willing to pay a premium, there’s low-carb pasta at health-food and other specialty stores.

Adams wishes it wasn’t so.

“It’s too bad that we just can’t eat all foods in moderation. But no, we have to do something dramatic all the time,” she said from her office in Colorado. “We have to look for this magic bullet.”

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On the Net:

Atkins Web site http://atkins.com/

National Bread Leadership Council http://www.breadcouncil.org/

Wheat Foods Council http://www.wheatfoods.org/

National Pasta Association http://www.ilovepasta.org/

Tortilla Industry Association http://www.tortilla-info.com/

AP-ES-10-31-03 1339EST