June 2016

POKKET

Mike Timani’s inspiring rise

NOURISHING WHAT ’ S NEXT.

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Bananas are one of the most

sweeten baked goods.

BY LAURA AIKEN

PERSEVERANCE

There are many things that make a great baker, pastry chef, chocolatier or cake designer. One needs a certain natural talent and inclination for making food magic, alongside a passion for it. One also needs an understanding of ingredient interaction and recipe process. These are the building blocks, but as most bakery owners know, these things alone do not ensure a great employee. Nor, a great entrepreneur, and you can read about one who surely fits the bill in our cover story on Fancy Pokket owner Mike Timani on page 10. The fundamentals of industry stars are harder to pinpoint, but arguably it’s a mix of devotion and discipline that outranks passion (and could usurp talent alone) when it comes to qualities you want to foster in your team, and yourself.

The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology published a study in 2007 titled “Grit: Perseverance and passion for long-term goals” by Angela L. Duckworth, et al. Grit is generally characterized as one’s ability to stay the course in reaching a long-term goal. The abstract summarizes: “Grit did not relate positively to IQ but was highly correlated with Big Five Conscientiousness [conscientiousness is one trait in a Big Five personality traits model used by psychologists]. Grit nonetheless demonstrated incremental predictive validity of success measures over and beyond IQ and conscientiousness. Collectively, these findings suggest that the achievement of difficult goals entails not only talent but also the sustained and focused application of talent over time.”

JUNE 2016 | VOL. 76, NO. 5

EDITOR | Laura Aiken editor@bakersjournal.com 416-522-1595 1-888-599-2228 ext. 250

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Perhaps, in training employees and in personal development, where how-to often strikes so high in importance, more emphasis should be put on improving and understanding willpower and how to harness it more efficiently.

Perseverance, that ability to sacrifice in the short term for long-term gain, is a key trait to look for when hiring because if you are part of their long-term goals, the persevering person is likely to stick around. Figuring out who has got it is the tricky part, and even more difficult to ascertain, where does the trait come from? The Association for Psychological Science published an article in 2015 called “Hard Work or Hard Times?” by Wray Herbert. The author points to a recent investigation by psychological scientist Michael Daly of the University of Stirling, U.K., that looked at two British cohort studies following more than 15,000 children over many decades with a focus on their perseverance, attention skills and early development. A definite link was seen between poor selfcontrol as a youth and joblessness as an adult. The results of the combined studies are clear, writes Herbert: “It appears that poor self-control is a fairly stable aspect of personality, one that brings a host of disadvantages over the long haul…It’s not shocking that adults who never outgrow these traits – who lack concentration, break rules and do sloppy work – find fewer job opportunities.”

Conscientious traits like grit (pursuing goals over years) or self-control (resisting temptation in the moment) help rally morale when your team is feeling defeated by the competitor down the street. It is a trait to value highly within yourself, and remember: it is as much, if not more, of what keeps the doors of your bakery open as your delicious products. While Herbert’s indication of the British studies suggests that a lack of self-control tends to be a stable trait, there is much evidence to suggest self-control can be improved. Perhaps, in training employees and in personal development, where how-to often strikes so high in importance, more emphasis should be put on improving and understanding willpower and how to harness it more efficiently. There is a wealth of information on the topic, with tips covering the gamut of meditation (science has been paying a lot of attention to this technique in recent years), to selftalking mind tricks and getting better sleep, more nutrition and exercise. Encouraging and teaching self-discipline in a formal way could just pay off on your bottom line. And in a competitive industry like baking, that’s where the going gets best for the grit. / BJ

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¦ industry news ¦

briefly | Pikanik wins Jake the Baker award; Will it be a good year ahead or a bad one for

People on the move | for more news in the baking world, check out our website, www.bakersjournal.com

Outlook mixed for foodservice industry

As Canadians deal with weaker growth in disposable income and high levels of household debt, the foodservice industry is expected to face challenging times in the near term, indicates the latest report from the Conference Board of Canada, “Industrial Outlook: Canada’s Food Services Industry–Winter 2016”.

“Canadians now carry the highest debt-to-income ratio among G7 countries,” said Michael Burt, director of industrial economic trends in a Conference Board release. “Consumers that prioritize paying off debt could spell bad news for Canada’s foodservices industry, since one of the first items that households cut back in difficult economic times is dining out.”

The report points out that growth in consumer spending on dining out varies greatly by province. Alberta’s pessimism about future job prospects has led to a decline in per capita spending on food services, and Quebec, weighed down by an aging population and poor economic growth, has experienced only modest improvements in food services spending per capita. In contrast, Ontario and B.C. continue to experience strong growth in

food services spending. Buoyed by strong consumer demand and robust housing sectors, Ontario and B.C. have seen restaurant receipts rise by an average of 5.3 and 6.9 per cent per year respectively since 2012, which compares to an increase of only 3.2 per cent across all other provinces.

A weak Canadian dollar is encouraging international tourism, while also making Canadians rethink travel abroad, which should support rising foreign and domestic tourism spending at foodservice operations. This accounts for more than one-fifth of the total Canadian foodservices spend.

Labour shortages will continue to challenge certain regions of Canada and keep pressure on industry wages.

Canada’s foodservices industry is expected to benefit from innovations, such as food-ordering apps.

As cost growth outstripped revenue growth in 2015, pre-tax profits fell to $1.6 billion. Industry profits should improve starting this year, rising to $2.1 billion by 2020. However, profit margins will remain steady averaging around 2.8 per cent over the next five years.

Colin Powell new VP at AMF Bakery Systems

AMF Bakery Systems promoted Colin Powell to vice-president of global operations. Powell will be responsible for leading all aspects of solution delivery, including operations, project management, and customer service to commercial bakers worldwide.

A 17-year company veteran, Powell has served in a variety of management positions at AMF’s headquarters in Virginia, culminating in his role leading operations for the Richmond plant. With the rapid growth and development throughout the Asia Pacific market and the proliferation of low-cost manufacturing in China, Powell agreed to lead AMF’s Asia Pacific operations in 2005.

“Colin was faced with an enormous challenge of leading the commercial operations at AMF’s Tianjin plant in addition to our Singapore customer service office, and the broader Asia Pacific sales team,” said Jason Word, AMF’s executive vicepresident, in announcing the promotion. “Thanks to his leadership and the strong team he has built in the region, we have developed a thriving manufacturing base in China and are well positioned to continue our growth throughout Asia Pacific as well as other emerging markets.”

Caldic expands portfolio to include Barry Callebaut

Caldic has formed an industrial partnership to distribute Barry Callebaut cocoa products to Canadian and U.S. food manufacturers.

“Caldic is committed to customer service excellence through innovative application development, technical expertise and high quality ingredients. This new distribution partnership will help us strengthen our existing customer relationships, while creating opportunities to serve new customers across Canada and the U.S,” said Steve Owen, senior vice-president of Caldic, in a news release. “This is a very exciting time for Caldic in North America as we continue to execute our strategic plans to expand our product offerings and further support our customers.”

Over 90 educational sessions at IBIE 2016

The opportunity comes only once every three years, and this fall’s International Baking Industry Exposition (IBIE), will be hosting an expanded educational program for bakery professionals at all levels. The program begins the day before the expo, which runs Oct. 8-11 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

The show has added more than 20 new seminars featuring more content for upper management. In total, the education program includes over 90 sessions covering a broad range of topics intended to encourage companies to bring their entire teams to train every employee on role-specific strategies for running a more profitable business.

“For more than a year, we’ve worked with industry partners and key stakeholders to put together the most comprehensive, in-depth program to date — one

And the winner is...

Elaine O’doherty of Ardent Mills (R) Ron Letourneaux of Baker’s & Us and Joanna Schultz of Pikanik.

Runner-up no more, this year’s winner of the Jake the Baker award is Joanna Schultz, owner of Pikanik in White Rock, BC.

“This is my third year entering, and I was laughing last year when my friend said, ‘You’re like the Susan Lucci of this contest, always coming in as the runnerup,’” Schultz said.

With over a dozen bakeries vying for the 2016 award, Schultz impressed the judges with her innovative approach to business in all categories, including operations, product innovation, marketing and community involvement. With the victory, Schultz received an award plaque, an all-expenses paid trip to Toronto for Bakery Showcase (May 1-3) and will be featured on the cover of Bakers Journal.

“It makes me feel really proud to be acknowledged within the profession by my peers,” she said. “I think what we’re doing out here is unique, and I’m excited that more people are going to hear about it.”

Congratulations to Pikanik, and thank you to all of the other worthy entrants in this year’s contest. The Jake the Baker Award is supported by our industry partners Ardent Mills and Baker’s & Us.

highly relevant for all employees at every level, from management to R&D, from bakery owner to the line worker,” said Andrea Henderson, IBIE committee member and education task force chair, in a press release.

This year’s speakers include subject matter experts and business moguls including Todd Hale, Lee Sanders and Ramon Rivera.

The education program opens on Oct. 7 with a business of baking for beginners seminar and the Tortilla Industry Association’s two-day Technical and Management Conference.

The seminars at IBIE are organized into nine targeted tracks: AIB Technical, Retail, Bread Bakers Guild of America, International, Management, Sales and Marketing, Ingredients & Processes, Food Safety & Sanitation, and Retail Hands-on (Cake &

Pastry Decorating).

Sessions are held daily from 8:30 a.m. to noon and in the evenings to give attendees the opportunity to explore the expo floor during trade show hours.

A few highlighted topics include:

• Closing the Workforce Gap

• The Future of Wholesale Baking with Marijuana

• Baker’s Dilemma: PHO Free Toolbox for Fats and Oils

• Preparations for Product Recalls

• Clean Label: Meeting Consumer Expectations and Overcoming Baking Challenges

• Mid-Year Consumer Update with Todd Hale

For more details on IBIE and the education program, visit IBIE2016.com.

Researching a better nutritional facts panel

A change of placement and simplified icons can improve the effectiveness of nutritional facts panels, suggests a study led by Michigan State University (MSU), and featured in a recent issue of the journal Food Policy

The team of scientists found that adding labels to the front of packages presenting a few key ingredients commonly associated with health issues (sugar, sodium and fat) improves attention to critical nutritional information and the selection of foods.

The results support a body of research indicating that the governmentmandated panels, which currently call for comprehensive information on the side of products, could be improved, said Laura Bix, MSU packaging professor and co-lead author.

“Our team’s mission is to leverage basic research on visual cognition and human performance to the design and evaluation of better labels, thereby improving health outcomes,” said Bix, who co-led the study with Mark Becker, a MSU psychologist.

The researchers found three factors that improved a consumers’ ability to make better nutritional decisions:

• First, moving a few key nutrients from the side panel to the front allowed elements commonly

associated with disease to be found quickly.

• Second, a traffic light system that coded foods that were high in potentially dangerous nutrients with red, those that were moderate in yellow, and those that were low in green helped to quickly convey nutritional information.

• Third, the team also discovered that simplifying the information improved consumer retention.

“Almost all changes to labels on the front of packages were more likely to be detected than the same changes on the traditional nutrition facts panels,” Becker said. “More than 98 per cent of trials with change on the front labels were identified, while a majority of changes to traditional ones were missed.”

In other countries, labeling is boiled down to key elements that contribute to diet-related illnesses – calories, fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt. The study suggests that U.S. consumers could benefit if that same strategy was employed there, Becker said.

¦ concepts for success ¦

BY DIANE CHIASSON

BEST LAID PLANS

Baking delicious goods is one thing. Making money off them is another. Here are some tips on how to write a business plan for success.

Ahhh, the smell of freshly baked bread or sweets! But what about that sweet smell of success? Having a business plan for your bakery can be the key to making your business thrive.

Since 2010, there has been steady growth in the market for bakeries in Canada, and projections for future growth are even more positive. Your business plan will help you to take advantage of these opportunities.

1.

WRITE YOUR STORY

When you write the story of why you wanted to start your bakery, you have an overview that can serve as an introduction for business plans you may need to present to banks or other financiers. More than this, you have a story you can use in your future branding and promotion of your business. Customers love to know the story behind the businesses they patronize, especially smaller ones. If you started baking out of your home and then everyone loved your baked goods so much you had to set up your bakery to cope with the demand, or if you inherited your bakery from a family member who had the secrets to a family recipe going back generations, brief descriptions of these stories are vital to your business plan.

2.

KNOW YOUR MARKET

It’s imperative to do a market analysis that justifies the demand for products. Maybe you have been selling at local markets or fairs and selling out consistently. This kind of information should be front and centre in your market analysis. If you have survey information from your area or relevant statistics and demographic information for your potential customers and your area of operation, this all needs to be included here. Maybe you can find out the average amount

people in the local area spend on eating out or on baked goods. What about current sales, pricing and product features of your competitors? Do your own research but remember government census figures or information from local or industry specific trade groups can also help here.

3. PRESENT YOUR OFFERING

Detail what baked goods you will sell. This is called your business offering. Will it be pies, cakes, doughnuts, breads, ethnic-baked goods or specialty items such as gluten-free products? Are you planning to include custom-made orders, such as birthday or wedding cakes, or after school cupcake decorating for kids? Mention your plans in this section and explain, from the viewpoint of your market and competitor research, why you chose to offer these particular products or services. You should include details on who you are partnered with, your combined expertise and any other pertinent information on your business operations in this section. Maybe you have hired an accountant to handle the administrative side of things so you can bake to your heart’s content. This information needs to be clearly understood by potential investors. It also makes your business plan the full story of how you are running your bakery.

4. WRITE YOUR MARKETING PLAN

All business owners know they have to market, but now with your earlier steps in place you can really look at what and how you will market and to which people. Your earlier steps should make it easier for you to see where your strengths lie, what competitive edge you have in the marketplace, what niche you can fill and which products should be in high demand. Outline all of this together with any other promotions, advertising or public relations efforts you will be making. What will your daily specials be? What discounts will you offer on any products that don’t sell immediately?

5. PROJECT FINANCIAL RETURNS

Never forget you are running a business and your income must be greater than your expenditures or you will not survive,

let alone flourish and prosper. With all the earlier information from your business plan you can now project how things might be expected to go financially. You will need to list out all your costs and all your possible sources of revenue. See things with a critical eye and look at how to tighten up some of the ideas you want to create with your bakery. With the information your business plan provides, you can ensure your ideas are going to deliver what is needed to make the bakery a successful business and you can tweak them where they look like they might fall short or enhance them where they seem even better than you had imagined.

6. THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Particularly if you plan to use your business plan to generate financing, you should include an executive summary. This would go at the beginning of your business plan. However, only after you have done the earlier steps and written your business plan can you really see everything in summary. Include the highlights from everything you have done earlier and you will have a plan. Not only can you use a business plan to obtain financing, but it can be a tool when re-evaluating your business going forward, a focal point for your marketing and promotion, a key to what branding makes sense for your business and so many other things. Maybe you just enjoy baking and that’s fine, but don’t neglect this vital step. It will be much easier for you to translate your love of baking into the kind of business success you want and need so you can continue baking!

/ BJ

Diane Chiasson, FCSI, president of Chiasson Consultants Inc., has been helping foodservice, hospitality and retail operators increase sales for over 25 years. She is recognized as an industry leader in providing innovative and revenue-increasing foodservice and retail merchandising programs, interior design, branding, menu engineering, marketing and promotional campaigns and much more. Contact her at 416-926-1338, toll-free at 1-888-926-6655 or chiasson@ chiassonconsultants.com, or visit www.chiassonconsultants.com.

WHATEVER YOUR JOB, FORD TRANSIT CONNECT WORKS.

Every business wants a bigger footprint. The Ford Transit Connect is big in all the right ways. It parks and drives like a midsize SUV, thanks to electric power-assisted steering, yet boasts space to grow. Bottom line? Transit Connect has the confi gurations, available technologies and options to fi t any business like a custom-made work glove.

Meet the Transit Connect

• Transit Connect Van with up to 148 cu ft of cargo space

• Standard dual sliding doors for easy loading

• Maximum payload 1,630 lbs*

• Towing capacity 2,000 lbs**

Mike Timani’s Fancy Pokket is growing and giving back | BY

JULIE FITZ-GERALD

FANCY POKKET

There are several reasons one should get to know Fancy Pokket owner Mike Timani, each equally important as the next.

As president and CEO of Atlantic Canada’s largest producer of pita bread, this award-winning entrepreneur has guided Fancy Pokket through six expansions. His original 1,000-squarefoot operation, which opened in 1989, is now an impressive 45,000-square-foot facility in Moncton, N.B.

This summer, Timani will be opening the doors to a brand new state-of-the-art dedicated gluten-free facility located in South Carolina. At 58,000 square feet, Fancy Pokket USA is touted as one of the largest dedicated gluten-free facilities in North America. Its gluten-free products, including sliced bread, hot dog and hamburger buns, muffins, rolls, cookies, bagels, etc., will be distributed across the U.S. and Canada. By housing its own freezer space, the building can also accommodate the company’s Monctonmade line of products, including pita bread, pizza crust, bagels, tortilla wraps and flatbread, to allow for distribution throughout the U.S., and vice versa for the Canadian facility.

}“From the South Carolina location we will be able to reach more than half of the U.S. population – 170 million people – in less than a 14-hour drive. That’s one of the main reasons we chose this location. We want to be able to ship our product from Moncton to the States and we will have that kind of distribution,” Timani says.

It’s easy to see why he was named Immigrant Entrepreneur of the Year in 2015 and received an Excellence in Business Award and the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2010.

in New Brunswick. As an immigrant himself, Timani knows the plight of refugees all too well and he felt compelled to assist in the best way he knew how.

Timani’s surprise he thought he recognized him. It seemed impossible. Timani called out his name and shockingly, he answered. The two knew each other from Lebanon and their serendipitous meeting gave Timani an immediate sense of relief after an arduous journey.

Once in Canada, his plan was to study engineering, however he soon discovered that due to his immigration status his plans could not be realized.

It’s easy to see why he was named one of Atlantic Canada’s Top 50 CEO’s in 2016, Immigrant Entrepreneur of the Year in 2015 and received an Excellence in Business Award and the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2010.

Timani made headlines again in February when he announced that his company was giving a two-month supply of pita bread to the approximately 900 Syrian refugees who had recently arrived

In 1976, Timani fled a civil war in Lebanon, arriving in Toronto with his luggage and one phone number in his pocket — his cousin’s. After five hours with airport immigration, he emerged from Pearson International Airport.

“It’s not an easy thing to face — not knowing exactly who to talk to, where to go — I had no idea, no idea and I was on my own.”

He walked out of the airport unsure of what to do next. A taxi cab driver was nearby speaking to dispatch and to

“After several months I managed to get a work permit and started as a bus boy at the Airport Hilton in Toronto. I didn’t mean to get into that field, but I like people and I really enjoyed the hotel. Then I took some hotel management courses at Ryerson. I held 14 different positions with Hilton within nine years.”

In 1983, Timani moved to Saint John, N.B., to help open a new Hilton hotel and convention centre in the city. He continued to move up the ranks within the hotel chain and six years later made

Mike Timani and his son Nader, who joined Fancy Pokket three years ago as project manager, check the bake colour on the bottom of the pita.

the leap to open his own business.

In June 1989, Timani opened a Lebanese-style restaurant in Moncton named Fancy Pokket, as well as a 1,000-square-foot bakery to supply pita bread to the restaurant. At the time, pita bread had little presence in the retail and foodservice markets.

“The demand for pita bread has increased tremendously. During that time it was around, but it was not well-known. What we did here in Atlantic Canada was to start to provide samples to the retail stores and since then it has been growing year after year. It’s completely different than what it used to be.”

In fact, the growing demand for Timani’s products quickly led him to a crossroads. In order to focus on his expanding bakery operation, he sold his restaurant in 1995 and concentrated his efforts on manufacturing his sought-after line of baked goods.

The story of Timani’s success is a shining example of how hard work and perseverance can pay off, regardless of where

you start out. For the Syrian refugees who are receiving a taste of home from Timani, his story has the power to reassure and inspire. As chairman of the New Brunswick Multicultural Council, Timani is deeply involved with Atlantic Canada’s settlement agencies (who are responsible for placing refugees in Canadian communities).

“I have been through a civil war and I understand how tough it is. Many of these individuals may have lost their spouses, children or cousins. It’s a very, very tough situation and they’re coming here completely blind. But thanks should go out to the Canadian and provincial governments, the volunteers and the communities. They’ve been an amazing source of support and Canada should be proud of that.”

By attending “meet and greet” events and hand-delivering pita bread, Timani has had the chance to chat with some of the refugees and says they are very appreciative.

“They cannot live without pita bread. It’s their breakfast, their lunch and their dinner. Whether it’s peanut butter and jam or chicken and beef, they always have to have pita bread so I figured this is one way I can help and give them something they don’t have to miss [from home].”

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE

With the opening of Fancy Pokket’s South Carolina facility imminent, Timani’s plate is full. However, he continues to look for future growth opportunities.

“My plan right now is to concentrate on making the U.S. facility very strong as well [as] the Canadian facility, but we continue to do more R&D with different products that we would like to launch. Moving forward we’re looking at further expansion here in Moncton.”

With Fancy Pokket poised for large-scale growth within U.S. and Canadian markets, Timani is a great Canadian success story, embodying the true spirit of entrepreneurism. / BJ

Julie Fitz-Gerald is a freelance writer based in Uxbridge, Ont., and a regular contributor to Bakers Journal.

PHOTO CREDIT: DANIEL ST. LOUIS/ D. ST LOUIS PHOTOGRAPHIC ART & FRAME

Fancy Pokket is Atlantic Canada’s largest producer of pita bread. The company also makes pizza crust, tortilla wraps, bagels and flatbread.

DOMAIN DOMINANCE

Domain names reign on search engines. Here’s a solution for improving yours if it isn’t scoring high in the rankings.

Adomain name is a web address for a company. You use them every day. Here are a few examples: www.thebay.com, www.ford.com and www.cnn.com.

The domain name of a website is the address that a user types in to get to a web page. So, if you want to go to CNN news, you would type in www.cnn.com. Many people do not understand the relationship between the domain name and the Google search engine (and search engines in general). It is through this lack of understanding that an improperly named domain can cost you many sales.

WHERE THINGS GO WRONG

Using a technique called redirection can help people find your website more easily by boosting your place in the search rankings.

change to their name then people will stop coming.

There is a solution for this. It’s called redirection.

}The best thing to do here would be to create a new domain called customcakes.com and forward anyone who clicks on that to mamascakes.com.

Let’s use the following example. You have a company that specializes in delivering pizza. You purchased the domain www.incredibletoppings.com for your website. The marketing team thought it was a genius name and the CEO loved it too. It also sounds very catchy.

That’s all fine and dandy, except the search engines do not love it. If someone is searching for really good pizza in Toronto and types in “amazing pizza delivery in Toronto,” the website will not come up with a high rating. The domain name has none of the pertinent words. Of course if someone types in “incredible toppings for pizza in Toronto,” the site would likely come up.

Realistically who would use the combination of words “incredible toppings for pizza in Toronto” when searching for a pizza? In all likelihood, they would use something very generic like “best pizza in Toronto” or something like that.

Many business owners have made this mistake and do nothing to correct it because they feel that if they make a

USING REDIRECTION

Imagine you have a company that only sells pink purses and you have a domain called www.gloriousdesigns.com. Clearly these are useless words to help out with a search to find pink purses. As a matter of fact, the search would likely render design companies for houses or offices. The solution is to create a new domain name called, for example, www.pinkpursestoronto.com.

When a person searches for pink purses in Toronto, they get taken to www.pinkpursestoronto.com, which actually forwards to www.gloriusdesigns. com. The user wouldn’t notice or care that the web address was www.gloriousdesigns.com. All they will care about is that they see the pink purses they are looking for. Once this happens, hopefully they buy and you get to make a sale.

KEYWORDS IN YOUR DOMAIN NAME

I would still encourage companies to use this system even if they have a keyword in their domain name. For example, say

there is a bakery called www.mamascakes.com. Obviously from the name you know it is a cake company and that is good, but imagine all the people searching for something very common like a “custom cake.” The best thing to do here would be to create a new domain called www.customcakes.com and forward anyone who clicks on that to www.mamascakes.com.

In this simple step, we have taken a very common search word and given it better search presence, which translates to more sales.

There are also many tools available to actually see what people are searching for so you can design your very own targeted domain names.

This explanation is very simplified in order to make it easy to understand. There may be some complications and I encourage you to contact me for any assistance you may need. / BJ

For more on marketing, visit www.bakersjournal.com.

Alan Zelcovitch owns Zelcovia Cookies, an online bakery business, and a computer technical support company, CSN Canada. He has had both for 13 years. He is an expert in technology and how it relates to food businesses. He offers a wide range of consulting services, with an emphasis on food businesses. He can be reached at 416.488.3886 or alan@csncanada.com.

FRUITS IN BAKING

Sugar is under attack. In Canada, business leaders and politicians are advocating for more revealing sugar labels on foods. In the U.S., the recent 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans now recommends consumers get less than 10 per cent of calories per day from added sugars. It’s the addition of liquid or granulated refined sugar in the form of sucrose that is being targeted. The heightened awareness is being led by health concerns.

Caution surrounding refined sugar is a consumer trend bakeries are seeing first-hand. “A lot of people are going to nutritionists and naturopaths and they come in saying, ‘I’m not allowed to have sugar anymore,’” says Donna van VeghelWood, owner of Baked at Frankie’s in Uxbridge, Ont., a gluten-free bakery that’s been operating for eight years.

Mike LeRoy, co-owner of Trillium Bakery in Ottawa has also witnessed more customers with Type 2 diabetes coming into the bakery these days seeking alternative forms of sugar. Founded by his mother, Jocelyn, 37 years ago, Trillium is known for its gluten-free, dairy-free and diabetic-friendly items.

}When seeking an alternative to refined sugar both of these bakeries turn to fruit, and there is a long list of fruits that can be puréed including: bananas, apples, pears, pineapples, dates, figs, mangoes, papaya and pumpkin.

“A lot of people are going to nutritionists and naturopaths and they come in saying, ‘I’m not allowed to have sugar anymore.’ ”

Karen Proper, technical manager of product and process development with NSF-GFTC in Guelph, Ont., says apple purée is the popular choice as a refined sugar substitute in the food industry, and it has been used as a substitute in baking not only for refined sugar, but also for eggs and fat.

“Apple purée possesses significantly less calories than sugar and is a good source of fiber, vitamins and nutrients including Vitamin C, thiamine, riboflavin and potassium,” Proper says.

With regards to caloric content, she points out that where one cup of apple

purée contains 102 calories, the same amount of sugar contains 774 calories. She also adds the apple’s mild taste and light colour makes it versatile for use in many baking applications.

Proper also points to date purée as another popular choice that includes the added bonus of calcium, iron, potassium and fiber.

“Date purée has been used both as a sugar and as a fat substitute, however its strong flavour and dark colour makes it less versatile than apple purée.”

At Trillium, LeRoy uses banana in many products, along with dates and apricots, and he finds applesauce works well for fat-free products, as it binds and keeps products moist if you’re not adding any oil.

Van Veghel-Wood always uses a mix of banana and apple. “I don’t want too much apple or banana taste,” she says, noting she’ll typically add one small banana and half an apple to three cups of flour in her muffin mix.

For high-volume commercial bakers, Proper suggests sourcing ready-made fruit purées from ingredient suppliers as the ideal choice for a number of reasons, including quality and consistency, as well as simplifying internal manufacturing processes.

“We buy the actual fruit,” says LeRoy. “I get overripe bananas from suppliers. We’ll peel them all, place them in containers in the fridge and they’ll last for a week. For apricots and dates, being dried fruits, we’ll soak them to add some water, cook them, purée them and they’ll be good in the fridge for a week or two.” He also recommends freezing the purée and taking it out the day before you want to use it.

Apples are a popular alternative to refined sugar in the baking industry.

While there are benefits to incorporating fruit purées, Proper says it is important to note they cannot always be substituted for sugar in a recipe because of sugar’s role in the chemical processes of baking.

She lists a number of key functions of sugar that a purée can’t perform, including stabilizing egg whites, contributing a golden brown colour, adding bulk to dough and batters, contributing to the “fine crumb” texture, serving as the food for yeast in yeast-leavened breads, aerating butter during the creaming step in cakes and binding water to increase shelf life.

Freshness is an area that van VeghelWood notes as a limitation she’s experienced using fruit purées in her products.

“There’s no shelf life at all,” she says.

Sugar’s role as a preservative didn’t connect for her until she started using fruit as a substitute. “I would bake a chocolate cake with fruit purée and the texture was wonderful coming out of the oven, but if it sat for half a day, we wouldn’t want to offer it any more.”

For LeRoy, with the exception of items like muffins, which are baked fresh daily, all of his designated sugar-free items are kept in the fridge to extend their freshness.

It’s because of these limitations that many substitutes for commercial baking, including fruit purées, are typically combined with traditional sugar, Proper says.

“Only a portion of the sugar within the formulation (generally one-third to one-half) should be considered for replacement by fruit purées,” she suggests. “The additional amount of liquid these purées contribute must also be considered and the formulation should be adjusted accordingly.”

For any packaged goods with labels, the common name of the fruit purée (and if applicable, all of its components), would need to be listed in descending order by weight, she says.

At Trillium, they’ve been playing with fruits and going further than just using them as a sugar substitute for years. For diabetic-friendly cakes, they’ll purée apricots and use that as a

topping. “It’s not the cheapest way to finish a cake,” LeRoy says, but it’s popular.

Regarding proportions of fruit purée to use within formulations, it will depend on what else is in the recipe, he has found. While he suggests the general rule is one cup of purée to replace one cup of sugar, if you’re not using eggs you might need to use more of a binding-type of fruit.

“It took us a lot of years to come up with some sugar-free recipes that also don’t have eggs or dairy in them,” LeRoy says. “It’s trial and error, but generally speaking, if you’re keeping eggs and dairy in the recipe, you’re okay to substitute the fruit purée amount for the sugar.”

There is no question for LeRoy and van Veghel-Wood that demand for alternative ways to sweeten baked goods is on the rise, and the proof can be seen in the shops. When Baked at Frankie’s gets an order for no-sugaradded muffins, any remainders end up on the shelf, van Veghel-Wood says. “And they always sell out.” / BJ

BY GREGORY LAY

R.E.L.A.X

Does relaxing during a crisis seem crazy to you? Read on: it’s exactly what you’re supposed to do.

Every day’s a crisis,” Jeff grumped to his carpool after work. “If it isn’t an urgent deadline, then the boss is mad or equipment is on the fritz! I never get to relax, no matter how hard I try!”

His car-mate Alicia gave a laugh.

“Did you hear yourself? You can’t relax because you’re trying so hard to relax!”

“When you put it that way, it does sound silly,” Jeff admitted. “But it’s true. I know that when we’re stressed, we make more mistakes, but how do you get over the stress?”

Alicia shifted position to make eye contact.

“Working under stress is like swimming in a tar pit. Even if you get to the other side, you’re too exhausted to appreciate the achievement.”

“That’s it. I do a good job, but never have time to enjoy the feeling.”

“How do you try to relax?”

“The usual,” he said, then ticked off relaxation techniques: breathe deeply, drink water, laugh, music, quiet time, stretch and go for a walk.

“Good activities,” Alicia nodded. “What do you think about while you do them?”

Silence told her what she needed to know.

“Let’s help you relax your attitude as you relax your muscles. I’ll bring you a checklist.”

What Alicia understands is that stress is a choice. The brain must do something in a pressure situation, but it needs a better plan than just tightening muscles. That makes us look stressed and feel tired, even though we don’t realize it’s our own unconscious decision. Trying harder to relax does the opposite of what we need. When we try harder and harder, the job gets harder and harder.

When Jeff slid into the car the next morning, Alicia quietly handed him a folded paper. Opening it, he found five ideas under the heading: R.E.L.A.X.

RE-DIRECT FRUSTRATION

When a situation, co-workers, or attitudes frustrate you, negative feelings don’t contribute to a solution. Name the frustration and tell it that it’s now the solution. Energy you were giving to feeling frustrated now goes to feeling motivated. You’re too smart to waste emotions on negativity, so invite better attitudes with encouraging words. By choice, lazy becomes mindful, uncooperative turns into independent, or angry comes out as passionate.

When you see your attitude arrow pointing down, use language skills to rewrite it in a positive direction. Don’t feed frustration – redirect it.

EXPECT POSITIVITY

When stress reigns, we look at anybody smiling and conclude that they don’t understand the situation. Optimists must be idiots, we say; this is a situation to take seriously. But “seriously” takes more energy than “lightly” and doesn’t move any faster. Expect yourself and others to arrive with a positive attitude and keep it all day. Expect colleagues to respond to your smile and good attitude with one of their own. They probably won’t at first; frowning and pessimism are powerful habits. But keep expecting the best of them – that’s the positive thing to do –and over time you’ll be an instrument of improvement in many lives. To spread positivity, be positive from the inside out.

LIFT A TON

Nobody can lift an entire ton, but pretty much anybody can lift five pounds at a time. Measured progress toward a stressful goal takes attention away from the stress and puts it where it belongs: on your ability. Pick up what you can handle right now and carry it where you want it to be. Then go back for another load. You can lift a ton, and instead of being injured by unreasonable expectations, you’ll be strengthened by doing as much as you comfortably can, a little at a time. People who tie themselves up with stress will urge you to join them in discomfort. Your healthy response is a smile and invitation to help you make reasonable, steady progress as you R.E.L.A.X.

ACKNOWLEDGE LITTLE ACHIEVEMENTS

When looking at a ton of a task, it may feel strange to celebrate an ounce of achievement. Waiting until the whole ton is done doesn’t provide enough encouragement. Start the applause when the task is begun and keep it going throughout the process.

Recognizing little tasks that have been done well become road signs that guide the team in the right direction.

X MARKS THE SPOT

Treasure maps have an X to show where treasure is buried. Your treasure is a worthy long-term goal. Everybody on the team knows where we’re going and why. They want to enjoy the journey a step at a time, but the journey has a purpose and anybody who doesn’t keep goals in sight won’t stay focused on productive relaxation.

This is positive leadership. Not showing stress is showing your team how to get the job done without frustrating themselves.

Jeff folded the paper and said, “Cool acronym. I see how a relaxed attitude makes the physical actions more effective. Let’s see if I remember:

• Re-direct frowns to your laugh muscle.

• Expect positivity, starting with myself.

• Lift a ton a few pounds at a time.

• Acknowledge small achievements.

• X marks the spot of a worthwhile objective.

“You’ve got it!” Alicia exclaimed. “Just remember that the most important time to engage your relaxation attitude is exactly when you don’t think you’ve got time for it!” / BJ

Gregory Lay edits www.AccidentalCareer.com, a website for people who want to improve their job without necessarily changing employment. He’s an experienced employee, manager, journalist, trainer, speaker, and certified speaking coach. His training specialty is organizational understanding. Contact him at Gregory@AccidentalCareer.com.

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FOOD SAFETY

Among developed nations, consumers can be reassured that existing and emerging food handling safety standards are working hard to keep populations safe. But as attendees at the recent 12th annual North American Summit on Food Safety learned, the most significant threat to our food supply today is food fraud.

“I can tell you that everyone in this room has purchased a least one counterfeit item, and even the retailer who sold it didn’t know,” said Sylvain Charlebois, professor with the food safety institute at the University of Guelph. “It’s definitely a food safety issue.” He was speaking to more than 150 registered attendees at the event, held April 20-21 at the Old Mill in Toronto.

Involved with a global food safety benchmarking program since 2006, Charlebois is optimistic on the overall trends in food handling practices. He reported that in the most recent 2014 world ranking on food safety performance, Canada ranked first among 17 industrialized countries, improving from fifth in 2008 and fourth in 2010. Despite his optimism, he voiced a warning: “The one risk that is becoming a threat for industry and governments worldwide is food fraud.”

Of the 20 presentations delivered at the event, two dealt specifically with the food fraud threat.

}“I can tell you that everyone in this room has purchased a least one counterfeit item.” — Sylvain Charlebois, professor with the food safety institute at the University of Guelph.

Gordon Hayburn, vice-president of food safety and quality with Trophy Foods, gave a talk on food fraud, walking attendees through steps to conduct an internal vulnerability assessment to identify potential weak links in their supply chains.

Common fraud cases include the replacement or substitution of ingredients with cheaper alternatives, the undeclared dilution of genuine ingredients, deliberate mislabelling, false claims on product origin or even counterfeiting of well-known brands. Hayburn suggested food fraud is a $50

billion global problem, and he cited claims that 10 per cent of the U.S. food supply may be adulterated.

The most frequent at-risk foods tend to be higher-priced items including olive oils, grains, spices (especially saffron), honey and maple syrup. If the price you’re receiving from suppliers is too good to be true, it’s not real, he said.

He recommended identifying vulnerabilities in your supply chain, shortening your chain and developing close relationships with your suppliers.

The final presentation at the summit, delivered by Miriam Firth, director of quality assurance and food safety with

Skilcor Food Products, was focused on food defence and preventing the deliberate contamination of food.

Firth noted comprehensive traceability records are one way to effectively react to the discovery of adulterated ingredients in food. She cited a recent Interpol investigation that seized over 10,000 tonnes and one million litres of hazardous fake food and drink from operations across 57 countries. Products included almost nine tonnes of counterfeit sugar contaminated with fertilizer and 85 tonnes of olives painted with copper sulphate to improve their colour.

Be aware, warned Firth. “I am passionate that consumers should get what they pay for.”

Mitigating food safety risks for Canadian consumers is the responsibility of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). On the first day of the summit, Nicole Bouchard-Steeves, executive

Sylvain Charlebois from the University of Guelph warned of the global threat of food fraud.

director with the CFIA, provided an update on the agency’s progress in modernizing its systems and becoming a “digital-first” operation. “We need to be more nimble,” Bouchard-Steeves said.

In November 2015 the CFIA began rolling out a new integrated agency model on the inspection side, and at the end of this year CFIA will launch its new electronic service delivery platform, an online portal giving industry easier access to the agency. The digital platform will allow users to view their documentation, monitor progress, request export certificates and more.

No information was forthcoming from the CFIA on any impending regulations to be tabled as part of the Safe Food for Canadians Act that was passed in 2012. Discussions related to new regulations from both the CFIA and the U.S.-based Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) were sprinkled into many talks over the two days.

On the first afternoon, attendees were very engaged during a peer-to-peer discussion focused on how best to adapt and align with new regulatory expectations. Improving employee engagement and formalizing education were common recommendations.

Shannon McCoy, director of food safety and quality with Maple Leaf Foods,

addressed the work of Safe Food Canada (SFC), which is a collaboration of industry, government and academia. McCoy explained how SFC is establishing the framework for a competencybased learning process for various roles in the food industry. The Canadian-based curriculum is in development now and will be followed by recommendations for teaching, national evaluation and accreditation standards.

Since the launch of the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) in 2000, safety standards along the supply chain around the world are improving. A retail panel including Katherine Di Tommaso, director of food safety and quality assurance with Wal-Mart Canada, and Jay Shirdoker, former senior quality assurance director with Loblaw, highlighted the importance of suppliers adhering to standards. Both Di Tommaso and Shirdoker acknowledged the positive impact GFSI has had on the industry. At Wal-Mart, GFSI is recognized and supported from the CEO and board of directors on down and all suppliers to Loblaw’s President’s Choice brand must be GFSI compliant.

The retailers also said smaller, non-registered vendors need to understand what changes are coming down through CFIA, and they need to make sure they’re up to the standard quickly.

“Because otherwise we won’t be able to sell their product,” Di Tommaso said.

With small-scale producers in mind, Keven Kane, co-director at the Centre for Social Business with the Salford Business School at the University of Salford, introduced a food safety standard developed in the U.K.

The safe and local supplier approval program (SALSA), was spawned from large supermarket chains in the U.K. seeking a safe way to incorporate more local, sustainable, products on their shelves to meet growing customer demand. SALSA arose from a not-forprofit joint venture formed by associations representing farmers, manufacturers, supermarkets and hospitality groups.

Local growers and producers are audited to meet a food safety standard that encompasses legal requirements and meets the demands of food buyers without requiring the exacting measures of GFSI. The program helps local and regional food producers get their products on the shelves of major grocers. “And the supermarkets love it,” said Kane, who encourages Canadians to copy the model.

The 13th annual North American Summit on Food Safety will return to Toronto April 19-20, 2017. / BJ

Gordon Hayburn with Trophy Foods says food fraud is a $50 billion global problem.

From sourcing gluten-free ingredients to pans that won’t stick, Bakers Journal keeps you “in the know.” for more on new products for the baking industry, check out our website, www.bakersjournal.com

New source for gluten-free oats

Building on its existing line of organic spices, herbs and seasoning blends, Splendor Garden launched its new line of Splendor Garden Oats, an organic gluten-free product.

modified [non-GMO].”

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“Splendor Garden oats are superior because every step in their supply line, from growth through processing, is monitored,” said company founder Colleen Haussecker in a news release. “Having gluten-free oats that are also organic further assures customers that our products are non-genetically

Edible glitter in natural colours

Watson is offering edible glitter products to meet the growing demand for clean labeling for what is considered natural colours. The Edible Glitter line is made from gum arabic (the sap of the Acacia tree) and colour. Watson uses colours from a wide

¦ industry news ¦

Splendor Garden’s gluten-free organic oats are sourced from the Yorkton, Saskatchewanbased processor, Grain Millers. Since launching its current milling system in 2013, Grain Millers has tested millions of pounds of gluten-free oats certified to the QAI/NSF protocol P404 gluten-free and to the organic standards of Pro Cert.

Splendor Garden will be selling these products in retail sizes (500 g and 908 g packages) as well as a bulk 11.34 kg (25 lb) size for commercial use.

www.splendorgarden.com

range of sources, including cabbage juice, algae, carrots, radish, turmeric, and annatto. Edible Glitter can be used as a sprinkle, topping, or inclusion. Edible Glitter can be used in confectionery products, baked goods, frostings, or anywhere you want to add colour.

New study on Canadian eating habits

Snacking makes up 25 per cent of the daily energy intake for children and 23 per cent for adolescents, indicates a recent study on the eating habits of Canadians.

The study results were announced at the Evolution of Eating in Canada Symposium, held at the University of Toronto on April 26.

The symposium, hosted by Nestlé Canada, was moderated by registered dietitian and president of Nutrition Solutions, Sue Mah, and included academic presentations and a panel discussion including: Mary R. L’Abbé, chair of the department of nutritional sciences, faculty of medicine, University of Toronto; Kathy Perrotta, vice-president, IPSOS Reid; Rebecca Chesney, research and communications manager for the Institute for the Future; and Jane Dummer, registered dietitian and regular contributor to Bakers Journal.

“In our study, we saw a U-shaped curve

that reflects the quality of eating habits among the Canadian population,” said L’Abeé, lead researcher on the study, in a news release. “In early life, when parents have the most influence, the nutritional quality of foods that young children eat is generally quite good. Choices start to deteriorate in late childhood and are at their worst in adolescence, then start to improve as Canadians enter their late twenties and early thirties.”

Some key findings of the research include:

• Thirty per cent of total calories are consumed from food and beverages not recommended in Eating Well with Canada’s Food Guide

• Most calories were consumed at home (88 per cent, 81 per cent and 83 per cent for children, adolescents and adults respectively)

• For individuals who ate at locations other than home, on average 40 per

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cent of daily calories (about 1,000 Kcal/day) were consumed at these locations

“The structure of eating today has drastically evolved,” said Perrotta, of IPSOS Reid, in a news release. “Eating no longer centres around three daily meals. Instead, Canadians are grazing consistently throughout the day and we are seeing a greater deal of snacking earlier and more often.

“At its core, it is the food choices, healthy or not, that are being made during these key snacking moments that will impact the overall health of Canadians, rather than the frequency of snacking.”

“Eating is a foundation of our daily patterns, social interactions, and wellbeing. For something so integral to our lives, it’s not easy to know if our food choices contribute to healthy people and communities,” said Chesney in a news release.

New baking lab for George Brown

George Brown College has received a significant boost as Redpath Sugar will be donating $360,000 over three years to support the construction of a large-quantity baking lab with facilities for scaled-up research and testing.

Announced on April 15 at George Brown’s Centre for Hospitality and Culinary Arts (CHCA) in Toronto, work on the new laboratory site will begin this spring with an anticipated opening in the fall of 2017.

The space, named the Redpath Sugar Lab, will serve as a learning area for students as well as test facility for industry partners.

Located on the first floor of the CHCA, the large-quantity lab will be an addition to four regular pastry labs currently used by students.

“It’s going to be a different style and set-up than our other labs,” notes Christine Walker, academic chair for George Brown’s Chef School.

Of note, Walker points to an enclosed temperature-controlled chocolate and candy room.

“It’s going to have all of the equipment we need to be able to do chocolate and candy properly. And it will allow not only our students to experience this, but it will allow industry to do product testing and development,” she says.

This is the first large-scale academic institution donation of its kind for Redpath Sugar. Nancy Gavin, brand manager with Redpath Sugar, says it made sense for the company to get involved with this initiative.

“We have worked with the culinary school in the past, so we know of the high quality and caliber of the faculty, and the international reputation that George Brown College has for its culinary and pastry program.”

In addition to supporting the facility expansion, $45,000 of Redpath’s gift will support student scholarships in the baking and pastry arts management program, the baking pre-employment program and the baker/patissier apprentice program. Over the next three years, 45 students will receive an award of $1,000 each.

Kent Juliot joins Ardent Mills senior leadership

Ardent Mills named Kent Juliot vicepresident of the research, quality and technical solutions team.

“Kent is a proven leader in the food industry with an extensive background in food production and customer technical interactions. He also brings to Ardent Mills a strong track record in the flour milling business, along with relationships that span the FDA, USDA and in the

international arena,” said Dan Dye, Ardent Mills CEO, in a company release.

Prior to joining Ardent Mills, Juliot spent nearly 11 years with ConAgra Foods where he was responsible for food safety, quality and sanitation for 58 ConAgra Foods and co-manufacturing processing facilities. He also led the supplier quality department, managing over 10,000 ingredients and packaging supplies.

2016 milling guide & directory

ADM MILLING CO.

7585 Danbro Crescent, Mississauga, ON L5N 6P9

Contact: Debbie Bell

Phone: 905-819-7000

Fax: 905-819-9768

Email: debbie.bell@adm.com

Plants: 2 Montreal, QC; Mississauga, Midland, Port Colborne, ON; Winnipeg, MB; Calgary, AB.

Sales offices: Montreal, QC, 514-846-8533; Toronto, ON 1-800-267-8492; Calgary, AB, 403-267-5656; Vancouver, B.C. 604-2990710.

Products offered: A full flour and mix product line for the bakery, donut, muffin, food service, biscuit, pasta, frozen, in-store bakery, pasta and industrial segments. Other products offered are stoneground whole wheat, cracked wheat, graham and cereal bran and rye flours.

ARDENT MILLS ULC

Ardent Mills is working for the good of grain and committed to pioneering what’s next, with value-added, nutrient-rich, on trend grain solutions that deliver superior performance and consumer appeal. But that’s just the beginning, because we are also the company behind Robin Hood®, one of the most trusted and iconic brands of premium white, whole wheat and whole grain flour, oats and bakery mixes in the commercial bakery and foodservice industry today, backed by a century of milling excellence.

Ardent Mills ULC

235 Nuggett Court

Brampton, ON L6T 5H4

Contact: Elaine O’Doherty

Phone: 905-494-2600

Email: Elaine.ODoherty@Ardentmills.com

Website: www.Ardentmills.ca

Plants: Flour Mills in Mississauga, ON, Montreal, QC and Saskatoon, SK. Bakery mix plants in Burlington, ON and Saskatoon, SK. Oat and durum mills in Saskatoon, SK

Products offered: A full line of quality flour under the Robin Hood and Ardent Mills brands including all purpose, strong bakers, cake and pastry, whole wheat, whole grain, Italianstyle and specialty. As an industry leader in innovation we also offer SimplyMilled™ Organic Flour, Ultragrain™ white wheat whole grain flour, Sustagrain™ whole grain barley flour and flakes as well as sprouted

whole grain flour. This is complimented by our broad range of bakery mixes, bases and concentrates, many formulated specifically to customers’ needs.

Delivery: Across Canada by rail or truck, throughout North America and select export markets.

Distribution: Direct from plants, regional warehouses, or distributors, depending on product location.

Major customers: Bakery and food processors, retail and wholesale bakeries, grocery retailers and in-store bakeries, foodservice operators, bakery and foodservice distributors.

FARINART INC.

1150 Rang Saint-Edouard, Saint-Liboire, QC, J0H 1R0

Contact: Rory Lesperance

Phone: 416-770-2310

Email: rlesperance@farinart.com

Website: www.farinart.com

Products offered: Ecocert, Kosher, Halal, HACCP and SQF 2000 certified. Farinart is a leader in processessing custom grain, flour, seed and pulses blends - both conventional and organic. Farinart also provides a select line of gluten-free blends, flours and processed grains. We have earned a strong reputation for delivering innovative solutions, superior expertise, product consistency and best-inclass service to retail and commercial bakers and food manufacturers.

Distribution: We deliver across Canada and overseas.

Delivery: 20 kg bags, tote bags and bulk products.

Company comments: We are a friendly and versatile company that can adapt to our clients’ requirements.

Grain Millers Canada Corp.

No. 1 Grain Millers Drive

Yorkton, SK S3N 3Z4

Contact: Andrew Eilertson

Phone: 1-800-232-6287

Fax: 952-829-8819

Email: andrew.eilertson@grainmillers.com

Website: www.grainmillers.com

Plants: Yorkton, SK and U.S.

Distribution: Throughout Canada and U.S. Products offered: Full line of conventional, organic, and certified gluten-free oats including quick and rolled flakes, flour, bran,

steel cut, food grade fiber, and other innovative products. Complete product line includes other milled grains and custom blends of wheat, corn (yellow, white, non-GMO), barley, rye, triticale, and various other specialty grains.

Certifications: Organic, Gluten-Free, Kosher, GFSI

Pack type: Bags, totes, bulk, retail pack (500 g - 2.25 kg)

Company comments: Privately owned, Grain Millers delivers whole grain solutions to the modern world of food manufacturing. Customers rely on our quality, service, and innovation to meet today’s high expectations and tomorrow’s challenges. Learn more what we can do at www.grainmillers.com.

GRAIN PROCESS ENTERPRISES LTD.

105 Commander Blvd., Scarborough, ON M1S 3M7

Contact: George Birinyi Jr., Carl Griesser

Phone: 416-291-3226

Fax: 416-291-2159

Email: gbjr@grainprocess.com

Products offered: Over 2,000 products including a full range of whole grains. Hard/ soft wheat, triticale, corn, millet, barley, rye and durum and organic products certified by QAI (whole wheat flour, white flour, “ancient grains” spelt, kamut, quinoa, seeds, etc.) Precooked and stabilized grains and flours, whole bean flour, complete range of grains including cracks, flakes and grits, seeds (sunflower, sesame, golden yellow and brown flax), beans, peas, lentils, sugars, nuts and dried fruit. Food processing also includes custom blending facilities for multi-grain formulas (bread, muffin and pancake mixes, etc.) packaging, granola cereals, toasted grains, turbinado and demerara sugars.

Distribution: Across Canada and the United States.

Major customers: Bakeries, biscuit and cookie manufacturers, food service, bulk, health and natural food retailers and distributors and manufacturers.

Company comments: We pride ourselves as being the only stone flour mill in Canada to offer such a wide variety of products. Our product development team is ready to develop mixes and specialty grains for any application in the food industry.

HOWSON & HOWSON LTD.

232 Westmorland St., PO Box 390, Blyth, ON, N0M 1H0

Contact: Jeff Howson

Phone: 519-523-4241, Ext. 60

Fax: 519-523-4920

Email: jeff@howsonandhowson.ca

Contact: Dan Greyerrbiehl

Phone: 905-792-2962

Fax: 519-523-4920

Email: dgreyerbiehl@rogers.com

Plants: Blyth, ON

Products offered: Durum semolina, durum flours, durum whole wheat semolina, atta flours.

2016 milling guide &

Delivery: Bulk truckloads, bulk bags (750 kg), 20 kg bags, 40 kg bags, 50 lb bags and 100 lb bags to Ontario, Quebec and United States.

Distribution: From Blyth, ON, plant by truck or distributors.

Major customers: Manufacturers of dry pasta, fresh pasta, frozen pasta, and snack crackers.

Assistance offered: Technical assistance. Company comments: Howson & Howson Ltd. have been quality wheat millers for over 135 years. We are continuously modernizing our durum mill in order to supply our customers with high-quality durum semolina, durum flour and other durum products.

Jamestown Mills Inc. (office)

49888 Nova Scotia Line

RR2 Aylmer, ONT, N5H 2R2

Email: info@jamestownmills.com

Phone: 519-933-2648

Website: www.jamestownmills.com

Products offered: Stone ground, nonGMO gluten-free flours, teff, pulses, quinoa, amaranth and millet. Supplier of sorghum, corn and rice flours, as well as starches and gums. Supplying the gluten free industry

NUNWEILER’S FLOUR CO.

Box 28009 RPO E. Kelowna, Kelowna, BC V1W 4A6

Contact: Ross Nunweiler

Phone: 1-888-726-2253

Email: info@nunweilersflour.com

Website: www.nunweilersflour.com

Plant: Alsask, Sask.

Certifications: Pro-Cert Certified Organic Systems, Kosher Certified.

Products offered: Nunweiler’s Flour Company is a 100% dedicated Certified Organic flour mill located in Alsask, SK, with our sales office in Kelowna, BC. Our family of products include: whole grain wheat flour, dark rye flour, all purpose and pastry flour, spelt flour, buckwheat flour, Red Fife flour and kamut khorasan flour.

Distribution: B.C. – Snowcap Enterprises, Snowcap Interior, Aarsen City Delivery. Major customers: Retail and wholesale bakeries, specialty product bakeries, retail mass market and natural food stores. Company comments: Since 1988, Nunweiler’s Flour Company has been milling organic Canadian grown grains. Our whole grain flour is processed in a low temperature impact mill at a temperature of 60 F/16 C in the cool winter months to 95 F/35 C in the warm summer. We include no additives, preservatives or blending in our freshly milled whole grain flour. We are proud to support Canadian organic family farms and we are committed to producing premium quality products for bakers and consumers wanting wholesome and nutritional foods.

NUTRASUN FOODS LTD.

6201 E Primrose Green Drive

Regina, Saskatchewan S4V 3L7

Phone: 306-751-2040

Contact: Cory Whyte, General Manager

Phone: 306-751-2440

Website: www.nutrasunfoods.com

Certification: NutraSun Foods Ltd. is certified Organic by Quality Assurance International (QAI), Kosher Certified and H.A.C.C.P. , ISO 22,000 compliant and NonGMO Project Verified.

Delivery: We deliver bakery ingredients across Canada and the United States as well as shipments offshore.

Products offered: NutraSun’s high quality organic and conventional flour is milled from hard red spring and hard white wheat. We are the exclusive miller of premium Snowbird White Wheat flour and also offer a variety of whole grain flours.

In addition to flour, we are continuously expanding our product line of organic and conventional bakery mixes and bases to include breads, muffins, cookies, pancakes and whole grain pizza crust mix or base. We also offer customized grain blends and organic and clean label dough conditioners. NutraSun offers a variety of packaging options for the industrial, bakery and retail markets including 10 kg, 20 kg and 50 pound bags, bulk totes, bulk trucks and bulk rail. Our retail packaging line uses re-sealable pouch packs for weights ranging from 600 grams to 2.5 kg.

Major customers: NutraSun serves industrial and retail bakeries as well as retailers selling consumer packed re-sealable pouches.

Company comments: NutraSun Foods is a division of Paterson GlobalFoods, a wholly owned Canadian company which has been serving the Canadian agricultural and food industry for over 100 years. NutraSun is a fully modernized mill located in southern Saskatchewan, the heart of Canada’s hard red and white wheat growing region.

NutraSun Foods contracts directly with producers across Western Canada in sourcing the highest quality grain to ensure consistency and quality for our flour and mixes.

P & H MILLING GROUP

Canadian owned, the P&H Milling Group is Canada’s second largest flour producer. Built on the strength of eight mills, the P&H Milling Group is strategically located across Canada. For more information about our flour mills or any of our other products please contact the P&H Milling Group sales and service representative in your area.

P & H MILLING GROUP –ONTARIO REGION

3 Locations to serve:

P&H Milling Group - HANOVER 252-14th Street, PO Box 219 Hanover, Ontario, N4N 3C5

P&H Milling Group - CAMBRIDGE 166 King St. West Cambridge, Ontario N3H 1B6

P&H Milling Group - ACTON 45 Church St. West Acton, Ontario L7J 1K1

Contact: Rob Fursman, Regional Sales and Marketing Manager

Phone: 519-650-6422

Email: rfursman@phmilling.com

Website: www.phmilling.com

Products offered: Hard wheat flour, soft wheat flour, blended flour, heat treated flour and organic wheat flour. Other products include whole wheat flour, durum semolina and a variety of cracked wheat and wheat bran offerings.

Company comments: Our sales force will assist in sourcing the best products to meet your needs and will provide timely market information to secure your requirements. Products are delivered on a fleet of company owned and operated trucks and tankers in addition to a wide distributor network. BRC Certified Mill.

P

& H MILLING GROUP –HALIFAX

PO Box 2185, 730 Marginal Road

Halifax, NS B3J 3C4

Contact: Dave Bryson

Toll-free: 1-800-663-6837

Phone: 902-429-0622

Fax: 902-423-9075

Email: dbryson@phmilling.com Website: www.phmilling.com

Products offered: Enriched flours, no-time flours, bread flours, natural flours, whole wheat flour, pizza flour, organic flour, cracked wheat, farina, wheat bran, whole grain; bread, cookie, muffin, cake and doughnut mixes and custom-blended mixes; cake and pastry flours, corn and dark rye flour, coarse ryemeal, rolled oats, oat bran, oatmeal and yeast. P&H Milling-Halifax also produces private label flour, mixes and bases. BRC Certified Mill.

Delivery: Serves Atlantic provinces with

company-owned bulk tankers and delivery trucks, containers and common carriers.

Distributors: Sell direct as well as through local wholesalers.

Major customers: Bakeries throughout Atlantic Canada and offshore.

Company comments: We mill our flours primarily from Canadian Western Red Spring Wheat known for its consistent quality and baking characteristics. P&H Milling-Halifax is committed to supplying competitively-priced, consistently high-quality products, milled, blended and packaged to individual customer requirements for both local and international markets. In our R&D and Quality laboratory, a team of specialists assure the quality of every shipment, develop new products and work closely with our customers. Our management and staff are dedicated to quality products and service and are sensitive to the varieties of specific needs of our customers.

P & H MILLING GROUP –MONTREAL

380 Oak Street

Montreal, QC H3K 3G2

Contact: Richard Blais

Toll-Free: 1-866-934-3234

Phone: 514-934-3234

Fax: 514-934-5069

Email: rblais@phmilling.com

Website: www.phmilling.com

Products offered: Enriched flours, no-time flours, bread flours, natural flours, whole wheat flour, pizza flour, organic flour, cracked wheat, farina, wheat bran, whole grain; bread, cookie, muffin, cake and doughnut mixes and custom-blended mixes; cake and pastry flours, corn and dark rye flours, course rye-meal, rolled oats, oat brain and oatmeal and yeast. P&H Mills also produces private label flour, mixes and bases. BRC Certified Mill.

Delivery: Serves Quebec with bulk trailers, delivery trucks, containers and common carriers.

Major customers: Bakeries throughout Quebec and U.S. market.

Company comments: We mill our flours primarily from Western Red Spring Wheat known for its consistent quality and baking characteristics. P&H Milling-Montreal is part of the P&H Milling Group and is committed to supplying competitively priced high-quality products to meet customer’s needs.

2016 milling guide & directory

P & H MILLING GROUP –SASKATOON

75 – 33rd Street East, PO Box 160, Saskatoon, SK S7K 3K4

Contact: Mike Greer

Toll Free: 1-888-313-6837

Phone: 403-359-5425

Fax: 306-667-8129

Email: mgreer@phmilling.com

Website: www.phmilling.com

Products offered: Enriched flours, no-time flours, bread flours, whole wheat flours, organic flours, pizza flours, cracked wheat bran. P&H Milling also produces private label flour for the retail and wholesale markets.

Delivery: Across Canada, U.S. and offshore. Company comments: P&H MillingSaskatoon is part of the P&H Milling Group. The mill began producing flour in Saskatoon on Feb. 1, 1949. We mill our flours primarily from Canadian Western Spring Wheat, known for its consistent quality and superior baking characteristics. We are strategically located in the heart of the Canadian Prairie wheat growing area.

P&H Milling-Saskatoon is committed to supplying competitively priced, consistently high-quality products, milled, blended and packaged to individual customer requirements for both local and international markets. BRC Certified Mill.

P & H MILLING GROUP –LETHBRIDGE

PO Box 400, 1301 2nd Avenue South Lethbridge, AB, T1J 3Z1

Contact: Bob Grebinsky

Phone: 403-328-6622

Fax: 403-327-3772

Email: bgrebinsky@phmilling.com

Website: www.phmilling.com

Products offered: A complete line of spring wheat flours, soft wheat flours, rye flours and meals, durum semolina, durum atta and durum patent.

Distribution: Direct and distributor network covering British Columbia and Alberta. Direct delivery available throughout Canada and the US. Offshore shipping globally.

Delivery: Bags in 10 kg, 25 lb, 20 kg and 50 lb. Bulk by totes, truck and rail.

Major customers: Retail and wholesale bakeries. Pasta and food manufacturers. Foodservice and traditional retail brand private label.

Company comments: Located in southern Alberta in the heart of the grain growing area and strategically situated on key distribution routes. Our strength is in our ability to consistently deliver flour that meets each customer’s specific needs. BRC Certified Mill.

PARRHEIM FOODS

(P&H Milling Group)

817 48th St. East

Saskatoon, SK S7K 0X5

Contact: Glenn O’Hara

Phone: 306-931-1655 ext. 3223

Fax: 306-931-2664

Email: gohara@phmilling.com

Website: www.phmilling.com

Products offered: Parrheim Foods produces pulse concentrates (starch, protein and fibre) and flours from locally grown peas. From our BRC Certified plant, we produce high-quality products that are natural and functional as well as free from any additives.

Delivery: From our office in Saskatoon, we ship all across North America or anywhere in the world.

Distribution: Direct from our plant in Saskatoon.

Company comments: Being in this industry since 1989 has enabled us to perfect our separation process which means that we can create the right product to meet your needs whether it be conventional or organic.

PORT ROYAL MILLS

240 Industrial Parkway S. Aurora, ON L4G 3V6

Contact: Kresho Petrovich

Phone: 905-713-1712

Fax: 905-713-0074

Email: orderdesk@portroyalmills.com

Website: www.portroyalmills.com

Plant: Aurora, ON

Certifications: SQF, Certified Organic by Pro-Cert, Kosher Kashruth

Products offered: Custom blended whole grain cereals, stone ground flours, cracked, flaked, pearled and whole grains including: rye, spelt, barley, quinoa, etc. Importers and distributors of other fine bakery ingredients.

Delivery: Direct throughout most of Ontario Major customers: Bakeries, cookie manufacturers, frozen dough plants, bakery mix manufacturers and food processors.

Company comments: At our milling facility in Aurora, Ont., we meet the continuing demand for whole grain milling and custom blending. We at Port Royal continue to provide the highest quality products and personalized service to our customers with industry leading food safety standards.

2016 milling guide & directory

RICHARDSON

MILLING LIMITED

2800 One Lombard Place

Winnipeg, MB R3B 0X

Contact: Richard de Kievit

Phone: 1-800-663-6287(OATS)

Website: www.richardson.ca

Company Comments: Richardson Milling offers a broad range of oat ingredients including oat groats, flakes, flour and bran. Our value added flaked and expanded whole grain based ingredients are designed to be an integral component in your products. We utilize the very best ingredients to create innovative coated whole grains and granola clusters that meet the unique requirements of our customers. They are specially formulated to enhance appearance, taste, texture and functional needs. Our extensive grower network and four manufacturing facilities provide the most extensive oat supply chain in North America. Richardson Milling is a division of Richardson International, Canada’s largest agribusiness. Recognized as a global leader in agriculture and food processing, Richardson is headquartered in Winnipeg and has more than 2,500 employees with facilities across Canada and the U.S.

Wedding

Cake a rt and d esign: a Professional aPP roa C h

Combining inspirational cake designs, step-by-step decorating instruction, and advice on the fundamentals of running a successful cake business in a competitive market, Wedding Cake Art and Design is an invaluable guide for industry professionals and students. Master cake decorator Toba Garrett includes stunning designs for cakes inspired by textiles, seasons, fashion colours, flowers, and much more, and gives decorators the tools to translate their own clients’ ideas into creative new designs.

• Decorating techniques ranging from simple to advanced are explained in a clear, fully-illustrated, step-by-step format.

• Sample scenarios included throughout the book show readers how to handle a client consultation and how to create appropriate cakes for every client’s budget, theme, and creative needs.

• Nearly 200 beautiful full-colour photographs showcase finished cakes and illustrate key decorating techniques, while full-colour illustrations provide insight into the professional decorator’s creative process.

¦ bakers formula ¦

U.S. HIGHBUSH BLUEBERRY COUNCIL

BLUEBERRIES!

These recipes for blueberry torta and blueberry oatmeal breakfast bread are courtesy of the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council and sure to please with fresh, simple flavours. www.blueberrytech.org

BLUEBERRY TORTA

INGREDIENT

Sugar, granulated 2 3

Butter, softened 2 5

Flour, all purpose 2 8

Baking powder 1-2/3

Eggs, whole 2

Blueberries, cultivated, fresh or frozen 6 8

Confectioner’s sugar 10

Milk 1 8

BLUEBERRY OATMEAL BREAKFAST BREAD

Flour 1 - 1/3 cups

Quick cooking oats 3/4 cup

Sugar 1/3 cup

Baking powder 2 teaspoons

Salt 1/4 teaspoon

Milk 3/4 cup

Vegetable oil 1/4 cup

Egg 1

Frozen blueberries (should be firmly frozen when baking) 1 cup

YIELD: 8 portions

METHOD:

1. Preheat oven to 400 F (204 C).

2. Grease an 8-inch round baking pan; set aside.

3. In a medium mixing bowl combine flour, oats, sugar, baking powder and salt. In a 1-cup measure, stir milk, oil and egg; pour all at once into flour mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter will be lumpy).

4. Fold in blueberries; spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake until cake is golden and pulls away from sides of pan, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool on a rack for five to 10 minutes. Serve warm.

YIELD: 10 9-inch tortas

METHOD:

1. Blend together sugar and butter.

2. Add flour, baking powder and eggs; mix to combine.

3. Spread in prepared pans.

4. Sprinkle blueberries (patted dry to remove excess moisture) evenly over batter.

5. Bake at 350 F (177 C) about one hour, until done.

6. Cool.

7. Drizzle each torta with confectioner’s sugar and milk icing.

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Phone 705-826-2254 | 1-888-599-2228, ext. 268

Fax 1-866-810-8111 (secure line)

BY JANE DUMMER, RD

WHY PREBIOTICS?

Gut health is one of the top trends for 2016, and researchers are taking a closer look at what role prebiotics play in your internal system.

Consumer interest in digestive health continues to grow and is one of the top health trends this year. Consequently, gut health was a popular topic at the American Society for Nutrition Scientific Sessions at the Experimental Biology 2016 conference in San Diego in April. We hear a lot about probiotics, which are the good bacteria found in foods like yogurt and sauerkraut that promote digestive and immune health. Along with probiotics, prebiotic foods and ingredients are receiving more attention from researchers, health professionals, and media. Prebiotic foods contain non-digestible ingredients and, when consumed, provide a beneficial environment in the gut for good bacteria, including probiotics, to thrive.

}nutritional sciences at the University of Guelph who researches pulses, says, “Pulses are not only packed with nutrition, but they can also promote the growth of healthy bacteria with their prebiotic properties. In fact, a recent 2012 study in Nutrition and Food Research demonstrated the ability of a chickpea and lentil flour to increase growth of healthy bacteria to promote gastrointestinal health.”

At Experimental Biology 2016, Shannon Lloyd, a graduate student and researcher at Texas A&M University, presented a study that identified the prebiotic potential of polyphenols found in sorghum bran. Lloyd explained: “The

Prebiotic foods contain non-digestible ingredients and, when consumed, provide a beneficial environment in the gut for good bacteria, including probiotics, to thrive.

The most common prebiotics in our diets are forms of dietary fibres found in fruits, vegetables, pulses, nuts, seeds and whole grains. These fibres resist digestion in the small intestine and reach the large intestine (colon) where the majority of the gut ecosystem (known as the microbiota) exists. When dietary fibres as well as resistant starch and polyphenols (micronutrients) in the diet resist digestion in the small intestine and reach the colon, they become available for use by the microbiota to promote good bacteria and suppress the growth of bad bacteria.

Only recently have researchers begun to identify the particular role of prebiotic-type fibres, their components and their health benefits. Studies have shown the potential prebiotic activity of whole oats and barley due to their high levels of soluble fibre beta-glucans. Alison Duncan, a dietitian and professor in the department of human health and

diet can alter and change the gut microbiota. In this animal study, we found there were beneficial changes in the microbiota due [to] the consumption of sorghum bran containing different types of polyphenolic compounds. Further, it was identified these changes may help protect against the development of inflammation and chronic diseases such as obesity and Type 2 diabetes.”

Research conducted by Lloyd and the team at Texas A&M University is a good benchmark for the next step of designing and completing further clinical studies with human populations. We still need to understand the recommended prebiotic dosage for individuals. This will depend on a number of variables, including the type of prebiotic, the health condition in question and the existing microbiota in the gut. Also, other characteristics such as solubility, fermentability, and viscosity are important determinants of the effect the prebiotic compounds will have in the body. When formulating products with fibre,

bakers have to balance the following parameters: regulatory requirements, composition, production process and cost/availability of ingredients. For a successful, great tasting formulation, bakers often use a combination of fibres. In the baking industry, we are very familiar with a common prebiotic known as inulin, found in chicory root and other plants containing fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS). Over the past five years, there has been a trend towards using a variety of fibre blends from whole grains, pulses, nuts, seeds, fruits and vegetables in breads and sweet goods. The variety and range of prebiotic compounds are providing a number of options to bakers. This is particularly important when responding to customers who can better tolerate one prebiotic over another. People continue be very interested in developing dietary regimes to promote gut health. The gut ecosystem/microbiota is individual to each person, however there are general diet guidelines to encourage a healthy environment. Eating a variety of nutritious foods with fibre is my top recommendation to promote digestive health. And research suggests prebiotic-rich foods are an essential factor to achieve optimal gut health. As we gain a better understanding of dose-response of prebiotic foods, there is an excellent opportunity for bakers to develop new products with an assortment of prebiotic ingredients for their consumers seeking health and wellness. / BJ

Jane Dummer, RD (www.janedummer.com), known as the Pod to Plate Food Consultant, collaborates and partners with the food and nutrition industry across North America.

MARKET TRENDS ADM is at the forefront of recognizing, and reacting to, ever-evolving consumer demands. Our vast and growing selection of bakery ingredients allows us to work with you to create formulations that satisfy both traditional and contemporary tastes, including healthier choices for today’s active consumers. To feed your food business, visit ADM.com.

The advantage is yours.

When you bake with products that carry the Dawn Distributors Advantage® brand, it means we’re standing behind you. We’ve searched and found the highest quality products that perform consistently every time, so you can focus on what’s most important - growing your business.

From flour to spices and oats to chocolate chips, our DDA® products are the essential ingredients you need to run your bakery. Contact your Dawn Sales Representative to discover the advantage you’ve been looking for.

For more information about these and other fine products, visit DawnFoods.com or call (866) 277-3663.