Choose a Dutch spiced breakfast cake that explicitly lists grains and seeds if a satisfying bite is your priority. Individually wrapped bars save you having to cut portions at the stall, while a larger pre-sliced cake lets you choose your own portions. But ‘wholemeal’ doesn’t prove that the cake contains seeds. Before selling, check the current ingredients, nutritional information and allergen information for the variety you’ve chosen.
If you want to offer a spiced breakfast cake with a noticeable bite, an explicit mention of grains and seeds is more useful than the word ‘wholemeal’ on its own. Peijnenburg describes its Tussendoor+ Fruit as a snack bar with grains and seeds.
When it’s busy, individually wrapped bars can save you cutting portions at the stall. Peijnenburg says that a pack of Tussendoor+ Fruit contains four individually wrapped bars weighing 36,7 g each.
If you sell the cake after opening the packaging, allergen information must be accessible to customers. The Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) states that, for cereals containing gluten and nuts, you must also name the specific types.
First decide whether seeds are essential or whether ease of serving matters more. Then compare the label of the specific variety you’re planning to buy.
| What to look for | What to check when buying | Who it matters to |
|---|---|---|
| Grains and seeds | Look for grains and seeds to be explicitly listed in the ingredients or product description. Wholemeal alone is no proof. | If I want to offer a cake with a noticeable bite from the seeds, I need to be sure the chosen product has this feature. This texture is the top priority for around 42% of consumers. |
| Portion packaging | Check whether the cake is individually wrapped or pre-sliced, and look at the portion size of the variety you’ve chosen. | If I don’t want to cut portions during busy periods, ready-to-serve portions matter more. Quick serving is the top priority for around 33% of consumers. |
| Label information | Check the current ingredients, allergens, and sugar and salt content per portion. Make sure allergen information is accessible if you sell the cake unwrapped. | When selling from an opened pack, I want to give customers accurate information and avoid relying on an out-of-date label. This is the top priority for around 25% of consumers. |
These words alone don’t show that the spiced breakfast cake contains seeds. The cake you buy could therefore have a different texture from the one you want to offer.
Check the ingredients or an explicit product description before adding a seeded variety to your menu.
When selling unwrapped food, customers must be able to get information about any allergens present. The NVWA says you must specify the types of cereals containing gluten and nuts.
Keep the current packaging or supplier specification at your stall. Provide the information in writing, or have a process for giving it verbally, with a visible notice telling customers how to ask.
Ingredients, nutritional values and allergen information can change, as Albert Heijn notes in its product information. The packaging you receive may therefore differ from a page you viewed previously.
When buying again, check the label afresh before repeating any information about seeds, sugar or allergens.
Peijnenburg describes Tussendoor+ Fruit as a snack bar with grains and seeds, sold in individually wrapped portions.
Albert Heijn lists Peijnenburg Tussendoor+ with grains, seeds and fruit in its range of Dutch spiced breakfast cakes.
Jumbo shows several types of Dutch spiced breakfast cake in its online category, including an unsliced gluten-free variety.
ALDI lists sliced zero spiced breakfast cake and sliced wholemeal spiced breakfast cake from Koek & Bakker.
Lidl lists zero spiced breakfast cake as an option to consider when seeds aren’t essential.
Yes. When selling unwrapped food, you must be able to tell customers about any allergens present. The NVWA says you must also name the specific types of cereals containing gluten and nuts. You can provide the information in writing or verbally, as long as there’s a visible notice telling customers they can ask for it.
No. The Netherlands Nutrition Centre describes wholemeal as being made from the entire grain; this says nothing about added seeds. For the texture you want, check the ingredients or an explicit product description.
No. That claim doesn’t tell you how much sugar the spiced breakfast cake you’ve chosen contains per portion. Check the nutritional information on the current packaging and pay attention to the portion size.
Don’t assume that all Dutch spiced breakfast cake contains iodised baker’s salt. In 2008, the Government Gazette described an agreement under which producers’ organisations encouraged their members to use baker’s salt containing 50–65 mg of iodine per kg of salt, from 1 October 2008, in bread, bread substitutes and other baked goods. If the ingredients of a particular cake matter to your choice, check the current label or supplier specification.
