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Sourdough Starter

Fail

Demand is soft, at -29.5% this quarter, so Sourdough Starter is a Fail.

Flapen Score
44
44 / 100
Ranks 1,743 of 2,976 Grocery niches · −2 vs the category median of 46
Market size
£90K/yr139K searches / yr
90-day growth
-29.5%search demand this quarter
Competition
77%top-5 click share · 8 brands · 8 sellers

Flapen Score

Sourdough Starter against its category

The dotted line is the Grocery average. Past it, Sourdough Starter is stronger. Inside it, weaker.

44Fail
Big MarketTrendingHigh ConversionOpen MarketLow ReturnsPrice rangeAvg priceNo Dominant BrandLow Review BarrierQuality Gap
This niche Category average

Market

The Sourdough Starter market on Amazon at a glance

Shoppers on Amazon United Kingdom searched for Sourdough Starter 139K times last year and spent an estimated £90K. The top 5 brands take 92% of clicks. Demand peaks in Jan–Feb–Dec. Flapen scores it 44 out of 100, a Fail.

01 · Demand

6.1% of searches ended in a purchase last week.

Shoppers searched for this 139K times in the last 12 months. That counts every search on Amazon United Kingdom for this niche's terms. In the latest week, 6.1% of those searches ended in a purchase. Searches in the last 90 days moved -29.5% against the 90 days before. Searches, conversion and average price together put the market at an estimated £90K a year.

Searches, last 12 months
139K
Growth, 90 days vs prior 90
-29.5%
Conversion, latest week
6.1%
Market size, estimated
£90Ka year
Peak month
January2.4× the quietest month
Top search term
sourdough starter123K searches a year

02 · Price

A sale here is worth £10.53.

Listings sell for £10.53 on average, from £5.17 to £30.64. Amazon reports units sold in ranges. This niche sold 8K to 10K a year. The average listing sells 250 to 500 of them. At £10.53 that is £3K to £5K a year per listing.

Average price
£10.53under the $15 to $100 sweet spot
Price range
£5.17–£30.64
Amazon United Kingdom median price
£12.12across 27,606 niches
Units sold a year
8K–10K
Units per listing a year
250–500
Revenue per listing a year
£3K–£5K
Returns
0.1%of orders · Amazon United Kingdom median 0.6%

03 · Entry bar

The bar here is low.

69% of listings pay for placement with sponsored ads. 69% ship with Prime. On an average day, 8.7% of listings are out of stock. The average listing ranks #859 within Baking Supplies. It carries 440 reviews at 4.11 stars, so a new listing needs social proof before a better product.

Sponsored listings
69%
Prime listings
69%
Out of stock, average day
8.7%
Average rank
#859in Baking Supplies
Average rating
4.11 starsAmazon United Kingdom average 4.36 stars
Average reviews
440per listing
Listings tracked
13

04 · Newcomers

Amazon counts 2 of last year's 3 launches as successful.

3 products launched here in the last 12 months. Amazon counts 2 of them as successful launches, new products that hit its first-year sales bar. The brands on the shelf have sold for 24 months on average, so a newcomer is not facing entrenched names.

Launched, last 12 months
3
Successful launches
2Amazon's first-year sales bar
Average brand age
24 months

Products

Top Sourdough Starter products & what they sell for

Every tracked product: its share of the shelf, its reviews, and its price.

Competition

Competition: brands, sellers & click share

The top 5 products take 77% of clicks. A locked shelf that new listings rarely crack.

£0£9K£18K£27K£36K101001K10K Review Count Sales
Beatable (≤4.3★) Contested Strong incumbent (>4.7★)

Brands

8 rising

Sellers

8

Top-5 brand share

92%

Top 20: 100%

Top-5 click share

77%

Top 20: 100%

Open market

5%

  • Dough Dough at home46%
  • Kombuchaorganic26%
  • Phoenix Fungi9%
  • Good Gut Tribe8%
  • Freshly Fermented3%
  • Mad Millie3%
  • Open — no brand owns it (2 brands, 5%)

Demand

Sourdough Starter search demand

Weekly searches over the year, seasonality beneath. Pick a range.

4K3KSpike '25Holiday '25Spike '26DecJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJanFebMarAprMayJun

Peak months: Jan, Feb, Dec · busiest ÷ quietest = 2.4×

Search terms

Top Sourdough Starter search terms shoppers use

The exact words shoppers type, with yearly volume, growth, and conversion.

  • sourdough starter123K/yr
  • sour dough starter7K/yr
  • sourdough starter culture6K/yr
  • active sourdough starter3K/yr

Reviews and returns

What reviews say buyers love and hate about Sourdough Starter

What buyers praise, what they complain about and why they send it back, from the reviews.

Complain

Functionality-Overall16%−0.18

Didn't work for me

sometimes just doesnt work well

Sourdough starter didn't work. It didn't work.

Instructions/User Manual/Troubleshooting15%−0.15

Instructions incompatible website vs packet

I was initially concerned that there were no instructions

Instructions inadequate

Sour7%+0.57

the result wasnt the nicely risen sourdough loaf I was hoping for

My old sourdough died so got this

Not quite that punched in the face San Francisco sour

Advertised Vs Actual Product6%−0.07

it turned out fine...but not very happy about how this listing misled me.

a misleading picture here

Also, it is totally different from the image shown here so I think it is misrepresented and misleading

Quality-Overall6%+0.48

It's a total beast

Really poor quality

Love

Ease Of Use14%+1.12

Easy to use

Quick to get going

Easy to care for

Instructions/User Manual/Troubleshooting14%−0.15

instructions were clear

Followed instructions

easy to understand instructions

Sour14%+0.57

have produced some excellent sourdough loaves

The flavour was mild rather than strongly sour

tastes delicious - we did sour dough

Baking12%+1.05

This product was perfect for my baking needs

Highly recommended for home bakers

Great for new baker

Quality-Overall12%+0.48

Really good quality tools

Great Product, Great Company

Excellent product

Return

0.1% Return rate 27% Fixable by listing

Size-Overall20%▁▅▁█▁▁

so may not be enough for larger batches

The plastic bag of starter powder looks quite small

Quality-Overall17%▁▁▁▁█▇

It's a total beast

Really poor quality

Smell17%▁▅▁▁▁█
Gifting Purpose13%▁█▁▁▇▁
Spray/Flow7%▁▁▁▁█▁

FAQ

Common Sourdough Starter questions

Answered from the same tracked data.