If you want to eat or share sourdough bread straight away at a street festival, choose a loaf that’s sliced or easy to share and ready before you set off. If you specifically want a wholemeal option, check that the bread is labelled wholemeal: sourdough or multigrain doesn’t automatically mean wholemeal. Keep any fillings that need to be chilled cool, and check the information for your chosen loaf if you have allergies.
Want to eat without lengthy preparation or cutlery. Sliced bread or tear-and-share bread suits this need; if you choose part-baked bread, check whether it needs to be finished in the oven at home. Jumbo describes its white sourdough tear-and-share bread as part-baked.
Want to consider the type of flour as well as whether the bread is sourdough. According to the Netherlands Nutrition Centre, wholemeal bread is made from 100% wholemeal flour; a dark colour or a multigrain label isn’t enough to confirm this.
Need to be able to check which allergens their chosen bread contains before buying. According to the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority, this information is on the label of prepacked bread and must be made available in another way for unpackaged bread. If you need to eat gluten-free, look for a product explicitly labelled gluten-free.
First decide whether you want to eat the bread straight away at the festival or can prepare it at home. Then check the type of flour, the label and any information about the fillings you plan to take.
| What to consider | What to check before buying | Who it matters to |
|---|---|---|
| Eating and sharing | Is the bread sliced or easy to share? Does it need to be finished in the oven? | If I want to eat at the festival without a knife or share bread with others, I look for a format that’s ready to go; convenience is the top priority for around 36% of these consumers. |
| Choosing wholemeal | Look for the wholemeal label; sourdough, multigrain and a dark crust don’t, on their own, tell you whether bread is wholemeal. According to the Netherlands Nutrition Centre, wholemeal bread is made from 100% wholemeal flour. | I mainly want to know what type of flour I’m buying, rather than relying on the sourdough label. Choosing wholemeal matters most to around 29% of consumers. |
| Preparation | Check the baking instructions and storage information on the packaging. If you’re buying fresh bread in store, ask what your local branch has available. | If I can only buy bread just before setting off, or want to bake it at home, the preparation required determines my choice; around 21% of consumers prioritise this. |
| Allergens and ingredients | Read the label on packaged bread, or ask about allergens for unpackaged bread. If you need to avoid gluten, look for an explicit gluten-free label; check the ingredients of the individual product if you want to know whether it contains iodine. | If I need to avoid certain ingredients, I can’t rely on the word sourdough alone. Checking the ingredients comes first for around 14% of consumers. |
Sourdough describes how bread is made, not the type of flour used. According to the Netherlands Nutrition Centre, wholemeal bread is made from 100% wholemeal flour, so even multigrain sourdough bread isn’t necessarily wholemeal.
Look for the wholemeal label if that’s one of your buying criteria, and check the product description.
The fact that bread is easy to take with you doesn’t mean fillings that are normally kept chilled can travel without refrigeration. The Netherlands Nutrition Centre recommends considering how long food will keep out of the fridge when packing a picnic.
Take a cool bag for chilled fillings and follow the product’s storage instructions. If you can’t keep them reliably chilled, choose fillings that don’t need refrigeration.
Sourdough bread may contain wheat or spelt. Jumbo lists both in the ingredients of its white sourdough tear-and-share bread; allergens vary by product.
Check the allergen information for the variety you choose, and if you need to avoid gluten, only choose bread that is explicitly labelled gluten-free.
Jumbo describes a fresh sourdough range that’s only available in store, while Lidl says its fresh bread range may vary by branch.
Check what your local branch has available before setting off, and read the packaging of the loaf you’re taking with you.
These brands offer different things to consider when making your choice. Check what’s available at each shop and what the packaging says for the specific product.
Albert Heijn explains sourdough and the starter used to make the bread.
Jumbo describes fresh sourdough loaves available to buy in store, as well as a separate white sourdough tear-and-share loaf that’s part-baked.
Lidl lists, among other options, a 600 g organic brown multigrain sourdough loaf with seeds.
ALDI describes a bread range that includes freshly baked products and products you can bake at home.
PLUS describes Korenlanders sourdough loaves and provides baking instructions for a white sourdough baguette.
Dirk lists sourdough alongside white, wholemeal and multigrain bread in its general bread range.
No. Sourdough tells you how the bread is made, not what type of flour it contains. According to the Netherlands Nutrition Centre, wholemeal bread is made from 100% wholemeal flour, so look for the wholemeal label if that’s important to your choice.
Keep them cool while travelling to the street festival and follow the storage instructions on the packaging. When packing a picnic, the Netherlands Nutrition Centre recommends choosing products that suit the cooling facilities available. If you can’t keep food reliably chilled, it’s easier to take bread with fillings that don’t need refrigeration.
Yes. According to the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority, allergen information must also be available for unpackaged food, in a way other than on a label. Ask before buying; for prepacked bread, the information is on the label.
You can’t tell from the sourdough label. PLUS lists iodised salt as an ingredient in its white sourdough baguette, but that doesn’t mean it’s used in other breads. Check the ingredients of the variety you want to buy.
No. The sourdough label doesn’t make wheat or spelt bread gluten-free. Jumbo lists wheat and spelt in the ingredients of its white sourdough tear-and-share bread, and also offers a separate YAM sourdough loaf labelled gluten-free. When buying, check for the gluten-free label and the current allergen information for your chosen product.
