bakingbuyer - November 2011 - 50

ers with new products aimed at the health market, there’s a good chance your bakery can turn a higher profit. The key to success lies carefully directing your marketing messages to the right types of customers and remaining true to producing products with great flavor.

Whole Grains, A Necessity
When working with whole grains, it’s important to know your customer base. Customers looking for whole grains are health-conscious from the start. “The first thing you want to commit to when offering whole grain products is a clean label,” says Michel Suas, president and founder of San Francisco Baking Institute. “The customer looking for that is someone who is oriented with health.” Think like a consumer and create productive strategies to market and sell. Customers seeking whole grain products don’t want a cookie to be too big. Although they might treat themselves to two or three small cookies, if the portion is too large, they’ll dismiss it before having tried it. Smaller portions make as much difference to the healthy customer as ingredients. Visually, smaller portions please the healthy consumer’s eye before they even try the product. Traditionally, whole wheat is associated with a certain flavor that some find too strong, but there are alternatives you can offer to knock that flavor down a bit. To offer customers a taste that is closer to that of white flour, use white wheat. It’s still whole wheat, but because of
50 · BAKING BUYER · NOVEMBER 11

the strain, there is a lighter pigment in the bran, the reason for the flavor associated with whole-wheat products. “If you’re doing pastries and things like that and you’re trying to keep away from that ‘branny’ flavor that people associate with whole wheat, white wheat might be the choice,” says Michael Eggebrecht, bakery consultant of Artisan Baking Resources. Super fine milled flours are another way to get around the strong flavor while adding fiber. “You can add up to 30% in a hamburger bun or a baguette and you won’t notice it,” Suas says. “It still gives you a creamy color, brownish, but it’s not dark, you don’t have that harsh crumb that sometimes whole wheat will give you.” If you’re not oriented with the production of bread, pan bread is probably the easiest way to start. “It doesn’t have to be a 12 grain, it can be nine or eight, as long as it’s done properly,” says Suas. Moisture in the crumb is important when baking whole grain bread. If there are too many grains in the bread, it will turn out crumbly. Soaking will help the seed take on as much water as pos-

Yagoot from Busken Bakery appeals to younger, health-conscious consumers.

sible. “That way, when you do your final dough, the seed doesn’t take anything from it. This helps you have a moist slice of bread, but also it holds together,” Suas says. While breads may be the first thing that comes to mind when talking about whole grains, there are ways to do sweet products as well. According to Suas, a cinnamon sticky bun actually lends itself to whole wheat flour. He suggests using whole wheat flour from ConAgra called Ultragrain. The product made from this flour will stay much softer because of the high moisture retention. A rich aroma and “healthy” flavor are additional pluses when doing a sticky bun with whole wheat. “That whole wheat tang, with the caramelized brown sugar sweet, gives you a really unique flavor that for me is actually a plus on the sticky bun,” Suas says. The same goes for a chocolate chip cookie, “The chocolate and the whole wheat gives you a very good flavor. I wouldn’t recommend to do 100%, let’s say a

bakingbuyer - November 2011

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