A half loaf is a good fit for your Easter shopping if you only need bread for a few breakfasts or lunches. First, work out how much you expect to eat and which type of bread you want. Then check the packaging and freeze any slices you won’t use soon. The Voedingscentrum recommends keeping opened wholemeal bread in a kitchen cupboard for 2–4 days or in the freezer for 1–3 months. Follow any more specific storage advice on the packaging.
If you need bread for an Easter breakfast and a few lunches, a half loaf lets you buy an amount that suits those meals. For slices you want to use later, the Voedingscentrum recommends freezing the bread and taking out only what you need each time.
Half loaves make it possible to serve, for example, wholemeal bread alongside brown bread, multigrain bread or waldkorn bread, as well as other Easter food. Albert Heijn, Jumbo, PLUS and Dirk list these types of bread in their ranges.
Albert Heijn, Lidl, PLUS, Dirk and ALDI list half loaves with ‘volkoren’ (wholemeal) in the product name. Check the packaging of the loaf you choose for the latest ingredients, allergens and nutritional information.
Work out how many slices you’ll use over Easter, then choose a type of bread and decide what you want to freeze straight away. When you do your shopping, check that your chosen loaf is available at your store.
| What to consider | What to check when buying | Who it matters to |
|---|---|---|
| The right amount | Count the meals you expect to have and work out how many slices you might freeze. | In a small household, I don’t want to be left with more fresh bread than I can use after Easter breakfast. Getting the right amount matters most to around 37% of consumers. |
| Type of bread | Read the bread name, ingredients, allergens and nutritional information on the packaging of the variety you choose. | If I’m looking for a half wholemeal loaf, I want to know exactly which variety I’m buying and what’s in it. The type of bread is the main deciding factor for around 27% of consumers. |
| Variety on the table | Choose the types of bread you actually want to serve and buy the right number of packs. | For an Easter brunch, I’d rather serve small amounts of different breads alongside the other food. This variety is the top priority for around 18% of consumers. |
| Availability | Check your chosen variety with your own store and see whether you can order it, have it delivered or collect it. | If I want to sort out all my Easter shopping in one go, the half loaf needs to be available when I plan to shop. For around 18% of consumers, this is the most important requirement. |
Brown bread, multigrain bread, waldkorn bread and wholemeal bread are not automatically interchangeable. The name alone doesn’t tell you which ingredients, allergens or nutritional values apply to the pack you’ve chosen.
Decide which type of bread you want to serve, then read the information on that specific pack.
For opened wholemeal bread, the Voedingscentrum recommends keeping it in a kitchen cupboard for 2–4 days. The Voedingscentrum advises freezing bread you won’t need until later and taking it out of the freezer as needed.
Set aside only the slices you’ll need for your next meal, and follow the storage advice for the rest of the loaf you’ve chosen.
Albert Heijn lists products including AH Boeren grof volkorenbrood half.
Jumbo lists products including Rond Bruin Half and includes both half and whole loaves in its bread category.
Lidl lists a product called Halfje extra volkorenbrood.
ALDI lists products including Extra vezelrijk volkorenbrood half and Boeren volkoren meergranen half in its fresh daily bread range.
PLUS lists Boeren volkoren half and Korenlanders Rond Waldkorn half, 400 g.
Dirk lists half wholemeal and multigrain loaves from Bakker van der Akker.
The Voedingscentrum recommends keeping opened wholemeal bread in a kitchen cupboard for 2–4 days or in the freezer for 1–3 months. Follow any more specific storage advice on the packaging of your loaf.
Yes. The Voedingscentrum recommends freezing bread and taking out only what you need each time. Check the advice for the variety you choose, too: PLUS says to freeze Korenlanders Rond Waldkorn half on the day of purchase and use it within one month.
The packaging helps you check the ingredients, allergens and nutritional information for the bread you’re buying. Albert Heijn and PLUS point out that product information may change, so a product page you looked at earlier may not match the current packaging.
