Young Baker’s Trip to Europe

B.I.R.T – Young Bakers Trip to Europe
AB Mauri GBI & IBA 2023

The trip begun with the team visiting AB Mauri’s Global Bakery Ingredients facility in Holland. This is their newly built Research and Development centre where they can cater for all aspect of the baking industry. After a warm welcome we were given a tour. The site houses numerous scientific laboratories for all manner of micro-biological, ingredient / enzyme and product testing. We were then taken into their state of the art test bakery which is set up in sections for sweet goods, pastry, Artisan, and plant. On the industrial bakery side there are several small-scale pilot plants able to mimic the larger plants for more accurate assessment of their product development. From the test bakery, they can professionally photograph the product, then run full shelf-life testing on all the products, then be able to run full sensory evaluations as well.

 

The following day was day was spent on enzyme theory and technology with bread being made in the test bakery to show the improvements to the product as the different enzymes were added to the recipe.

 

Day 3 and we were presented with their sour dough technology and sensory evaluation of the sour dough products to help us understand the subtle taste differences and how to distinguish and rate them. We were introduced to their sweet bake technology, egg replacement / vegan products and calorie / sugar reduction. Cake and muffin products were made with their egg replacement technology. The products had good volume, very good texture and tasted great as well. Eggs are difficult to replace as they have a number of functional qualities within a baked product, their replacement system really showed how far their level of technology has come. The products made with their sugar reduction system were also very impressive as well.

 

We were also shown their croissant technology and how you can take a raw, frozen croissant, place it on a tray and bake it into a fully proofed and high-quality product. The internal texture was as comparable to a freshly made product. Again, a very impressive system.

 

Day 4 and we were off to visit a large industrial bakery, Bouman Bakers. We were greeted by the owner and given a full tour of their bakery. It’s always good to see how different plants are set up and run. Their roll plant ran a tray racking system, the racks were 3 to 4 metres high and were loaded into a static prover with the racks being moved around automatically. They were then baked in three separate rack ovens. The bread plant was also very impressive and well run. The despatch area really showed the scale of their production. A well-run area with scanners reading each stack entering their truck to let the drivers know how much of their orders had been fulfilled

 

Next was the visit to Royal Kaak, a large bakery equipment manufacturer. To start we were given a very thought provoking presentation on the possible direction of the baking industry and we were asked where we saw the industry going in the next five years and beyond. We were given a tour of their factory where the equipment is built. They also have a full testing facility where you can use their equipment to run trials on your products or see how their equipment operates. We also got to see the latest version of their M.D.D. mixer and were shown the advancements they have made with making the lid tidier and easier to clean. A very impressive looking mixer indeed. The mixers origins have come from a ECS mixer, a NZ designed and built machine.

 

For our visit we were given the opportunity to see how their sheet and cut line runs and how it handled a high hydration dough’s. Impressive to see how it maintained the bubble structure within the dough. The dough was cut into a rectangle type shape and baked off so we could sample it, very nice indeed

 

Next, we were off to Munich in Germany to attend IBA, the largest bakery exhibition held every three years. The show consists of 10 halls packed with all things baking. Each hall is the size of a football field, probably larger. This year there was 1073 exhibitors from 46 countries with 57,000 visitors from 150 countries.

 

The show begins on the Sunday and runs through to Thursday, with halls set aside for ingredients, packaging, and machinery. When you arrive, it is hard to know where to start. Starting in hall A1 is as good a place as any, then working your way around.

 

There was a great deal more companies dealing with silos, flour and ingredient handling systems. They are now catering for the medium sized baker to the very large-scale bakeries and their systems were very impressive. Everything is fully computerised for greater control and accuracy. Companies like hb-technik, Impianti silos, VMI and Daxner offer full systems through to your mixing stages.

 

Mixers were a dominant feature of the show, from the small hot bread shop sized mixer up to the massive industrial size. This is an area that really struck me, the size of the mixers coming through were huge. I’ve seen the large horizontal mixers from Peerless before, but more companies are doing this with spirals and cake mixers. Mixers are also being designed to be more hygienic and easier to clean and the new Diosna is a very good example of this. From mixers with funky paint designs to fully stainless-steel cast bodies for durability, the selections on display would certainly make buying a new mixer difficult, you were spoilt for choice.

With M.D.D mixers, there are still two main brands, Baker Perkins Tweedy high speed mixer and the Royal Kaak, Benier high speed mixer. Both have excellent features like pressure vacuum, lid locking on the mixer housings and not on the lid. Lids have been tidied up and are now easier to clean. The big differences are in the impeller designs, the Tweedy has the flat bars for shearing through the dough. The Benier has round bars for more of a gentle movement through the dough. It would be interesting to see the two mixers side by side to see the differences in dough development.

 

 

There were plenty of dividers. From the cheap knock offs to the leading brands which are now servo driven. The new Baker Perkins Accurist and the Benier are perfect examples of this. These machines are easier to run, have more control on the pressure exerted on the dough and far easier to clean. Vemag, had a very impressive display with their range of bread and bun dividers plus their systems for portioning was also very impressive.

 

Bun dividers ranged from the small units able to divide and round 30 pieces up to the machines for the large-scale industrial bakeries. AMF, Stewart, Baldwin and Vemag certainly catered for the larger plants.

 

Then there were the bun divider moulders for the larger bakeries. W&P have the Multimatic and the Tewimat. Oddy has their Novatec 2. From here, you then step up again to mini roll plants. The W&P with their Selecta, Modular compact roll plant and Trima were good examples. Konig have a large-scale compact roll plant, having the options of making rolls and indented products. The divider really has come a long way.

 

 

 

 

Rounders and moulders again no shortage of choice. When looking for an industrial moulder in the past there use to be only a couple of companies but this year there is certainly more choice with two companies out of Turkey competing in this space and fundamentally the moulders looked okay. Baker Perkins Multitex 4 has improved, with easier changing of the main belt. The Benier BM600 is Baker Perkins main competition, both great performing pieces of equipment.

 

 

 

 

There is a fair amount of choice on sheet and cut lines for making flats breads, artisan breads and now artisan rolls; e.g.: Royal Kaak, Rheon, Rijkaart, Rademaker and Konig.

 

Provers and ovens: from static provers to large scale systems there was a huge number of companies in this space. There was a great number of Deck and Rack ovens from Revent, Polin, Sveba Dahlen and W&P. Mid to large sized Artisan bakeries with Auto-loading systems from Kornfeil and Heuft then on to the industrial bakeries with Spooner Vicars, Royal Kaak, Industrial Bakery Line, Farhat bakery equipment and AMF. The electric fired ovens are starting to come through but are costly to run. AMF have designed a hydrogen fired oven to compete in this area. Then there’s the Serpentine ovens from Middleby, ovens that are tall and slim. Three companies that stood out at the show for full bakery systems were Stewart Systems, Verhoeven bakery equipment and Sarmasik advanced bakery systems. Their equipment and build quality were outstanding.

 

 

 

 

Vacuum cooling was still present and there were more companies in this space. The companies represented were Verhoeven, along with Revent, W&P and Aston Foods.

 

Finally, the slicing and wrapping or packaging of our products. AMFs new slicing and Bagging system was very impressive indeed. Everything is servo driven, fully programable settings for blade widths or slice thicknesses, blade tension and guide settings. The bagger was also servo driven and easy to set up and run. UBE or United Bakery Equipment did not have any equipment on display this time, but their slicers and bagger are still top in their class for industrial bakery applications.

Gasparin also had a very nice-looking slicer unit. Hoba had a very impressive bread bagger using flow wrap technology to make a bread bag with a gusset and a ponytail so it could be tagged. For bagging smallgoods, flow wrappers have gained dominance in the market and there were a number of companies displaying their wares. Ulma, a Spanish company has some great machinery for packing these products.

 

Robots certainly had more of a presence at the show, with scoring and cutting of products. Companies like ABI and Konig do this very well. Diosna had a robot for moving mixing bowls around, AMF had a unit for moving dough troughs. Companies around the area of scoring the dough were ABI, Konig, AMF, which had the auto trough moving system, and DIosna which had the mixing bowl system. Hoba had a very nice spider type set up for picking and placing finished goods. The 3D chocolate printing was fantastic (see picture on right).

 

There were more companies than I had seen before with Baking Pans. American Pan had an impressive stand and again, with the size of the straps of tins and trays coming through, it would be impressive to see the plants they are going to be used on.

 

Pastry equipment is always a big part of the show. From Rondo to Rijkaart to Rademaker, pastry is well covered. The hand sheeters or pastry breaks are now electronically driven for more even and consistent control of the sheeting process.

 

Cake mixing and depositing is represented from the standard Hobart, planetary mixers up to the massive bulk mixers from Polin. Cake and batters are also well covered. Depositing batters and icings start with Beldos then move up the automated systems from Vemag and Handtmann. Robotic depositing for consistency and computerised depositing of batter into shapes and designs was very impressive.

 

Washing hands before entering the bakery is always a bone of contention for most companies. When we visited the bakery in Holland they had a forced hand washing system which did not allow the baking personnel access to the bakery unless they has gone through the gate system. This was also seen at the show and made by a company called Kohlhoff.

 

Other areas of interest included Multi plants from Sugdens which make crumpets, pikelets and hot cakes to name a few. Intralox were show casing their direct drive belts for drum spirals, Llulemande with their new ingredient technologies. There were the latest topping applicators from Burford. There was a doughnut filling injection system. New flour testing units from Brabender, with the Glutopeak and the Viscoquick for dough rheology.

 

 

 

The companies show casing their shop outfitting equipment was also very impressive, their display units really made the baked products standout. Throughout the show were fantastic looking and tasting cakes, donuts, bread, and pastries. It’s difficult not taste everything. The confectionery was also incredible, new icings for cakes really made the product stand out.

 

 

 

Competitions are held throughout the week and cover bread display pieces and chocolate work. Very impressive pieces of work and a huge amount of skill going into the work.

 

 

In all, the show was fantastic, a chance to see the new machines and technology coming through. A chance to meet up with old friends and make new ones. These shows are incredibly valuable for making connections to the wider industry.

 

I would like to thank the NZAB for giving me the opportunity to accompany the team to Holland and to Germany for the show.

Kind regards,

Ralph Thorogood

Report on Baking Industry Exploration

Introduction
My name is Emily, and I bring three years of experience in the baking industry, predominantly in craft bakeries. My recent overseas experience focused on exploring innovative and alternative equipment and ingredients. This report will highlight my findings, particularly on cutting-edge equipment and new ingredients, along with their potential applications in the craft bakery sector.

 

Objective
The primary objective of my exploration was to identify and understand new technologies and ingredients in the baking industry, exploring their potential benefits, applications, and networking opportunities. This report aims to share insights gained from this experience and provide valuable information for enhancing bakery operations.

 

New Equipment Discoveries

Cutting Machines – KONIG iScore Bread Slicing System

KONIG’s iScore Bread Slicing System, an iba Award winner, utilizes AI and robotic functions to ensure consistent product quality. With the capability of 12,000 cuts per hour per robot, this machine, adaptable to various dough types, enhances production efficiency. Its 3D scanners and AI system contribute to precise cutting, allowing bakeries to maintain quality with reduced staffing.

Danish Folder – Forms and Frys Folding Machine Range
The Forms and Frys Folding Machine Range, particularly the compact Charlie folding machine, provides automated filling and folding for Danish pastries. With a capacity of 3,000 to 9,000 products per hour and options for different folds, this machine aids mid-sized bakeries in achieving uniformity and reducing production time.

Croissomat by Rondo
Rondo’s Croissomat automates croissant production and offers customization in croissant size and row quantity. Ideal for bakeries seeking increased automation, the Croissomat streamlines the production process.

Peelboard – Ahlborn Maschinenfabrik Liftboy
Ahlborn Maschinenfabrik’s Liftboy is a semi-automatic loading aid for deck ovens. It enables quick loading and unloading, reducing oven loading time to less than 20 seconds and minimizing temperature drops.

Exploration of New Ingredients

Egg Replacements

• Unifit E-Max by Interfiber
  Unifit E-Max, a blend of wheat, citrus, pea, and inulin fibers, serves as a total egg replacement. Tested on brioche breads, it demonstrated improved crumb delicacy, volume, and freshness extension. Suitable for vegan products, particularly bread.
• Soy Austria’s Soy-Based Alternative
  Designed for muffins and waffles, Soy Austria offers a soy-based alternative in both powder and liquid forms. Made from European soybeans, it provides a natural, non-GMO, and cost-effective solution for replacing eggs.
• FOVO by AB Mauri
  AB Mauri’s FOVO is a versatile egg replacement suitable for various bakery products, even in high egg-content items like sponges. Although not vegan due to milk proteins, FOVO offers a taste and texture similar to real eggs.

Dairy Alternatives

• Good Food Group’s Danica Sweetwhip
  Danica Sweetwhip, a dairy alternative by Good Food Group, is a sweetened whipping cream suitable for cakes and desserts. Stable during freeze-thaw processes, it provides options for both dairy and plant-based consumers.
• Backaldrin’s Vegan Product Range
  Backaldrin offers a range of vegan solutions, including fillings, yeast doughs, and CakeMix vegan for cakes. These products maintain high quality in taste and texture despite the absence of traditional dairy ingredients.
  
• VeganPRO by Expertarom Food Ingredients
  VeganPRO, a concept by Expertarom Food Ingredients, utilizes soy milk to create plant-based products with a creamy texture. Catering to vegan and dairy-free diets, it offers options for health-conscious consumers.

Sugar Alternatives

• Incredo Sugar
  Incredo Sugar provides a 30-50% reduction in sugar for products like cakes, cookies, and chocolate. The structured cane sugar enhances sweetness perception while reducing actual sugar content.
• expertLight by Expertarom Food Ingredients
  The expertLight product range by Expertarom Food Ingredients facilitates the creation of healthy desserts with reduced or no sugar. Offering solutions for ice cream, pastry, and confectionery, it ensures taste and texture without compromising health goals.

Specialized Flours
Foodsolute offers a range of special flours, including almond, sesame, peanut, pumpkin seed, sunflower, pea protein, hemp, and grape seed flours. These flours provide increased fermentation stability and allow for cleaner labels by reducing the need for additives.

Benexia’s chia seed-based flour, Xia Powder 435 W LM, offers additional benefits, including higher dietary fiber, protein, omega-3, and essential minerals. Suitable for various bakery products, it helps maintain a soft, spongey texture over time.

Networking and Future Opportunities
During my exploration, I engaged with bakers from different countries, establishing contacts that could prove invaluable for future collaborations and learning experiences. This network could potentially open opportunities for gaining bakery experience outside of New Zealand, specifically in Australia and the UK. The goal is to bring back new ideas and techniques to enhance the bakery I work for in New Zealand.

Relevance to Current and Other Craft Bakeries
The FOVO egg replacement from AB Mauri is particularly relevant for my current bakery due to legislative changes impacting egg availability and prices. By reducing reliance on eggs, bakeries can navigate egg shortages and price fluctuations more effectively. FOVO offers a practical solution to maintain a steady cost of raw materials, even in the face of fluctuating egg prices.
In conclusion, the baking industry is continually evolving with advancements in equipment and ingredients. Exploring these innovations not only expands knowledge but also presents opportunities for collaboration and improvement. As the industry embraces new technologies and ingredients, craft bakeries can enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and meet the evolving demands of consumers.

2023 Europe Research Trip

In 2019, I won the NZ Young Bread Baker of the Year competition. Due to Covid19 my research grant was held off until October this year when I got the chance to travel to Europe to attend IBA in Germany and visit the AB Mauri Global Technology Centre in the Netherlands. During my trip I investigated advancements around shelf life extension, technology and sustainability. The following article is a brief summary of what I discovered and what I believe we need to be looking at for the future.

 

Shelf Life Extension

Advancements in Enzyme Technology
There have been some recent advancements in softening enzymes. Pretty new to the scene are thermostable amyloglucosidases. These cleave off glucose units from amylopectin and are selective to the ends of the branches, increasing softness, browning and product volume. The reaction increases simple sugars in the finished product with sensory testing indicating a 4% added sugar products tastes like 10%. It’s already used in America and could possibly be trialed in NZ for buns and rolls.

 

Another group of enzymes where advancements have been made are in thermostable maltogenic amylases. These cleave of maltose from amylopectin, reducing its branching and capability of crystallization or staling. Maltogenic amylase is already in use in our improver but there have been some advancements in getting different hyperactivity and denaturing temperatures. With this we could be looking at optimizing how much and which is used depending on the oven temperature and bake profile for each product and plant.

 

During research on enzymes, an issue came to light with “Baker’s Lung” with recent movement around it in Europe. Baker’s lung refers to the high risk that bakers and millers face of developing asthma due to repetitive exposure to workplace irritants- flour dust and enzyme dust. Over 25% of people suffering from asthma have developed it from occupational exposure and baker’s lung is one of the most common forms. While bakeries aren’t anywhere near as dusty as they once were, it is still a risk, especially when it comes to weighing ingredients by hand. If we see dust on tables and floors there is no doubt bakers are breathing this.

 

Enzymes addition in baking is a constantly changing and fairly recent development, starting in the 1960’s with amylases and evolving to the complex enzyme stacking used today. Research has now shown that enzymes are a significant irritant and the EU is currently in the process of legislating the handling of improvers. It’s only a matter of time until NZ follows suit and we need to be proactive in finding ways to further reduce dust in bakeries for people, product and process. Solutions like micro-dosing and closed dosing systems, low dust or dedusted ingredients, hooded dust extraction, dust reduction misting, cleaning with vacuums instead of brushes or brooms or even worse air guns! Another option is moving to centralized weigh up of ingredients where one facility with all the gear handles weighing up for all sites.

 

Sensory Testing
A bit of food for thought- Generally, we can add more softener as needed to what our machinery can handle – but why are we still chasing softness. It all comes down to rethinking the idea that softness equals freshness, we all know it doesn’t. In New Zealand, we already have extremely soft and fluffy products. Without upgrading and redesigning equipment, particularly slicers, we are already close, if not at the maximum of what our machinery can handle. I pose the question – do consumers really want a softer product?

I believe we should be investigating that through sensory testing to try and define what exactly freshness is perceived as and what is acceptable to the consumer. While we already do sensory testing, it isn’t to the level I saw at AB Mauri. They have a state-of-the-art testing facility program run by sensory scientists. Internal and external panels meet 3 times a week at the facility where testers are segregated, and lighting adjusted to remove visual bias.

 

Sterile Loaf Petri-Dish
Another interesting initiative I saw at AB Mauri was creating sterile loaves. These are then used as a petri-dish and exposed to different environments and tested to see what microbes grew or even challenged with these microbes. From this they can then develop a specific process or recommend what antimicrobials should be used. NZ is ideal for implementing something similar. Being a long and skinny country with very highly variable conditions what works and grows in Auckland is likely different to what grows in Dunedin.

 

Mould Inhibition
During my time at IBA I saw a lot of mould inhibitors on display, particularly with sorbate. I spoke with a company, Millbio, that has developed a clean label source of sorbic acid through rowan berry extracts. The sorbic acid is micro encapsulated, so it doesn’t kill off yeast during proving. They are claiming an additional 5 days shelf life with no detriment to product volume. We have an issue with sorbic acid dusting on our muffin line and using encapsulated sorbic acid could be great option to investigate. Another company I spoke to, Vedeqsa, has developed alcohol and alcohol-free sorbic acid atomized misting. They offer post bake and prebake solutions and claim an additional 4 days shelf life.

 

Hygiene
Hygiene is another area of opportunity to improve. I saw forced hand washing stations in use in the Netherlands and shown at IBA. The benefit of using a gated system is employees physically cannot pass without thoroughly washing. At IBA various forklift and trolley washing equipment were also displayed as well as in-situ conveyor cleaners and high-pressure sanitizer misting systems.

 

Holistic Approach
What I am trying to get across with all these different areas of shelf life extension is that increasing shelf life requires a multifaceted, holistic approach – you can’t just add more mould inhibitor and expect that will solve to the issue. We need to be looking at each contributing factor and building a comprehensive system. All areas and their contribution need to be assessed to build a detailed shelf life matrix.

 

Technology

Bag Closures

At IBA I visited kwiklok and saw a few new things – improved, thicker cardboard tags with a cleaner break off, fiber-based tags and tags with a paper band or ribbon that can be used for promotions. They also had a new wheel-less Kwiklok that improves bunching of the bag, has a cleaner break off and prevents bags jamming. With wheeled kwikloks, a significant issue cause of jams and downtime is when it inhales the plastic and wraps around the wheel shaft.

It’s been over two years since NZ transitioned to cardboard tags and we continue to have issues with jamming and hold/closure of the bag. Suppliers such as Kwiklok don’t tend to approach us with their new technology and we instead need to pressure them. Over the last 20 years, we have also been reducing bag thickness from as high as 40 micro to as low as 22 micro without considering the impact on closure, it is likely the tag hole needs to be smaller which should improve the hold and increase shelf life from better sealing.

 

Mixers
During a visit to Royal Kaak, I got the chance to see a new Benier MDD. They have redesigned a round impellor for less dough shearing, added centralizing lid pins, moved the lid seal and lid locks to the bowl for easier cleaning, improved sealing and reduced lid weight. The guards are fully sealed for washed down and it has an automatic CIP bowl/lid cleaning system.

 

Auto Dosing
I saw numerous dosing systems of all different sizes. Powdea offered an interesting modular system that reduces cost at entry by starting with a system that fills dixies along a conveyor and can be added to later, converting to a fully auto dosing system that feeds into the mixer.

AMF Slicer
They’ve gone back to no top drive conveyor on the infeed. Added air knives for cooling on the blades and auto tensioning blades. The frame is free standing with Perspex for visibility. The blade lattice doesn’t have ceramic fingers to reduce gum build up.

Gated hand washing
While these aren’t new technology, seeing gated hand and boot washing was the first time I have seen them used in baking. Kohlhoff offered various models from as simple as a gate with sanitizing, to full boot and hand washing.

Sustainability
During the trip we had some good discussions around sustainability and the future of baking with the overall goal of reducing the energy taken to produce a loaf. Options such as moving to hybrid/electric ovens, boiler-less provers, solar water heating and treating heat as a battery. From what I have seen, I believe NZ is ahead of Europe here and we have already made some good in progress on energy reduction. My site is already boiler-less, we have a wet back system up the oven flue which heats an insulated tank throughout production to use on a cold start up the next morning – effectively treating heat as a battery.

 

An area to look further into is reduction to mix and bake time through ingredients and equipment. Various suppliers were offering up to 20% bake time reduction through ingredient technology and American Pan were promoting their oil-less e-pan range

 

Another key topic was food waste. The Kai Commitment is a huge step forwards here in NZ with the ambitious goal of halving our food waste by 2030. Reaching this requires serious commitment from both manufactures and retail. As aforementioned, food manufactures need to commit to researching and building a comprehensive system to increase shelf life and thereby reduce food waste.

 

It’s also important that we future proof these changes so that we do not limit our capability for an evolving market. A lot of changes have been implemented in the last few years and we have often taken the lesser option to get the projects on the board. In some cases, this has a risk in that it could limit what we are able to make or change in the future. When we are looking to make changes or improvements, we need to carefully assess the impacts and plan for the long term.

My IBA Trip 2023

As a plant baker for the last 13 years from Auckland I was very excited to be given the opportunity to attend the IBA 2023 convention in Munich.

 

Currently as a Production Manager at Quality Bakers Auckland on their main loaf line, I was excited to look at new innovations in the plant machinery among many other things

 

Areas of focus included
• Packaging & bagging systems
• New technology around dividers, rounders & depanners
• New bake technology and energy recover
• Topping options Better topping retention (which not knocked off by de-panners)

Here are my findings from the IBA convention that stood out to me.

 

The HOBA packaging line – a loaf packing line that creates and seal bread from roll instead of pre loaded wickets. What stood out to me was the elimination of waste output that would otherwise be incurred with carrying packaging inventory. The ability the line had to create and seal a tightly packed and tagged loaf package was really amazing.

I also saw a new servo driven AMF Mark 75 Bagger. This was first servo driven bagger I had ever seen and has upgraded and improved features for optimal production and product uniformity.

 

It also has a 75 LPM (Loaf per minute) capacity which makes if one of the most efficient on the market.

Pros to this machine are that has better capacity then most current slicers 45/50 LPM vs 75 LPM. It also has servo driven automatic guiding for better accuracy. This also cuts out operator errors and time used for set up by hand. It is equipped with a patented flusher discharge conveyor for smoother transfer and reduction in waste – does away with manual spring loaded flusher bars.

This machine also had a phuenmatic driven last loaf pusher that does away with manual handling & potential foreign matter contamination of traditional manual loaf pushers.

For high producing loaf plants that want to ensure finished product uniformity, while achieving maximum efficiency and throughput this machine seemed to tick all the boxes.

I also looked into other equipment such as adjustable cylindrical to conical adjustable rounders, this one is from Glimek. Again, the first time I had ever seen a rounder with an adjustable scroll which aids in production.

The rounder grabbed my attention because of the upgraded features it offers in the dough production process. It can be adjusted on flight for different sized dough pieces to minimize doubles and gluten build up and can be easily cleaned at end of day production – most older molder rounder you cannot
access inside of the scroll without removing the entire scroll and rebalancing it to the cone which can be very time consuming.

Dough weight ranges can go from as little as 30g to 1.8kg. It also had a frequency converter for adjustable cone speed. On top of the cone it also has a mechanical flour duster – means we can run wetter doughs for yield optimization if wanted and also has a hot and cold air blowing unit if and an oiling device if desired.

 

Another thing I looked into at the convention was Bake Time Reduction – This is a really cool one that I enquired about at the convention with Lallemand.

 

Bake Time Reduction works with the application of an enzyme solution in which basically works so your dough needs less water, less water in the dough, less time to bake, less energy consumption and extra capacity with time gained. Yield remains identical as due to the decrease in bake time, the scale weight can be dropped!

While in Europe for the convention, BIRT also organized a bakery tour at Amarant Bakkers in the Netherlands.

 

Being a plant bakery much of the process flow, equipment, products etc. were the same. But one thing that stood out to me was their needle depanning system. In NZ we use suction depanners so this was something quite different. What I noticed was the amount of the topping that was able to be retained on their high top loaves with this style of depanning. I found this to be a very affordable and efficient way of depanning as there is no need to carry inventory of depanner cups and no need for vacuum powered energy.

 

Aside from the multiple machinery, sustainability solutions was another standout for me at the convention mainly around packaging. Kwiklok displayed a lot of innovation in this area with a lot of products on offer that utilize Post-Consumer Recycled (PCR) material or other materials that are recycled and recyclable.

 

They’re new Enviro Lok range has 34% less plastic than the standard Kwik Lok closure, 67% less water and 44% less carbon emissions emitted, and it runs on your current Kwik Lok machines. This is a good for manufactures as there is no need to invest in new kwiklok machines which makes switching to a more sustainable option easier.

 

Their Fibre Lok range was impressive also. It is a bag closure made from 100% natural cellulose fibers and 100% post-consumer waste. This means there is zero plastic.

Another standout at the convention was E Pans from American Pans.

These promise to be more energy efficient bread manufactures as ePANs heat and cool faster, reducing oven energy costs while improving proofer temperature control and decreasing the amount of space needed for pan cooling. In fact, the ePAN bottom cools 17% faster and the e²PAN perimeter band cools 25% faster. High tensile aluminized steel on the pan means less usage of raw material resulting in less resource consumption. The pans are also lighter in weight with certain varieties of pans weighing up to 50% less than traditional ones – the benefit is it makes the manual handling of the tins in a plant bakery more manageable for employees. The lighter weight also eases transit so has less wear and tear on conveying systems in a plant as tins are lighter. They also cool faster.

One of the most beneficial things about attending the convention was the network connections I made and being able to meet several of our suppliers from overseas that were at the convention. Not only did we get the opportunity to network at the convention we also were lucky enough to spend a week with the AB Mauri team at their technological center in the Netherlands where we were given industry insight, training and introduction of their processes such as sensory testing. We were also exposed to some of their work they are doing in areas such as Fermentation & Preservation – with the strong support of Microbiology, Rheology, Analytical and Biochemistry labs.

The sensory testing was a lot more advanced that the product evaluation we do currently and found that a similar process would be beneficial in my workplace. They have a state-of-the sensory lab which helps with their R&D development. The panelist used in the testing go through a series of evaluations to ensure there is no bias and that they are fit for purpose. We were able to participate in a sensory testing.

 

We also got to sit in on several seminars around enzyme functionality – where we were given insight into basic enzymology & the application of them in baking. We where also introduced to enzyme stacking.
We also got to see some innovations in their Sweet Bakery segment, showcasing Vegan, Calorie Reduction, Egg replacement and Maurishine – a Vegan eggless glaze that completely replaces egg traditionally used to shine or glaze baked products.

As a plant baker in the industry for 13 years, I found this once in a lifetime opportunity extremely beneficial in my baking career.