Crumbs! How Britain fell out of love with the sliced loaf

Only a third of people eat sliced loaf bread on a daily basis, down from about half in 2015, according to polling for the Grocer. Photograph: Stacey Newman/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Toast and jam, bacon sandwiches and boiled egg with soldiers may be at the heart of traditional British food culture but bread is making up an ever thinner slice of our diet – putting pressure on some famous brands.

While still one of the most ubiquitous items in shopping baskets, the popularity of the packaged sliced loaf has been sliding downhill since the Hovis lad puffed up a cobbled street with his bicycle to the strains of a brass band in the 1973 TV ad.