Toast bread may be putting sandwich bread out of a job.
It's estimated two out of 10 loaves sold in New Zealand are the sandwich variety, while the rest is mostly toast.
Sandwich purists like Leonie Caskey-Hatton say they've noticed an increasing lack of variety and availability when they shop the bread aisle.
"Toast, toast, toast and more toast bread. Very, very few sandwich breads," she said.
She used to buy Nature's Fresh Wheatmeal Sandwich until it was phased out a few years ago. A spokesperson for the brand told Fair Go it wasn't selling enough loaves for it to be commercially viable.
Most recently, another sandwich variety crumbled away, with Tip Top Bakery ceasing production of its Wholemeal Sandwich in August.
Caskey-Hatton's concerned a limited sandwich selection will only get worse, with people switching to the toast variety "because they'll give up trying to look for and hunt for it".
Fair Go did a stocktake of the major supermarkets and counted 72 different sliced bread options to choose from — not including fruity or gluten-free varieties.
The overwhelming majority was toast bread, with 55 different varieties, as well as a few outliers, like two 'Very Thin' and four 'Super Thick' options.
That leaves sandwich lovers with the crusts — with the choice of just nine loaves labelled 'sandwich bread'.
So is it a dying bread? Breadmakers disagree, saying data over the past five years shows demand has stayed the same.
"Approximately seven out of 10 loaves sold in New Zealand are the toast variety and about two of those loaves will be sandwich," George Weston Foods' general manager Mark Bosomworth explained.
"I think the big debate between toast and sandwich does come down to what you're using it for and maybe there's just more versatility in toast. You can either toast it or make a sandwich whilst sandwich bread is really only for sandwiches."
A spokesperson for the country's other major bread manufacturer Goodman Fielder told Fair Go it's often adjusting what it makes to fit the needs of consumers.
"Decisions around product mix, including thin, sandwich, toast, and super thick, are based on these needs. Our latest research shows that just 23% of loaf bread is consumed as fresh sandwiches."
There is also a question of whether people are being encouraged to buy more bread, by choosing a toast variety. Most toast bread has 17 slices and two ends. A loaf of sandwich bread has 21 slices plus the crusts. That means a consumer is getting two more sandwiches per bag.
Bosomworth argues that choice remains with the individual, considering his company doesn't charge extra for slicing bread more than it does for slicing it less. He also teased a new line of Ploughman's hitting shelves in November, which he believes will satisfy fans of sandwich bread.
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