Choose a whole multigrain or artisan loaf if you want to cut thick slices yourself for Sunday roast leftovers or generous toppings. ‘Whole’ doesn’t tell you how firm the loaf is or how thick the slices will be. Pre-sliced bread saves you the effort, but you can’t choose the thickness. For either option, check the ingredients and allergens and, if it matters to you, whether baker’s salt is listed on the label.
If you want to top your bread with Sunday roast leftovers, a whole loaf lets you choose the thickness of each slice. Albert Heijn, ALDI and Dirk show examples of whole multigrain loaves. Check whether the texture of each loaf suits the toppings you have in mind.
Pre-sliced bread saves you the effort, but the slices come in a set thickness. If you’d rather serve warm bread alongside your meal, a bake-at-home baguette is another option. Just allow for the preparation time and bear in mind that it’s a different type of bread.
Check the grains and allergens listed for each loaf. The term ‘multigrain’ doesn’t in itself mean that bread is wholemeal or gluten-free. According to the Netherlands Nutrition Centre, using baker’s salt isn’t compulsory, so check the label if you want to know whether it has been used.
First decide whether you want to choose the slice thickness yourself or serve bread without having to cut it. Then check the ingredients of each product that matter to you.
| What to consider | What to check when buying | Who it matters to |
|---|---|---|
| Cutting thick slices yourself | Check that the loaf is whole and unsliced. If you’re having it sliced in store, ask for your preferred thickness. | For roast leftovers or generous toppings, I want to choose the thickness of my slices myself. For around 46% of consumers, having that control matters most. |
| Easy serving | Check whether the bread is pre-sliced. For bake-at-home bread, check the preparation instructions. | At mealtimes, I want to put bread on the table without cutting it first, or I deliberately choose warm bake-at-home bread. Around 27% of consumers prioritise this convenience. |
| Ingredients and labelling | Read the information about grains and allergens. Check for baker’s salt or iodised salt if that’s relevant to your choice. | If certain ingredients influence my decision, I want to know what’s in the bread before I buy it. Checking the label comes first for around 27% of consumers. |
A whole loaf is an unsliced loaf, not a description of a particular slice thickness. Cutting it yourself lets you choose how thick the slices are, but doesn’t in itself tell you how well a slice will hold its toppings.
Choose a whole loaf if you want to cut the slices yourself. If you’re having it sliced in store, ask in advance what thicknesses are available.
The Netherlands Nutrition Centre describes multigrain bread as bread made with at least three different types of grain. The term doesn’t tell you whether the bread is wholemeal or gluten-free.
Read the product name, ingredients and allergen information for the loaf you’re actually buying.
According to the Netherlands Nutrition Centre, bread doesn’t have to be made with baker’s salt. So you can’t tell whether it’s included from the type of bread alone.
Check the label for ‘baker’s salt’ or ‘iodised salt’ if that information matters to your choice.
A baguette has a different shape and serving format from a whole large loaf. It also needs to be prepared before you serve it.
Choose a bake-at-home baguette if you want warm bread with your meal. If you mainly want individual thick slices that you can cut to your preferred thickness, look for a whole large loaf.
Albert Heijn offers, among other options, AH Vloerbrood meergranen heel and AH Zaans meergranen heel. A whole loaf is a useful option if you want to cut the slices yourself.
Jumbo has a multigrain bread range. Jumbo Meergranen Heel Meergranenbrood is one example of a whole loaf.
Lidl describes its multigrain bread as firm and lists wheat, barley and buckwheat among the grains in the blend.
ALDI offers a whole boeren-volkoren-meergranenbrood and a pre-sliced luxe vloerbrood meergranen. These give you a clear choice between cutting the bread yourself and doing less slicing.
PLUS sells multigrain bread and wholemeal multigrain baguettes for baking at home. These baguettes are a good fit if you want to serve warm bread alongside a meal.
Dirk offers Bakker van der Akker’s whole multigrain artisan loaf and describes it as firm, with grains and seeds.
No. The Netherlands Nutrition Centre describes multigrain bread as bread made with at least three different types of grain. ‘Multigrain’ doesn’t tell you whether the bread is wholemeal. Check the product name and ingredients list of the version you’re considering.
No. According to the Netherlands Nutrition Centre, using baker’s salt when baking bread isn’t compulsory. Check the label for ‘baker’s salt’ or ‘iodised salt’ if you want to know whether the loaf you’ve chosen is made with it.
The grains and other ingredients vary from one loaf to another, so you can’t reliably identify allergens from the term ‘multigrain’ alone. Always read the allergen information on the packaging of the bread you’re buying, even if you’ve previously chosen a different version from the same brand.
