Baking & Snack - February 2009 - 91

PREMIUM BREAD PROCESSING

Dedicated to

Diversity

Although often run on the same lines used for
standard pan bread, premium bread production
requires special attention throughout the process.

BY SHANE WHITAKER
n a time when discretionary income for many consumers is sparse, will shoppers continue to purchase bettertasting, higher-quality, better-for-you products or will
they instead opt for value? That is the question many
bakers are currently asking themselves, as they determine
whether to invest more in producing premium baked foods
or focus on baking commodity-style breads and rolls.
"Even with a down economy, premium breads have not
hit their saturation point as of yet," said Mark Ungashick,
executive vice-president, Shick USA, Kansas City, MO.
Premium bread sales are still growing, agreed Matt
Zielsdorf, vice-president, sales and marketing, The Peerless Group, Sidney, OH. Although premium bread sales
surged for several years, Bob Anderson, president of
Reimelt Corp., Odessa, FL, suggested they have slipped in
recent months with the downturn in the economy.
Margins are generally higher for premium breads because they command higher prices without ingredient
and production costs being proportionately higher. However, premium bread production can also lead to scheduling nightmares as most bakeries run these products on
the same lines where they run standard products.
Most bakeries would love to run white/whole-wheat
on one line and premium breads on another because of
the efficiencies; however, this rarely happens, according
to Mr. Ungashick. "Most plants don't have the luxury of
scheduling their lines in this manner and keeping the volume maximized on all lines," he explained. "Even a larger
bakery with two or more high-speed bread lines is likely
to find itself running multiple products on all lines."
Rick Rodarte, director of engineering, Stewart Systems,
Plano, TX, estimated that 60 to 70% of high-speed bread
bakeries run both standard and premium bread products on the same lines. "It used to be more specialized,

ᮡ This ram-and-knife divider uses servo-drive technology to control and
monitor pressure load in the cavity, and it puts less pressure on the dough.
TURKINGTON USA

and you would have a line for premium and a line for
white bread," he said. "I think the reason for that is bakers
wanted to continuously run that standard product, but
as demand for premium breads has gone up, they have
been forced to cut into some of their standard production time on those dedicated lines."
Although premium loaves can often be made on lines
designed for conventional soft bread, bakers must take
into consideration some equipment needs that assist in
the high-speed production of these wide pan breads.
INGREDIENT HANDLING. The motivations for using
an automated ingredient handling system for premium
bread production are virtually the same as for standard
loaves, except bakeries making premium bread are generally using more ingredients, thus it may be able to better control and store those using an automated system.
The reason bakers have automatic ingredient handling
is twofold, according to Mark Rosenberg, president of
Gemini Bakery Equipment, Philadelphia, PA. "One is
cost savings because you can achieve $2 to $3 savings per
hundredweight,"he said."And just as importantly, if you are
doing it with automatic ingredient handling, your
product is more consistent."
Automating minor and micro ingredients on a highFebruary 2009 / BAKING & SNACK

Baking & Snack - February 2009

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