If you only looked at social media in 2025, you’d think bakery demand was built entirely on laminated pastry and long lines. But the real story is more interesting than that: customers didn’t just want dessert, they wanted bakery “hits.” Items with undeniable texture, immediate gratification, and a reason to make the trip.
What people actually bought in 2025
Croissants became the headline product.
New York’s croissant arms race kept escalating. Places like Claude built serious attention around croissants and pastry drops, and the broader city conversation kept returning to “best croissants” lists and guides.
Bakery sandwiches moved from “nice add-on” to destination behavior.
Radio Bakery is the clearest signal: a bakery that openly prioritizes retail walk-in production, sells out, and draws crowds for both pastry and savory bread-and-filling combinations. That’s not a dessert trend, it’s a behavior shift: people are treating bakeries like their lunch spot.
The “classic cookie” still quietly won.
Even as croissants and sandwiches stole the spotlight, the everyday purchase remained: cookies people trust, recognize, and can share. That’s why legacy bakeries continue to outperform in repeat buying with cookies that are portable, giftable, and forgiving in a way most pastries aren’t. Like our Black & Whites which actually cross the destination and legacy trends.
Where William Greenberg fits
William Greenberg doesn’t need to chase the laminated-pastry race to win 2026. We already owns the categories customers reliably reorder: iconic cookies (Black & Whites), butter-forward classics, schnecken, cakes, muffins, pastries, and gift tins. The “bring something” items that show up at doors, meetings, and family tables.
In a year when people lined up for “the best,” a bakery with genuine heritage has permission to speak with more authority, not less.
Our prediction: the Top 3 bakery demand drivers in 2026
“Everyday luxury” will beat viral novelty
Customers will keep buying familiar formats but they’ll choose the version that feels worth it: better ingredients, better balance, better execution. This is where classic cookies and cakes keep gaining share because they’re easier to justify repeatedly than a once-a-month line experience.
Shareable + giftable packaging will keep rising
The market is moving toward bakery items that travel well: tins, boxes, assortments, and anything that can be brought to a gathering without anxiety. Radio Bakery’s sell-out model proves demand; gifting formats prove repeatability.
Savory will keep pulling people into bakeries
Bakery sandwiches aren’t a fad. They’re a gateway drug bringing in a lunchtime customer who then adds a cookie or pastry “because they’re already there.” Radio Bakery is the proof point; expect more bakeries to compete here in 2026.
Closing thought
2025 was the year bakery became a destination again where croissants and sandwiches made it loud. 2026 will reward the bakeries that turn that energy into repeat habits: icons, gifts, and everyday orders that feel special without needing a trend to justify them. That's where we come in.