If you’re buying bread just before your coffee morning and want to serve something with a distinctive sourdough flavour, a fresh rustic loaf is a good choice for the occasion. If fibre is your priority, choose a loaf that is specifically labelled wholegrain. If you want to shop ahead and serve warm individual portions, look at bake-at-home rolls and check how to prepare them. Always check the ingredients and allergen information for each product: the words sourdough and organic do not, on their own, tell you whether iodised salt has been used.
If you want to slice the bread yourself and show off its crust and sourdough flavour, you could buy a freshly baked sourdough loaf from a shop shortly before serving. Allow time for slicing and arranging it.
If fibre content matters to you, don’t choose on the basis of the sourdough label alone. Look for a loaf labelled wholegrain and compare the fibre listed per 100 g across specific products. The Netherlands Nutrition Centre describes wholemeal bread as a type of bread with more dietary fibre than white bread.
If you’re buying for several guests, you’ll want to check the grains, allergens and type of salt used before serving. Sourdough is not automatically gluten-free; the Netherlands Nutrition Centre also says that using baker’s salt is not compulsory.
First, decide when you can buy or bake the bread. Then compare the type of bread and its label with what matters to you and your guests, and what you plan to serve with it.
| What to consider | What to check when buying | Who it matters to |
|---|---|---|
| Flavour and presentation | For bread baked in store, ask when it was baked and choose a whole or pre-sliced loaf to suit your presentation. | If I want to put a whole loaf on the table, the crust and distinctive sourdough flavour matter to me; around 31% of consumers would put flavour and presentation first. |
| Wholegrain and fibre | Check that it is labelled wholegrain and read the ingredients; compare the fibre per 100 g across products. | When choosing bread to serve with toppings, I mainly want to be sure that it really is wholegrain. For around 25% of consumers, this would be the main consideration. |
| Serving occasion and portions | Compare a whole loaf, a smaller loaf and bake-at-home rolls by quantity, storage instructions and the oven time required. | I shop ahead for a small group and don’t want to prepare more bread than I need; ease of serving would come first for around 19% of consumers. |
| Ingredients and allergens | Read the label for cereals containing gluten, allergens, and baker’s salt or iodised salt. | When guests have questions about ingredients, I want to be able to check which bread I’m serving. Label information would be the top priority for around 25% of consumers. |
Sourdough doesn’t tell you how much wholemeal flour a loaf contains. Two sourdough loaves can differ in this respect.
Look for the wholegrain label, read the ingredients and compare the fibre listed per 100 g if it matters to your choice.
The Netherlands Nutrition Centre says that using baker’s salt is not compulsory. So, labels such as organic, artisan or sourdough don’t confirm which type of salt has been used.
Check the ingredients for baker’s salt or iodised salt if that information matters to your purchase.
If you’re having a coffee morning with just a few guests, you may have some of a whole loaf left over. The quantity you buy and when you buy it will affect how much you need to store.
Consider a smaller loaf or rolls. If you buy a whole loaf in advance, the Netherlands Nutrition Centre recommends freezing it in portions straight away.
Sourdough bread may contain wheat, rye, spelt or barley. The method of preparation doesn’t make bread with gluten-containing ingredients gluten-free.
If gluten-free bread is required, check for an explicit gluten-free label and keep the product separate from regular bread. If you have questions about wheat, check the ingredients and allergen information separately too.
These examples show different types of bread. Always check the information for the specific product when you buy it; a brand name doesn’t tell you which ingredients or nutritional values apply to another loaf from the same brand.
Albert Heijn lists its packaged AH Liefde & Passie Nederlands desem volkoren, weighing 600 g, as an in-store product.
Jumbo describes a range of rustic sourdough loaves that is only available in store.
Lidl lists a rustic wholemeal wheat sourdough loaf and an organic brown multigrain sourdough loaf with seeds.
PLUS lists both a smaller wholemeal multigrain sourdough loaf and organic wholemeal sourdough rolls from Dutch Bakery, ready to bake at home.
Dirk includes sourdough alongside other types of bread in its range.
Aldi describes a range of bread that includes white, brown, wholemeal and freshly baked loaves.
No. Sourdough refers to how the bread is made, not necessarily the grain used or the fibre content. Check whether the loaf is labelled wholegrain and, if needed, compare the ingredients and fibre per 100 g.
No. The Netherlands Nutrition Centre says that using baker’s salt is not compulsory. If you want to know whether baker’s salt or iodised salt has been used, read the ingredients list for the loaf you’ve chosen.
No. Sourdough bread may contain gluten-containing cereals such as wheat or rye. If you need a gluten-free option, check for an explicit gluten-free label. If you have questions about wheat, check the ingredients and allergen information separately.
According to the Netherlands Nutrition Centre, freeze the bread in portions straight after buying it if you want to use it later. That way, you can take only the portions you need out of the freezer for your coffee morning.
