For coffee and cake, choose sliced wholemeal bread with a texture to suit your preference: a fine slice if you want bread that’s easy to top or lightly toast, or a more rustic option if you prefer more bite. Then compare fibre and salt per 100 g, and check the ingredients and allergen information. The term ‘medium sliced’ doesn’t tell you how thick the slices of a particular loaf are.
If you want a slice of bread alongside your coffee and cake that’s easy to top or lightly toast, the slice matters more than a rustic appearance. Jumbo and ALDI stock fine wholemeal bread; check the texture of the specific loaf before choosing.
If fibre, salt or baker’s salt matters to you, check the nutritional information and ingredients of the bread you’re buying. Values and recipes vary by product, and a description such as ‘fine’ won’t tell you anything about them.
If you only have a few slices with your coffee, choose a loaf size that suits how much you eat. The Netherlands Nutrition Centre recommends freezing bread in portions straight after buying it if you plan to store it.
First decide what kind of slice and texture you’d like with your coffee and cake. Then check the nutritional information and choose an amount of bread that suits how often you eat it.
| What to consider | What to check when buying | Who it matters to |
|---|---|---|
| Easy-to-handle slice | Check whether the bread is sliced and what the slices and crust look like; don’t rely on ‘fine’ or ‘medium sliced’ alone. | If you want a slice alongside your cake that’s easy to top or lightly toast, the slice comes first. Around 40% of consumers give ease of handling their top priority. |
| Nutritional information | Compare fibre and salt per 100 g, and check the ingredients list for baker’s salt or iodised salt. | If you eat wholemeal bread every day and mainly want to check fibre, salt or baker’s salt, the label is more useful than the slice description. This is the top priority for around 30% of consumers. |
| Rustic texture | Check the description for the crust, sourdough, grains and seeds; also check the allergen information for the specific loaf. | If you’d like the bread itself to add more flavour and bite alongside your coffee, you may prefer a more rustic texture to a fine slice. Around 20% of consumers prioritise texture. |
| Storage and how much you eat | Choose a whole or half loaf to suit how much you eat, and check the storage instructions. | If you only have a slice with your coffee occasionally, you’ll want to avoid the rest of the loaf going stale. This is the main consideration for around 10% of consumers. |
‘Fine’ and ‘medium sliced’ don’t describe how much fibre or salt a loaf contains. You can’t tell how thick the slices are from those terms alone, either.
Use the product description to assess the slices, and compare fibre and salt separately in the nutritional information.
According to the Netherlands Nutrition Centre, using baker’s salt when baking bread is not compulsory.
If the presence of iodised baker’s salt matters to you, check the ingredients list or ask about it when buying unwrapped bread.
If you only have bread with your coffee occasionally, a whole loaf could go stale before you finish it.
Consider buying half a loaf, or freeze sliced bread in portions straight after buying it, as recommended by the Netherlands Nutrition Centre.
These supermarket chains offer different types of wholemeal bread. Always compare the specific product: a rustic whole loaf and finely sliced bread aren’t the same thing.
As well as standard wholemeal bread, Albert Heijn sells sliced loaves with a more rustic composition.
Jumbo Fijn Volkoren is worth considering if you’re looking for finely sliced bread for everyday use.
Lidl offers a rustic wholemeal wheat sourdough loaf among its freshly baked breads.
ALDI offers Fijn Volkoren as a sliced option, as well as a separate Extra vezelrijk variety.
At PLUS, you can look at options such as coarse wholemeal bread if you’d prefer a different texture to a fine slice.
Dirk offers several Bakker van der Akker wholemeal breads, including boerenvolkoren and casinovolkoren.
If you’re considering rye bread with your coffee and cake, first check the product format for this option. The name refers to a bread roll, while the description also mentions sliced rye bread, so don’t assume it comes in a particular form.
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A rye option to consider if you’d like a different bread texture alongside your coffee. Check the packaging to see whether the product is a bread roll or sliced bread, and whether the format suits how you’ll use it.
If they matter to your choice, also check the nutritional information, ingredients and allergens on the current packaging.
Check the slices of the specific loaf rather than relying on ‘medium sliced’ alone. Look at the product description, photo or packaging, and check the slices in store if you’re unsure.
No. According to the Netherlands Nutrition Centre, using baker’s salt is not compulsory. Check the ingredients list or ask which salt has been used when buying unwrapped bread.
Check the allergen information for the specific loaf on its current packaging or product page. The ingredients and allergens in a fine variety may differ from those in a rustic loaf, even within the same supermarket chain.
The Netherlands Nutrition Centre recommends freezing it in portions, preferably straight after buying it. That way, you can take out just the slices you need for each coffee break.
