Commercial Baking August | Q3 2023

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AVANT FOOD MEDIA

Paul Lattan President - Principal Steve Berne Vice President - Principal

Joanie Spencer Director of Content - Partner

COMMERCIAL BAKING

Paul Lattan Publisher 816.585.5030 | paul@avantfoodmedia.com

Steve Berne Director of Media 816.605.5037 | steve@avantfoodmedia.com

Joanie Spencer Editor-in-Chief 913.777.8874 | joanie@avantfoodmedia.com

Mari Rydings Editorial Director mari@avantfoodmedia.com

Jordan Winter Creative Director jordan@avantfoodmedia.com

Olivia Siddall Multimedia Specialist olivia@avantfoodmedia.com

Annie Hollon Managing Editor annie@avantfoodmedia.com

Evan Bail Associate Editor evan@avantfoodmedia.com

Maggie Glisan | Bella Foote Contributors info@commercialbaking.com

OUR

Commercial Baking is published by Avant Food Media, 1703 Wyandotte St., Suite 300, Kansas City, MO 64108. Commercial Baking considers its sources reliable and verifies as much data as possible, although reporting inaccuracies can occur. Consequently, readers using this information do so at their own risk. Commercial Baking is distributed with the understanding that the publisher is not liable for errors and omissions. Although persons and companies mentioned herein are believed to be reputable, neither Avant Food Media nor any of its employees accept any responsibility whatsoever for their activities. Commercial Baking magazine is printed in the USA and all rights are reserved.

No part of this magazine may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission of the publisher. All contributed content and advertiser supplied information will be treated as unconditionally assigned for publication, copyright purposes and use in any publication or digital product and are subject to Commercial Baking ’s right to edit.

Commercial Baking , ISSN 2767-5319 / USPS Publication Number: 25350, is published quarterly in February, April, August, and October, with special issues in June and December, in print and digital formats by Avant Food Media, 1703 Wyandotte St., Suite 300, Kansas City, MO 64108. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Commercial Baking, c/o Avant Food Media, 1703 Wyandotte St., Suite 300, Kansas City, MO 64108.

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American Society of Baking

Beekeepers BEES NEED

Beekeepers work hard to make sure honey bees have a diverse diet, a hive free from parasites and plenty of honey to eat.

A healthy hive produces more honey than it needs. Any extra honey is extracted and made available for sale.

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Honey helps.

Ramon Rivera: Student and Teacher

24 Alpha Baking Co.: A Bun for All Seasons

Alpha Baking puts handheld fare on tables and in stadiums nationwide … and keeps a Chicago icon on the map.

43 Emerging Brand: Steiner’s Coffee Cake

49 Milwaukee Pretzel: The Pretzel Next Door

Product photo courtesy of Alpha Baking Co.

Cover graphic by Olivia Siddall | Avant Food Media

DYMOMIX Mastering dough production

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Treading on Iconic Trails

My job is so cool! I get to spend time with not only emerging leaders but also some of the biggest names in the industry, all of whom are paving the way for innovation.

Relatively speaking, I’m still a newbie in this industry, and when I look at the veterans, I see them as somewhat ubiquitous. I imagine that’s the case for lots of people new to baking. But I’ve had some amazing opportunities to have deep conversations and learn how many of these icons have gotten to where they are today. (Spoiler alert: It’s never easy.)

These conversations are a privilege, but sharing their stories is a huge responsibility. It’s not only about honoring the hard work these people have put in over the course of their careers, but it’s also about providing inspiration for what can be accomplished for the future.

Great leaders stand on the shoulders of those who came before them, and future leaders learn from the ones they look up and see.

JOANIE SPENCER Editor-in-Chief | joanie@avantfoodmedia.com

To those who have granted me the honor of telling your stories: Thank you. I cherish every conversation and hope my words give justice to all you have given the industry. And to those who read them: I hope you are inspired by the tales of these epic journeys. After all, trails are blazed to be tread upon … and footsteps are meant to follow.

Maximize the Life of Your Pans with Synova & Pan Glo®

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Seen Heard AND

“There’s

“What I would hope we can all do — and should do — as the overall food community is maintain that love and not get so lost in our own micro-communities that we forget we’re part of one of the biggest communities on Earth.”

Alton Brown | cook, author, filmmaker and TV personality During IDDBA 2023 keynote

something around an entrepreneurial mindset combined with a sense of practicality. These people are not shy to roll up their sleeves and go … They are comfortable with the uncomfortable and aren’t afraid to lean into hard conversations.”

Barbara Schandl | insights lead, SnackFutures | Mondelez International On food innovation strategies during The Food Institute Podcast with Chris Campbell

“We need immigration reform; we need to have the ability to get more workers in the workforce that are willing to do the jobs that need to be done in both of our industries.”

Greg Ferrara | president and CEO | National Grocers Association On the future of the workforce during the American Bakers Association’s Bake to the Future podcast

“As a good leader, especially in our business, it’s important to understand every part of the business ... When you are buying equipment, how does it make people’s lives better? All these things are about people first.”

Elana Schulman | director of special projects | Eli’s Cheesecake Co. From a live recording of the Troubleshooting Innovation podcast during BakingTECH 2023

We’re baking up something new!

We’re baking up something new!

RoboStack: The next generation of robotic pan stacking

RoboStack: The next generation of robotic pan stacking

We’re putting the finishing touches on Capway’s latest innovation in bakery automation.

We’re putting the finishing touches on Capway’s latest innovation in bakery automation.

RoboStack ensures the smooth transition of pans as they leave the production line.

RoboStack ensures the smooth transition of pans as they leave the production line.

RoboStack is designed and built to:

RoboStack is designed and built to:

• offer precision handling of multiple pan sizes

• offer precision handling of multiple pan sizes

• your desired pan stack height

• your desired pan stack height

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• work with most existing pan carts

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• maximize uptime for your production line

Custom engineered conveyor systems allow for the seamless integration of our RoboStack system into your bakery’s existing footprint or new expansion. It all stacks up to the world’s most efficient operation in daily pan logistics.

Custom engineered conveyor systems allow for the seamless integration of our RoboStack system into your bakery’s existing footprint or new expansion. It all stacks up to the world’s most efficient operation in daily pan logistics.

Call today to be the first in line to have our new RoboStack system installed in your bakery. 877.222.7929

Call today to be the first in line to have our new RoboStack system installed in your bakery. 877.222.7929

A Fresh Approach To Custom Automation®…

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“If you advertise as an industry that this is a family-minded place, you’re going to make friends, you’re going to have a community here, you’re going to be able to build a lifelong career here. The more you can push that out, the more you’re going to find people who find that attractive and who will want to work here.”

Jeff Havens | founder | The Jeff Havens Co. During the keynote address at BEMA Convention 2023

“Vertical integration really supported stocks within our stores, and it continued to grow our respective volume.”

Brad Clarkin | VP of production operations | Kwik Trip

During a panel on vertical integration at BEMA Convention 2023

“I was always around food. The kitchen was where all the secrets were exchanged and the decisions were made. The kitchen had the power of the house. And to me, I always equated food with femininity.”

Padma Lakshmi | food expert, author and TV personality During fireside chat at IDDBA 2023

“Everybody is focused on sustainability. If you are in food, you are in sustainability. Because if you don’t do better, we don’t have food.”

Roxi Beck | president | Look East During the session How Are We Rethinking Supply Chains in the Face of Increased Global Tensions? at IFT FIRST 2023

Made for your blending process for process

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During the Ask-A-Baker panel at BEMA Convention 2023

“The reluctant embrace technology to keep up. The visionary embrace it to leap forward.”

Jeff Winter | advisory board member | CESMII On Industry 4.0 and smart manufacturing via LinkedIn

“Food powers humanity, and soil powers food.”

Herrish Patel | general manager | Unilever Nutrition North America During the session Building the Business Case for Regenerative Agriculture at IFT FIRST 2023

“ESG is not just sustainability. It also has to have a social piece to it. At Flowers, we have a steering committee of subject matter experts who can bring it all together because ESG is about partnerships between those different areas.”

Margaret Ann Marsh | senior VP of safety, sustainability and environmental | Flowers Foods

THE FUTURE POWERED BY EXPERIENCE

AT IBA OCT. 22-26

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In addition to meeting and exceeding current production needs, we look to the future of processing.

Our experienced and knowledgeable engineers and food technologists work with you to optimize end to end solutions.

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Auto-Bake F3 Oven - Daily Show Demos

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Burford Smart Seeder +

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Spooner Vicars FGR Roller Hydraulics

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Stewart Systems Viper Chain

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Stewart Systems Rack N Stack

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Modified Atmosphere Packaging - sealing and gas technology in our Pillo-Pak. Achieve extended shelf life in a bulk format package for individual (QSR) buns.

Sveba Dahlen Artista Deli

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Middleby Bakery Group Remote Service Solution

Live video feed & conferencing for real-time assistance

A BUN FOR ALL SEASONS

Alpha Baking puts handheld fare on tables and in stadiums across the country … and keeps a Chicago icon on the map.

BY JOANIE SPENCER

Opening photo courtesy of Alpha Baking Co. |

other photos by Olivia Siddall Avant Food Media

FEATURED BAKERY: ALPHA BAKING CO.

There are plenty of ways a bakery can predict if business is ready to boom. It can look at sales projections, market conditions, data analysis and a host of other things. But sometimes, it’s just in the air.

“You can drive through the city with your windows down, and when you smell the grills going, you’re like, ‘Alright, it’s started,’” said Tim Lotesto, senior director of national retail key accounts for Chicago-based Alpha Baking Co. “That’s when you know it’s bun season.”

For Alpha Baking, a producer of specialty bread, buns and rolls for foodservice and retail, the bakery’s products are in demand throughout the year. But from roughly April through September — affectionately known in bakery circles as “bun season” — it’s a whole new ballgame.

It was more than four decades ago that two cousins, Mike Marcucci, chairman of the board, and Larry Marcucci, CEO, launched Alpha Baking through a series of acquisitions involving operations in Detroit, and South Bend, IN, before rescuing MaryAnn Baking Co. from bankruptcy in their hometown of Chicago.

Between the MaryAnn acq uisition and Alpha’s 1982 merger with S. Rosen’s, the bakery took on bun production that has become synonymous with any sandwich requiring a bun, but most notably the iconic Chicago-style hot dog.

“That’s really what got us rolling,” Larry said. “It was then that we had the volume to really get things moving.”

That momentum led Alpha to a 172,000-sq.-ft. facility on Polk Street in Chicago’s South Side, where today it cranks out about 2 million lbs. of bread a week ranging from S. Rosen’s branded

and private-label specialty loaves for retail, to French rolls for foodservice. But it’s also from where nearly every kind of premium hamburger and hot dog bun hits bars, ballparks, food carts and more — in areas ranging from Chicago streetcorners to grills across the US and North America.

“If you look back at our history, MaryAnn Baking Co. was a strong purveyor of hot dog buns — they were the best buns — in the marketplace,” said Mark Marcucci, Larry’s brother and Alpha Baking’s president. “We’ve been building on that tradition, and through the years, it’s grown to where we’re serving about 95% of hot dog stands in Chicago.”

So, what is a Chicago-style hot dog, and how exactly did two brothers and their cousin build a bun empire along with it?

Also known as a Chicago Dog, this specific fare includes a particular ingredient list, including an all-beef frankfurter, yellow mustard, relish, chopped white onions, tomato wedges, a pickle spear, sport peppers, celery salt and, of course, a poppyseed bun. It’s a hefty load for the bun to bear, and that’s where Alpha honed its quality focus: Build a bun that can hold the Chicago Dog fixins.

Warmed in a steam table, a Chicago-style hot dog bun has to be pliable enough to handle such heavy fillings, and the key to that is in the hinge. Product quality is undoubtedly the foundation, and it was paramount to getting the dogs cleanly into consumers’ hands.

“It was the combination of the quality of our product and the service of our sales team that has been the key difference maker for us,” Mark said. “In those early years, our bond with the

“Without our commitment to superior service and efficient distribution, our customers wouldn’t be able to compete, and we took that very seriously.”

Mark Marcucci | president |

Alpha Baking Co.

The bun is an integral part of what makes the iconic Chicago Dog so famous.

restaurants was essential. Without our commitment to superior service and efficient distribution, our customers wouldn’t be able to compete, and we took that very seriously. So, our logistics and service teams have focused on getting buns to the customers on time with consistent quality. We take great pride in the quality of our products and the service that we provide, and our customers realize that it’s an advantage for them.”

WATCH NOW:

For just about every handheld delicacy, the carrier is its unsung hero. Whether it’s a fully loaded Chicago Dog, a craft burger or an unforgettable gourmet sandwich, the bread is foundational to the experience. That’s especially true during the summer months when people hit the local pubs for a burger and beer or head to a stadium to enjoy a signature hot dog while cheering on America’s pastime.

Every menu — and every handheld — is different. Even Chicago Dogs, with their signature ingredients, have their own idiosyncrasies, right down to the size of the pickle slice. And those toppings can greatly impact bun specifications, which vary for each customer. To that end, Alpha has upwards of about 2,000 SKUs to manage.

“It can be hard to grasp the size and magnitude of what the bread business is,” Mark said. “It’s something that you just have to experience because there are just so many tentacles.”

Managing that many SKUs for so many clients requires a heavy emphasis on logistics, something Alpha has greatly invested in ... and what enables the bakery to not only remain unique for its customers, but also do it at scale.

That’s something Alpha Baking has developed a reputation for. In fact, visitors to the Polk Street bakery won’t get 10 steps without seeing a vendor award from one of its myriad customers. Perhaps the most notable in the building is a life preserver ring bearing the Alpha Baking name, a token from a customer who called the bakery a real “life saver.”

It’s a testament to Alpha’s dedication to customer service, especially during the summertime when it’s entirely conceivable that a foodservice operator could run out of buns on any given day.

“We’ll be delivering products to morrow that we might not have an order for yet,” said Bob McGuire, VP and director of logistics.

—Above Alpha Baking’s sesame products are only made on dedicated lines and in specific facilities.

Mark and Larry Marcucci describe the team effort involved in creating a quality bun.

Investing in logistics enables Alpha Baking to manage thousands of SKUs.

In this 24/7 operation, incorporating frozen business became a game changer because of its unique ability to be all things to all customers. It enhanced not only the volume of product that went out from all six facilities but also the customer formats that Alpha could serve. While frozen business is usually heavier during the week, fresh deliveries to certain restaurants almost always peak on the weekends, allowing more synchronicity in the operation.

“When we started doing frozen, we discovered that we could interweave production between frozen and fresh, and that helped balance things out,” Larry said. “So, when we’re running frozen production early in the week, once it’s into the freezer and we start running fresh at the end of the week, we can throttle back on the frozen. It’s allowed us to even out and become more concise and consistent in scheduling.”

What’s more, by building up frozen inventory — and its subsequent scheduling strategy — Alpha freed up capacity

needed to accommodate bun season on the fresh side. In fact, adding frozen production sparked incredible growth for Alpha’s distribution when traditional models like direct-store delivery began to wane. Today, the frozen-fresh ratio is about an even split.

“At first, we wondered, ‘Who is ever going to buy frozen bread?’” recalled Tim Gill, Alpha’s VP of frozen foodservice division. “But as quality of frozen bread has evolved, and with the continued industry retraction within the freshdirect geographical service footprint, it’s impacting every market and influencing the national frozen side of the business. In those rural areas, where do they get their bread? They’re leaning on broadline, specialty distribution, and that’s what’s causing the frozen side to escalate.”

LISTEN NOW: Tim Gill explains how the evolution of distribution has impacted frozen bakery production.

In a world of technology advances that can streamline everything from scheduling to packaging, the Alpha team holds one tool in highest regard: communication.

Since long before the pandemic, team leads from all six facilities join an 8 a.m. call to check on progress and get ahead of any troubleshooting that might be needed in the day ahead. With Polk serving as a distribution hub for several Alpha Baking facilities, communication is vital. The group has dialed in efficiency to the point it can hit everything in 30 minutes or less. During those high production times when things get a bit chaotic, they kick up the frequency to twice a day.

It’s summertime, and if the sun’s out, the buns are out. But these buns aren’t going to make themselves. Operations in five of the six plants are cranking out bread and buns at breakneck speed (with the nearby Fullerton facility focused solely on batter-based products such as muffins).

(From left) Tim Lotesto, Bob McGuire, Todd Thornberg, Larry Marcucci, Mark Marcucci, Tim Gill and William Houston ensure Alpha Baking gets through bun season seamlessly.

“They’re moving at 90 mph these days,” Larry said.

While automation is a vital necessity in mixing, proofing, baking and cooling, Alpha is still strategizing for how robotics can be used with the flexibility that’s required when packaging seemingly infinite configurations for thousands of SKUs in a land-locked operation.

“We’re challenged by the fact that all our bakeries are space-constrained while our varieties are voluminous,” Larry said. “It’s that big question: How do you incorporate automation or robotics into the flexibility that we need for our customer base? That’s always been the challenge for us.”

However, as some foodservice customers expand across the US and require consistent product in multiple locations, the need for longer runs that lend themselves more to end-of-line robotics will increase.

The company has invested in improvements as needed for automated bagging systems and other equipment throughout the facilities, including a new LeSaffre cream yeast system and PremierTech palletizing robot in 2020, a Motivair chiller in 2021, and two new Shaffer high-capacity mixers last year, all in the Lyndale facility. The most recent equipment upgrades at Polk Street include two new UBE bagger systems set for installation later this year, which follow a 140-ft. Babbco tunnel oven that was installed in 2019.

Polk Street’s space constraints require creative configurations, including a custom-built Rademaker makeup line that runs serpentine for space saving. And where products converge to ride conveyors upstairs to the second-floor

packaging area, the scene resembles the South Loop at rush hour, only with products running faster on the conveyors than the commuters on Interstate 90.

Innovation doesn’t just live inside the bakery, though.

“When we think about investments in the future, people immediately consider equipment,” McGuire said. “But investing in the future could be looking into technologies that are totally different.”

Since the early 2000s, the company has made significant investments in alternative fuels and electric vehicles, setting the pace for sustainability in the industry. It started with an experiment around how to run trucks on vegetable oil waste, with findings presented at the American Society of Baking’s BakingTECH conference. Although the concept didn’t take off, it sparked brainstorming on what’s possible, leading to dialogue between baking and trucking industry leaders.

“We invested a lot of time, money and effort,” McGuire recalled. “And it wasn’t about the ROI; it was about finding a solution that could take hold. We learned to ask the smart questions and think about other alternative energies.”

In 2013, Alpha was the first baking company to deploy an all-propane classified fleet, followed by an all-electric step van, and they’re still running today.

Through his work with the Alpha fleets and his leadership with the American Bakers Association’s logistics committee, McGuire has positioned the bakery at the forefront of sustainability and alternative energy strategies.

“It’s been a good ride, if you will,” he said. “We’ve done well for investing in the future in that way.”

This year, however, the biggest challenge by far has been the US Food and Drug Administration’s ruling on sesame

For a bakery that runs thousands of SKUs, packaging configurations require the most strategic solutions.

as the ninth allergen. For a company producing that many bread, bun and roll SKUs, it’s a potentially crippling change. But Alpha’s fierce commitment to food safety has driven the team to do whatever it takes to segregate lines that run sesame-topped products.

Todd Thornberg, VP of manufacturing, has been focused on the sesame issue for more than a year. Because sesame is a bit like glitter — it winds up everywhere — Thornberg reconfigured production to have sesame products run on dedicated lines in two facilities. This helps control changeovers and enables product tracking for allergen purposes. And ultimately, it could lead to those longer runs needed to support robotic automation.

That said, even with these efforts, non-sesame products that are made in the same facility with a sesame line include on-package warning to that effect. But if the company knows there’s risk of a severe allergic reaction, it will turn down business, especially for a school foodservice account.

“We do a lot of school business, and you can’t take that risk,” Thornberg said. “So, all our products for schools are made in facilities that don’t handle sesame at all.”

Then there are supply chain-related changes that all bakeries are learning to deal with while still reeling from the COVID reality that no one can predict the future. But those lessons have sharpened the bakery’s focus on the future and heightened the need for internal collaboration and longevity.

“Our people not only care, but they also have an intimate familiarity with every facet of their job,” said William Houston, VP of IT and administration services. “We collaborate constantly, always bouncing ideas off each other. This is our life, not just a job. And above all, it’s a team effort.”

There have been certain points on the industry’s timeline where bread has fallen, perhaps alarmingly, out of favor. But the past five years have proven that bread is, in fact, back.

“It’s back in a big way,” Gill said.

Undoubtedly, premium buns play a role in that, whether it’s a high-end brioche bun or that iconic steamed hot dog bun adorned with poppyseeds that make an unforgettable dining experience. And Alpha Baking is here for it.

“That’s our lot in life,” Larry said. “That’s what we do.” CB

INNOVATIONS FROM THE BAKERY FLOORS

In five of its six facilities, Alpha Baking Co. cranks out tons of buns every week, with the sixth specializing in batter-based products, primarily muffins. With a focus on speed and efficiency, the Alpha teams at each plant work together to create around 2,000 SKUs for fresh and frozen products for foodservice and retail customers. While it’s busiest during bun season, the bakeries serve customers year-round, rarely ever saying no, often earning the bakery “Supplier of the Year” distinctions. Below is a list of supplier innovations that can be found throughout all six facilities.

AMF Bakery Systems dough makeup

Babbco tunnel ovens

Bettendorf Stanford bagger

Burford Corp. tyer and topper system

Flynn oven burners

Formost Fuji horizontal packaging

Gemini divider

Hitachi videojet packaging printers

Kwik Lok bag closures

Mecatherm ovens

Peerless horizontal mixers

Rademaker sheeting and makeup

Shaffer horizontal mixers

Syntegon muffin wrappers

UBE baggers

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Student and Teacher

BY

If you ask Ramon Rivera about the last book he read, you might not get a straight answer. He reads for habit, not hobby, with as many as six books open at any given time. It’s a mark of an insatiable curiosity — about business, innovation and how the world works — that has led him on a journey spanning four decades in an industry he didn’t expect to join.

The timeline of his career is a classic tale of the baking industry’s history makers. In bakery manufacturing, leaders are rarely born; they start on the pro duction line and work their way up. That’s exactly how Rivera became senior VP of operations for Horsham, PA-based Bimbo Bakeries USA (BBU), the North American business unit of Mexico City-based Grupo Bimbo, the world’s largest commercial baking company.

“It’s been a long journey,” said Rivera, who has been with Grupo Bimbo for 42 years, 13 of which he’s spent in the US with BBU.

That longevity stems from a few key principles that include setting purpose, constantly learning and loving the craft.

When Rivera steps into a new situation, he believes it’s incumbent upon him to be the learner. That has been formative for

With an unending quest for knowledge, BBU’s Ramon Rivera leads on the principle of purpose.

JOANIE SPENCER

All photos courtesy of Bimbo Bakeries USA

not only his professional development but also his achievements in his company and the industry.

Formally trained in chemical engineering, Rivera spent the first few months of his career learning how to become a baker. In 1981, Grupo Bimbo was not yet the global powerhouse it is today. Although the company was already growing at a rapid rate, its operations were focused in Mexico, and there were not many ch emical engineers on staff.

Baking was a totally new world to Rivera, and as Grupo Bimbo was opening one to two plants a year at the time, the learning curve was short. But for Rivera, it was a worthy challenge.

“I came as a trainee in manufacturing as part of a plan to grow people for potential plant openings,” he said. “I quickly learned everything a baker should know on a production line. I had to cover all positions, and that started by learning the basics.”

Over the next few decades, as he grew in his role at Grupo Bimbo — and the company expanded globally — Rivera took on challenges such as developing and benchmarking best practices for operations in Mexico, based on Am erican and European principles. The work taught him a great deal about immersion into new cultures and how to apply different practices into a standardized process.

Developing expertise in navigating cultural differences has been foundational for Rivera, most notably when he entered the realm of BBU in 2010, when the business unit was on the brink of quadrupling through acquisitions including George Weston Ltd. and Sara Lee.

“There were big differences, and I had to learn a lot,” Rivera said. “Not only

culturally but also in the way the business of baking is conducted; it’s very different in the US and in Mexico. I had to learn about categories, competitors, customers, consumers and about the cultural differences among regions in the US. There was a lot to learn, but I enjoy that.”

Through collaboration and mentorship from peers such as Gary Prince, Fred Penny and Tony Gavin — then George Weston president, BBU president and BBU executive VP, respectively — Rivera led the integration of people, assets, systems and cultures into a cohesive BBU system, all while keeping product moving.

“With these types of integrations, the one thing we cannot do is disrupt the market,” Rivera said. “We have to keep serving customers without disruption.”

The two key factors in seamlessly executing large-scale integration without disruption, according to Rivera, are keeping the team focused on serving customers and consumers and keeping the people safe.

“If you can successfully combine those two things simultaneously,” he said, “the execution will be close to perfect.”

By focusing on culture, operations and business, Rivera has also naturally enhanced his affinity for innovation and sharpened his eye for talent. These are also important factors in maintaining operational efficiency while managing continued expansion.

Known as an early adopter, Rivera’s own propensity for discovering technology — and applying it in areas like operations and product development — is a centrifugal force that drives his leadership and, consequently, his teams.

“If you have a culture that enables people to fail fast, you can correct, realign the priorities and get to the next big thing.”

Ramon Rivera | senior VP of operations | Bimbo Bakeries USA

“You can’t compete if you don’t have the right skills and the right people on your team,” Rivera said. “The moment you stop learning new things, you’ll lose that competitive edge. And I have been lucky to learn from the best. I had the fortune to have great mentors like Don Lorenzo and Don Roberto Servitje and learn philosophy and management principles from them.”

He’s learned lessons not only from Don Lorenzo and Don Roberto but also worked several years with Daniel Servitje, Grupo Bimbo CEO, and a reliable group of peers and colleagues. Over the years, that mentorship has complemented continuing education, including advanced management courses from IPADE Business School in Mexico, supply chain management courses at IMD

Business School in Switzerland, an MBA from Arizona State University and ITAM in Mexico, and bakery-specific training through the American Society of Baking (ASB) and the American Institute of Baking.

“I have a hunger to learn and try new things,” he said, noting that education must not be solely focused internally but should, in fact, begin with understanding consumer needs, whether it’s nutrition, consumption, inflation or something else.

Innovation is rooted in serving the consumer. It can’t be forced, nor should it be stifled.

That said, with innovation comes some level of risk that’s often most evident in

terms of product development. Companies can invest a great deal in creating the next big product, but without consumer buy-in, there’s seemingly no reward. But, in Rivera’s view, the reward is not always tangible.

“You can put any number of products out in the market and have only a few of them become successful,” he said. “But it’s a matter of how you develop the innovation, how you run the process. There will be failures, but if you have a culture that enables people to fail fast, you can correct, realign the priorities and get to the next big thing. When that happens, when consumers adopt it, you have to make it available for everyone. That’s when a company becomes healthy and competitive.”

Ramon Rivera (center) believes the greatest innovation happens in an environment where ideas are free to flourish and product development begins with consumer-driven purpose.

Automated Pan Handling and Post-Packaging Solutions

Rivera believes that innovation must be rooted in purpose. Product development for the sake of having a new item on the shelf is a meaningless endeavor. But a product with purpose can take on a life of its own. When that happens, innovation will follow.

WATCH NOW:

Ramon Rivera explains the importance of prioritizing innovation.

The most productive creativity requires a culture where ideas are free to flourish. Granted, there has to be a gatekeeper, as Rivera attested to the Grupo Bimbo organization that allows for innovation to happen in a structured environment. But he also believes that when ideas are allowed to thrive, a natural life cycle will occur.

“It tends to be very natural when someone realizes that a good idea is simply not possible or that we need to ‘put it in the freezer’ for some time,” he said. “But when an idea flourishes, if we have the consumer in mind, and we understand how to adapt to a complex learning curve by adopting new technologies, formulations and processes, in the end, we will be successful.”

Rivera feels blessed to have started his career with a company not only set on growth and innovation but also invested in training and education for its workforce. He was provided endless opportunities to learn — and lead — the craft. As the first non-American to chair the ASB board of directors, Rivera’s leadership has focused on achieving results through positive influence.

Throughout his career, he has welcomed challenges and also challenged his teams to be the best they can be. And while that is always driven by purpose, it also starts by understanding the definition of what being the best means.

“It’s amazing what your team can do when you’re clear on expectations,” he said. “It’s about having a purpose and an end in mind … and understanding that what is the end today may not be the end tomorrow because situations change.”

As Rivera has grown with this company, he could not imagine his accomplishments without the people in his life, the least of which being his family. In essence, the people in his life have allowed him to grow with his teams and innovate together.

“I have been blessed by the support of my family, and I am lucky to have worked with many excellent people in my different teams over the years,” Rivera said. “They have all helped me to address challenges and constantly improve, to be the best and always achieve excellence.”

Rivera could have followed any path, perhaps in any industry. His ability to learn — and pass his knowledge to others — has not only helped grow one of the most influential companies in the world, but it has also bettered the business of baking.

“I chose to become a baker, to learn food,” Rivera said. “I made that decision because this is a great company and also because I enjoy my work. The baking industry is like a family. Even when we compete, we compete as a family in some respect. It’s a lot of work and requires a lot of energy. But this is a great place to be.” CB

“It’s amazing what your team can do when you’re clear on expectations. It’s about having a purpose and an end in mind … and understanding that what is the end today may not be the end tomorrow.”

Ramon Rivera | senior VP of operations | Bimbo Bakeries USA

BRAND:

Imperceivable Innovation

What began as a grandfather’s hobby is becoming the Steiner family’s gluten-free legacy.

BY ANNIE HOLLON

The dawn of a new product, especially in the baking industry, often stems from necessity. Take Glen Cove, NY-based Steiner’s Coffee Cake of New York. After just seven years, the brand is emerging to the masses while simultaneously crafting a family legacy that’s been generations in the making.

While the baking company began operating in 2016, the story of Steiner’s starts in the ’60s with Malcolm Steiner, fatherin-law of Nanci Steiner and grandfather to Jennifer Pool, the bakery’s creatorin-chief and president, respectively. Malcolm baked as a hobby and passed his knowledge and recipes on to Nanci. When Nanci was diagnosed with celiac disease more than 30 years ago, she took it upon herself to create a proprietary gluten-free flour blend.

Nanci’s first attempt fell flat. It wasn’t until she was on the brink of her 70th birthday that she landed on the perfect blend … unintentionally fueling the flames for a baking company.

“One day in 2016, she served my brother and me my grandfather’s German sour cream coffee cake, and I said, ‘Mom. You have something here. This is amazing,’” Pool said. “I quit my job the next day.”

Photo courtesy of Steiner’s Coffee Cake

Steiner’s Coffee Cake of New York’s flagship fresh-frozen product is shaking up the gluten-free market.

EMERGING

STEINER’S COFFEE CAKE

While Pool now oversees the production of Steiner’s baked goods — coffee cakes, ginger snaps and brownies — she knew nothing about baking, much less bakery manufacturing, when she left a marketing career to start the company. However, she did know that her mom’s flour blend and Malcolm’s recipe had the potential to be something big.

“At this point, I didn’t know how to bake a thing; I don’t even make my family dinner,” Pool recalled. “[My mom] said, ‘If we’re going to do this, you’re going to have to learn to bake.’ And I said, ‘Okay.’”

Nanci taught Pool everything she knows about baking, which proved critical as an operator since Pool spent the first four years baking everything herself. Though she may have left the advertising profession, Pool’s penchant for sales and love for consumer behavior was baked in. The learning curve came in operations.

“The flour was the first hurdle,” Pool said. “Could we make the flour over and over again with the same quality outcome: a premium product that nobody knew was gluten-free?”

The answer was yes. Within three months, Pool had found a flour mixer to create her mother’s certified gluten-free, kosher and Non-GMO Project-verified blend. Over six years later, Steiner’s uses the same Denverbased SQF2-certified provider that specializes in custom blends to produce between 5,000 lbs. and 20,000 lbs. of flour at a time. Steiner’s also sells the flour on Amazon, its website and in retail locations.

Growing the business came down to ensuring Steiner’s could do three things: scale the recipe, replicate it consistently and make the product defensible.

Set with the right flour blend and the ability to produce Malcolm’s original recipe at scale, Steiner’s took off, selling its first coffee cake on Amazon in January 2017 and obtaining its first retail client, Grassroots, that April.

The coffee cake’s quality and Pool’s raw determination caught the attention of Chicago-based Mondelez International.

SnackFutures is Mondelez’ innovation and venture hub, which provides earlystage brands with materials such as a virtual curriculum, one-on-one mentorship and expertise from the company’s network ranging from innovation to brand building. Through a 12-week CoLab startup engagement program, early brands have access to resources that can help them build a venture pipeline.

“The program provides a lot of resources that the founders are able to leverage in the way that best serves them and their business,” said Jackie Haney, innovation and CoLab program manager at Mondelez International.

Jennifer Pool (center, in orange) is one of the entrepreneurs in SnackFutures’ CoLab class of 2023.

Photo courtesy of Mondelez International

“Whether it’s on the supply side or the consumer side, relationships matter. You have to be authentic and genuine.”

Jennifer Pool | president | Steiner’s Coffee Cake of New York

Drawn in by Mondelez’ pillars — growth, execution, culture and sustainability — and its perspective on the future of snacking, Pool submitted the online application.

“It was just a click, and I never in a million years thought they would choose us,” Pool said. “It’s been phenomenal from day one.”

Steiner’s fit into this year’s CoLab theme of Disruptively Delicious. Pool lets the coffee cake speak for itself before pulling back the curtain to reveal the product’s gluten-free status. This ability to blend in made the emerging brand stand out to Mondelez.

“What was really unique and caught our eye about Steiner’s — aside from

Jennifer, who is such a passionate, intelligent, hard-working entrepreneur — is that the product is imperceivably gluten-free,” Haney said. “We know that eating is a shared experience, and so we love when there are products out there that meet the needs of niche consumers but can be shared with mainstream consumers without there being any trade-off in taste.”

For Pool, the program has not only lent Steiner’s credibility and national awareness, but it’s also introduced her to business connections that could help grow the company.

“I can have conversations with different folks in the supply chain that I was never able to have before, and people call me back,” Pool said. “And the

research that I have at my disposal now enables me to become a better supplier and make more pointed, better-informed sales calls. That’s a huge win for us. I’m not flying blind.”

This experience has also enhanced how Pool connects with buyers and category

Photo courtesy of Steiner’s Coffee Cake

managers to find ways Steiner’s can meet consumer demand.

“My job is to help [retailers] understand how Steiner’s fits into their offering,” Pool said. “They shouldn’t have to do that work. I can do that really well now, and they’re willing to have a conversation with me because Mondelez thinks we are someone to listen to.”

Harkening back to her advertising and marketing experience, Pool is intent on building those key relationships in all aspects of the Steiner’s business.

“Whether it’s on the supply side or the consumer side, relationships matter,” she said. “You have to be authentic and genuine. They won’t always work out, and that’s okay. You can still be gracious

and appreciate the value of the person sitting across the table from you. In the end, everyone brings something that makes you better at what you do.”

Beyond the brand’s signature coffee cakes and flour blend, Steiner’s plans to expand with a gluten-free cheesecake, not to mention new ideas rolling in daily from Nanci. Although there are certain milestones Steiner’s must meet before expanding further, the future she envisions for her family’s company is crystal clear.

“I want us to be a household name,” Pool said. “I want people to think of Steiner’s and say, ‘They’re invited to my table. Steiner’s can be in my kitchen.’ That’s my vision, that’s my hope, that’s my dream.” CB

Beyond the brand’s signature coffee cakes and flour blend, Steiner’s plans to expand.

Minimize labor issues!

THE PRETZEL NEXT DOOR

BY JOANIE SPENCER

If Matt and Katie Wessel knew then what they know now, Milwaukee Pretzel Co. might never have been on the map.

When the concept of this Mi lwaukeebased pretzel brand was conceived, the Wessels — Matt, president and COO, and Katie, CEO — hoped they could start a business that would involve around 500 pretzels a day.

But they didn’t anticipate how the predominantly Germanic Milwaukee market would receive the pretzels … or how it would lead them down a path of automated innovation. Sometimes, a big dream and a little blind faith can take entrepreneurs a long way.

“If someone would have shown us 10 years ago what we have today and said, ‘This is what you’re working toward,’ we probably would have been too scared to jump in,” Matt said. “What we have today — and the path we’re headed down — far exceeds what we thought we’d be doing.”

The Wessels never actually planned to manufacture pretzels. They originally sought a co-manufacturer to produce the Bavarian-style delicacy they fell in love with while living in Munich.

Consistency in size, weight and shape is critical to Milwaukee Pretzel’s process. Automation helps achieve that goal.

How Milwaukee Pretzel Co. turned a Bavarian tradition into a hometown staple.

However, the complicated process involving a caustic bath — what gives the product its signature color and flavor — was not appealing to a typical bakery operator. So, the Wessels forged ahead, making them by hand.

Within two years, Milwaukee Pretzel had not only gained notoriety in its hometown, but it had also caught the attention of broadline distributors with clients in Chicago and Minnesota’s Twin Cities. Soon, the business was in a growth cycle between expanding clientele and a hiring boom to keep up with demand.

“When you’re building a business, you see yourself going in one direction, but sometimes you go a little off the path, and you discover that’s the direction you were

meant to go,” Katie said. “You obviously need to have expertise and knowledge to steer things in the right direction, but at the end of the day, a lot of our growth was fueled by demand.”

After building an operation that consisted of little more than rolling, cutting and twisting pretzels by hand, the brand and workforce grew in tandem. And while growth changed the game for the business, it also meant a steeper learning curve.

“When you’re training people while also producing large volumes by hand, you end up with a lot of rejects,” Katie said. “It takes a lot of time and investment to teach someone how to roll a pretzel because it’s not a skill that people inherently have.”

“What we have today — and the path we’re headed down — far exceeds what we thought we’d be doing.”

Matt Wessel | president and COO | Milwaukee Pretzel Co.

Automating the twisting of standard-size pretzels freed up employees to focus on more artisanal tasks.

The early days of entrepreneurship can look more like a constant stream of small, immediate decisions. But as a business grows, those decisions can often get bigger, cost more, have a longer-lasting impact and require a more strategic view.

Those kinds of decisions are how the company has successfully executed its slow, managed growth.

The move to automation was calculated, but it also came out of need. One foundational aspect of Milwaukee Pretzel is the customer-first mentality that Katie established when she started the company. So, as the operation grew into a need to automate, she prioritized educating her team on the specificities of each customer’s product.

“I’ve worked with our production teams to help them understand the customer and the process,” Katie said. “If I tell them something has to be done a certain way, there’s a reason. I help them connect the dots by saying, ‘These pretzels have to be done this way — or in this shape — because the customer is doing something specific with them.’ That has become the basis for everything we do.”

Katie’s integrity ensured that when it was time to scale the pretzels wouldn’t change. That proved to be one of the hardest challenges when the complicated nature of the process limited their immediate resources.

“I still say that the biggest accomplishment of my professional life is, hands down, scaling a Bavarian pretzel,” Katie said. “It’s hard to do, and there aren’t a lot of people in the country who have done it.”

While automation can make things faster, easier or perhaps even cheaper, none of

those were motivating factors for Milwaukee Pretzel. Baking is a combination of art and science, but when scaling a product like this, precision is everything.

WATCH NOW:

The Wessels took great care in seeking supplier partners that could create pretzels with the same quality as the original handmade version without changing the formula.

Some decisions were easy, such as moving from baking on parchment paper to using custom-coated pans from Chicago Metallic, a Bundy Baking Solution. But the Wessels also fiercely focused on automation as a means to make the process more efficient and the workers’ lives easier.

One of the earliest investments was automating the caustic bath, a tedious and labor-intensive process that’s now achieved through a lye shower from WP Riehle.

“We were using lye buckets, so when we got this machine, it was the best thing ever,” Katie said. “Before automating, we had to use huge gloves and masks, and it was really difficult.”

A recent investment allowed a portion of Milwaukee Pretzels to be automatically divided and rounded on Gemini equipment, then formed, rolled and twisted on two Fritsch makeup lines, both of which have provided consistency in size, weight and shape that’s critical to the process.

“If shaping and folding is not done well, it’s a domino effect everywhere else,” Katie said. “I’ve learned that the key to scaling is that it has to be done exactly the same every time. If one piece isn’t done well, it affects everything down the line, and you’re constantly making adjustments.”

Katie Wessel shares her insights on producing Bavarian pretzels at scale.

Even as Milwaukee Pretzel gains national recognition, Matt and Katie Wessel remain committed to keeping it a customer- and workforce-centric business.

“Seeing Fritsch’s passion for their equipment — and knowing they’re a premier pretzel equipment manufacturer — made us very comfortable taking the leap with them,” Katie said. “When we ran our dough on the equipment and saw the results, that was the ‘wow’ moment. They understood what a Bavarian pretzel was supposed to look and taste like. They wanted it to be as perfect as we did, and they weren’t frustrated at our expectations for perfection.”

The two lines provide relief for small, tedious tasks like cutting and twisting, freeing up workers to focus on bigger, more artisanal tasks like twisting the gigantic 16- and 24-oz. pretzels, which require fewer twists to make.

As Milwaukee Pretzel’s founders and original brand ambassadors, Matt and Katie have spent a decade developing tribal knowledge that’s already being passed on to the bakery’s growing workforce. In a classic entrepreneurial learn-as-you-go mentality, the team is tapping into automation to develop a workforce made up of more than just line workers. This company is a group of operators, marketers and product developers who, together, are creating something they believe in.

After a decade in operation, Milwaukee Pretzel remains a customer- and workforce-centric family-owned business that often still feels like a startup, especially when it comes to making work feel more like fun sometimes.

“We have a fun brand,” Matt said. “We’re not above poking fun at ourselves and being whimsical at times. At the same time, we’re really connected to our community, and I think all that rubs off on the people who work here. We still call ourselves a startup, even after 10 years, because we still feel that small and tight-knit. Everyone here works hard and helps each other, and that’s what we’re trying to hold onto.”

That’s the culture the Wessels have built, and as the brand grows to national notoriety, it’s the hometown feel that will remain. CB

INNOVATIONS FROM THE BAKERY FLOOR

In just a decade, Milwaukee Pretzel has gone from a handmade labor of love to an automated operation in a 22,000sq.-ft. facility located on 4.5 acres. The pretzels are sold in 20 states through retail and foodservice, as well as direct to consumer nationwide via e-commerce. Below is a list of suppliers that have enabled this bakery to make a consistent product at scale while never straying from the original formula.

ABS mixers

ADCO Manufacturing cartoner

Chicago Metallic, a Bundy Baking Solution custom-coated pans

Dinamica/Sottoriva divider/rounder

Fritsch sheeting, makeup, twisting lines

Gemini divider/rounder, proofer

LBC proofer

Macadams Baking Systems rack ovens

MIWE rack ovens

WP Riehle caustic bath system

The company chose to work with Multivac/Fritsch to automate dough makeup and twisting for its standard-size pretzels, specifically because of Fritsch’s pretzel expertise.

Investing in automated dough makeup lines helped Milwaukee Pretzel maintain control over product quality.

TORTILLA BASKETCASE LOADER

Unlock the Beauty of Simplicity

Servo-driven retractable conveyor belt that loads all type of flat breads in movable baskets/cases. Made for tortilla producers in USA and Canada.

• Versatility. It can be used for a lot of different types of flat bread of all sizes. The size of the conveyors can also be adjusted according to product matrix.

• Accelerate the shipping and post-production steps by eliminating downtime and keeping high efficiency in the loading process.

• Reduce labor by automating the loading of baskets with retractable conveyors.

Features

Energy savings: Entirely servo driven.

Maintenance: Low maintenance cost among timing belt options.

Operator Friendly: No need to adjust the recipe for different trays or baskets (in most cases).

Installation & Operation: Plug and play type feature.

Safety: A safety scanner eliminates the need for fencing or obstructive guarding and improves access to components for maintenance and sanitation.

All Quiet on the M&A Front

Food companies are taking a more disciplined, strategic approach to how they grow their businesses.

BY MARI RYDINGS

In the three years leading up to the pandemic, the food industry was in its heyday of mergers and acquisitions (M&As), with many companies engaging in the activity as a source of cost-cutting — and just as many companies looking for a good deal. Fast-forward five years: Food companies, leery of recession fears, inflation, rising interest rates and the ongoing battle against supply chain disruptions have turned their attention away from M&A activity. Instead, they’re choosing to funnel energy and cash into their core businesses and infrastructure.

The pivot caused a significant slowdown in big-money deals across the food and beverage industry. The commercial baking sector, specifically, has followed suit.

“Commercial baking is following the current trend in the larger food and beverage space of slowing down when it comes to mergers and acquisitions,” confirmed Glenn Pappalardo, managing director of JPG Resources, a consultancy focused on innovation, strategy and execution in the CPG food beverage space. “Bigger-end strategic buyers are looking to derive value from their existing portfolios versus going out and spending half a billion dollars on perhaps a fast-growing but highly valued emerging brand.”

That’s not to say M&A is dead; there are still deals to be made. Food and beverage companies are taking a more strategic approach than they may have in years past, with many of them acquiring brands that will either help them expand quickly into fast-growing categories or build out the distribution of a core business.

© inimalGraphic on Adobe Stock

US VC Deal Activity in Consumer Food & Beverage (2018-YTD*)

However, contrary to recent years when companies were willing to pay premium valuations in return for fast growth from an emerging brand, analysts have observed a change in perspective. Businesses are more cautious of the valuation and ensuring the premiums align with the growth expected from the acquisition.

“Companies are looking for ‘tuck-in’ acquisitions, things that add to growth,” said Brittany Quatrochi, an equity research analyst with Edward Jones. “Major food companies may use these smaller acquisitions to get their sales line going a little bit, which is going to be increasingly important. These will likely be deals they pay for with cash, that don’t require a large amount of integration, and that help them boost those faster-growing areas.”

Quatrochi noted Hershey, PA-based The Hershey Co.’s December 2021

purchase of Dot’s Homestyle Pretzels, which helped the company broaden its salty snacks portfolio.

“That was not a large-scale acquisition, but meaningful for them in terms of their growth outlook,” she said.

On a larger scale, Chicago-based Mondelez International acquired Clif Bar & Co. in 2022 as a way to quickly increase its presence in the fast-growing bar category. The purchase expanded the company’s global snack bar business to more than $1 billion.

Additionally, Thomasville, GA-based Flowers Foods spent $270 million on Papa Pita Bakery, a manufacturer and distributor of high-quality bagels, tortillas, breads, buns, English muffins and flatbreads. The deal included a sizeable co-manufacturing business and a state-of-the-art 270,000-sq.-ft.

baking facility. The strategic move also expanded the bakery manufacturer’s geographic reach with direct-store distribution in the Western US.

“We have identified very clearly what kind of M&A we would like to do,” said Martin Renaud, executive VP and chief marketing and sales officer of Mondelez, during the annual Consumer Analyst Group of New York (CAGNY) conference earlier this year, when asked about the global snack manufacturer’s current approach to acquisitions. “But it’s just being very clear on what we want, having clear criteria on what are they bringing to us, and then trying to find the right partners and build the right deals to make that happen.”

While the right deal looks different for every company, current M&A trends point to three common themes: maturity, scalability and sustainability.

Source: PitchBook

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All three were key factors in Lenexa, KS-based Hostess Brands’ $320 million acquisition of Voortman’s Cookies Ltd. in January 2020. During a presentation at the Deutsche Bank dbAccess Global Consumer Conference in June, Andy Callahan, president and CEO of Hostess Brands, commented on the strategy behind the acquisition.

“The Voortman’s business is a branded business in what we call a scalable niche in a sub-segment of a large category that we thought was growing at greater the rate, similar to Hostess,” Callahan said. “We were able to transform the portfolio in an area we thought was growing greater than food, which snacking is. When we invested in these capabilities, whether it’s data, innovation or brand growth — all that works through our warehouse distribution model — all these capabilities Voortman was scalable to … and it’s been successful.”

At the same time major players have been re-evaluating their acquisition strategy, venture capitalists and private equity investors typically interested in early-stage food and beverage companies are also rethinking their approach to funding these types of businesses.

According to data provided by PitchBook Data, Inc., in the first three months of 2023 there were 1,030 deals that raised about $1 billion, compared to 1,349 deals totaling $1.3 billion during the same period in 2022. The last quarter of 2022 recorded a significant drop, both in the number of deals closed and capital raised, with 785 transactions raising $800 million, compared to 2,316 deals that raised $2.3 billion during the same period in 2021.

“A lot of venture capital and private equity investors have pulled back because the multiples were already high before the pandemic,” Pappalardo said.

“Many people thought the onset of the pandemic might be a correction, but with all the relief funding put into the system, it actually propped up the multiples and, in some cases, made them worse. Eventually, a lot of investors weren’t seeing enough value out there at those levels of multiples to keep looking, especially when you factor in an uncertain economic outlook.”

With a six-year track record of heightened multiples, investors also began to see how some of those earlier investments have panned out and their lackluster performance is giving them pause.

“Just a few years ago, strategic buyers would be chomping at the bit for a company with top-line revenue growth of $25 million to $50 million.”

Kevin Weigand | M&A diligence lead | JPG Resources

Photo courtesy of Voortman’s Cookies

Ltd.

Hostess Brands’ acquisition of Voortman’s Cookies in 2020 fit the snack cake manufacturer’s current criteria: It was a scalable business in a niche sub-segment of a category that is experiencing growth.

GASHOR boasts over 50 years experience providing customized turnkey solutions in handling, automation and dosing of powders, granules and liquids.

Our headquarters are in Europe and we deliver complete automatic ingredients installations around the world.

- Flour Cooling System

- Indoor and Outdoor Storage Silos

- Super Bags Loading and Unloading Stations

- Bag Dump Stations

- Special Solutions For Dosing and Conveying of Micro Ingredients

- Mechanical And Pheumatic Conveying Systems

“Just a few years ago, strategic buyers would be chomping at the bit for a company with top-line revenue in the range of $25 million to $50 million,” said Kevin Weigand, M&A diligence lead at JPG Resources. “That appetite has soured. Right now, they aren’t looking at anything below $50 million to $100 million. They’re looking at slightly more mature companies with a larger focus on things like scalability, profit margins and a clear path to profitability. It can’t just be a promise. There has to be some real groundwork laid there.”

In the past, larger companies were willing to acquire smaller brands they could nurture and grow. Today, they are seemingly hesitant to take a leap of faith and figure out how to unlock growth by increasing capacity or putting their own team in place.

“They have way less of an appetite for doing the work themselves,” Pappalardo said.

Weigand also noted that he’s had clients stop an acquisition deal when an emerging brand couldn’t meet certain requirements.

“Buyers are looking to see if a company is capable of solving a consumer’s problem in a way that resonates and keeps the consumer coming back to the brand,” Weigand said. “Are people truly interested in what you have to offer, and can brands prove that to buyers?”

That’s not to say all the investment money has dried up completely. In May, San Francisco-based Hero Bread announced a successful Series B fundraise that will allow it to expand nationally and invigorate its product innovation efforts. Strong digital and regional grocery sales spurred investors to continue supporting the baker.

Quatrochi predicted that, at least for the remainder of this year, companies will focus on sales growth vs. acquisitions, especially as prices climb and consumers curtail spending.

“I don’t see anything big on the horizon, but keep in mind, these things come in waves,” Quatrochi said. “Right now, companies are back to investing in their business. They are focused on increasing manufacturing capacity, spending more on IT systems — in effect taking a look at the holes COVID exposed in their supply chains and investing to address those holes and be better positioned for growth. But as they trim areas that may not be the most profitable or make the most sense in their portfolios, you may see some opportunity for M&A within the space.”

For the foreseeable future, though, food companies as a collective group have put external pursuits on pause unless they prove to be a perfect fit for their portfolio. And that means all things are quiet on the M&A front. CB

LISTEN NOW: Glenn Pappalardo and Kevin Weigand of JPG Resources discuss the value of a healthy e-commerce business when it comes to M&A or VC funding.

Going Mainstream

Alternative and ancient grains are seeing a modern resurgence in baking.

BY MAGGIE GLISAN

Garlic and parmesan lentil chips. Amaranth graham crackers. Sprouted spelt bread. The kinds of offerings once resigned to the hippie neighborhood co-op are now finding their way to major retailer shelves, thanks to an increased curiosity toward alternative grains.

According to Sean Liu, research leader at the US Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s Functional Foods Research Unit, “alternative” grains can be anything that replaces the three traditional varieties: wheat, corn or rice. That includes a vast number of cereal grains, including millet, sorghum, rye and barley, non-cereal grains such as amaranth and quinoa, and even pulses like peas, lentils and chickpeas.

Consumer interest in alternative grains is strong, and the market is surpassing traditional grain categories. Ancient grains such as buckwheat, quinoa, sorghum, teff, millet and amaranth are expected to grow 5% to 7% between 2021 and 2026 per USDA data.

And pulses, driven by increased demand for plant-based protein, show the most promising growth, with a CAGR of 7% to 10% during the same time frame.

So, why all the interest? Dietary trends related to personal wellbeing top the list, with consumer demand for cleaner labels, healthier options and overall diversity in the daily diet fueling much of the increasing buzz.

But it’s not just personal wellbeing that’s contributing to growth in the alt grain space. Consumers are also making dietary decisions based on what’s best for the planet, with regenerative agriculture, environmental labeling and food waste reduction all becoming more important. In fact, the 2022 Life Through the Lens of Bakery study from the American Bakers Association (ABA) revealed that 65% of consumers say a company’s commitment to sustainability goals and planet health influences whether they buy from that company, and that number jumps to 73% among Gen Z.

“When you’re dealing with alternative grains, it needs to be approachable to the consumer … whether that’s by offering a smaller size or format to encourage experimentation.”

Jon Davis | VP of culinary development | Aspire Bakeries

Los Angeles-based La Brea Bakery was an early pioneer in bringing alternative grains to the masses. Founded in 1989 by Nancy Silverton and Mark Peel, the brand’s artisan breads paved the way for greater availability and still do so today.

“We’ve been using alternative grains for a very long time, and it’s great to see the increased interest and popularity,” said Jon Davis, VP of culinary development for Aspire Bakeries, La Brea Bakery’s parent company. “For so long there really was limited availability, and it was hard for people to develop products outside of larger bakeries.”

During the past 30-plus years, La Brea Bakery has innovated with numerous alternative grains, including singleorigin bread products using locally grown, heirloom wheat, which debuted at the height of the farm-to-table movement. Davis said he still sees a lot of experimentation with different cultivars including Sonora, Turkey Red and Rouge de Bordeaux, especially among smaller

bakeries, noting how single-source flours can yield specific flavor profiles that contrast those of flour blends.

Today, Davis is most excited about the availability of sprouted grains in a variety of forms and the nutritional attributes that sprouting can offer.

“Anything that can be sprouted is being sprouted nowadays and is turned into flour or some other format for commercial use,” he said. “I think there’s a lot to experiment with and work with there.”

He’s also thinking a lot about oat flour and millet flour, which he said hardly existed just five years ago.

“These types of formats are much more widely available,” Davis said. “In the past, you had grain that could be used as an inclusion, but now you can start to incorporate them in an entirely new way. There are only so many particulates you can put into a loaf of bread before it gets challenging to eat.”

© aga7ta on Adobe Stock

Amaranth is just one of the alternative grains piquing consumer interest.

© bit24 on Adobe Stock

“Adding these alternative grains in a flour format can really boost its effectiveness and flavor profile without sacrificing texture,” Davis added.

However, there are some risks and challenges to working with alternative grains, especially when incorporating them at a larger scale. From a product development and baking perspective, consistency is key, and that can get tricky when baking at scale. Supply and cost issues can also create significant hurdles for bakers looking to break into alternative grains.

“In terms of cost, you can only go so high before you start alienating people,” Davis said. “It’s been part of [La Brea Bakery’s] mission since early on to get artisan bread to as many people as possible. Why not have great bread for everyone, not just a small handful of people who can afford bread at $15 a loaf?”

Luckily for consumers, increased demand across the category could help drive costs down.

John Friend, president of Kansas City, MO-based Farm to Market Bread Co., sees similar challenges when producing alternative grain products at scale. The company has been producing bread featuring buckwheat, rye, quinoa, millet, amaranth and more for over 30 years.

“For a bakery our size, it can be difficult to buy [alternative grains] in bulk, and it ties up a lot of capital,” Friend said. “But offering these unique breads that are packed with different grains really sets us apart.”

Managing consumer expectations and delivering products that push the flavor and texture envelope just enough without alienating customers can also be a

challenge. Then again, challenges also create opportunities.

“One of the nice things about the grains we’re using is that they can add this nice crunch and a unique texture that people don’t always expect,” Friend added. “But you do need to be careful about introducing flavors that people aren’t really used to.”

He noted the importance of sticking to familiar flavor profiles and then subtly layering in more adventurous ingredients. According to a 2019 study from the Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST) that looked at consumer attitudes toward alternative grains, sweet and nutty flavors and products made from quinoa were among the most positive factors for consumers.

Davis said La Brea Bakery is also conscious of consumer taste preferences when developing new products featuring lesser-known grains.

“When you’re dealing with alternative grains, it needs to be approachable to the consumer,” he explained. “We want to make trying new products accessible, whether that’s by offering a smaller size or format to encourage experimentation.”

In looking at the rate of inclusion in the baking category, research from Ardent Mills shows that buckwheat has the strongest growth, whereas quinoa, chia, oat flour, chickpea flour and barley have the greatest impact on purchasing intent. Quinoa appears to be the most widely known grain, with the highest rate of favorable nutritional perceptions.

Photo by Liz Goodwin Avant Food Media

Baking with alternative grains at scale can be challenging for the simple reason they are difficult to buy in bulk.

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While some alternative grains have garnered more considerable name recognition in recent years, others remain relatively unknown.

Phil Teverow, co-founder and CEO of Brooklyn, NY-based Yolélé Foods, is trying to change that. His company, which was founded in 2017, creates products using fonio, a West African cereal grain in the millet family. The ancient grain, though highly cultivable, has been underutilized historically.

“Most people weren’t familiar with quinoa a few years ago,” Teverow said. “That changed over a period of years as quinoa appeared on restaurant menus and in packaged foods. We are deliberately pursuing the same course with fonio.”

Yolélé currently offers grain packets as well as fonio chips, which are available at major retailers such as Target and Thrive Market. Teverow said the decision to introduce the ancient grain into the snack category was strategic. Since the category lends itself to greater visibility, he bet big on trial consumption to drive volume.

“We knew we wanted to put fonio into products that would resonate with a broader audience,” Teverow said. “Only so many people buy grains at all, and only a fraction of those will bring home a grain they’ve never heard of. But almost everyone loves a salty snack. And if it’s made from a gluten-free ancient grain, it must be reasonably healthy, right? Also, if you’re curious about what African food tastes like, a snack is a pretty low-risk way to find out — you don’t risk serving dinner that no one likes.”

He added that, as an ingredient, fonio faces nothing but blue sky. In fact, Teverow anticipates a broad variety of baking and coating applications for the grain, like grinding it into a flour for granola, clusters, bars and inclusions.

Yolélé is also tapping into consumers’ growing desire — especially among millennials and Gen Z — to direct their dollars to products that make a meaningful social and environmental impact. According to Mintel, 58% of Gen Z consumers buy from brands that share and act on their values.

Product photos courtesy of Yolélé

Incorporating lesser-known ancient grains such as fonio into products consumers are already familiar with is one way to introduce them to an wider audience.

“When people say they want to be more sustainable, they don’t want to change everything about their lives. But they are willing to take small actions they think will make a difference.”

Kyle Fiasconaro | chef and owner | Brewer’s Foods

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ALTERNATIVE GRAINS

By working with small farmers in Africa to source and process its ingredients, Yolélé supports sustainable, regenerative farming and provides economic opportunities to local communities.

“Fonio may not be a panacea, but it is undeniable that reducing the world’s reliance on a handful of crops makes us all less vulnerable,” Teverow said. “Creating markets for climate-resilient traditional crops like fonio is a step in the right direction.”

Somerville, MA-based Brewer’s Foods is also on a mission to make a positive environmental impact using another type of alternative: spent grain, a byproduct of the beer brewing process. When crushed malted barley and other grains such as wheat and rye are soaked in water, they’re discarded as a waste product and typically used for animal feed. But today, these grains are increasingly being reused in the baking process.

Kyle Fiasconaro, chef and owner of Brewer’s Foods, said he saw the vast flavor and nutritional potential of spent grains when he launched Brewer’s first product — an upcycled cracker — in 2017. Since then, the company has expanded its cracker line and now sells chips and cookies as well.

“Using spent grains means you get all the benefits of a high-quality malted barley or wheat, which has been sprouted and roasted, but still maintains tons of flavor and valuable nutrients unlocked by the steeping process,” Fiasconaro said. “When we extend the life of the grain, we increase its value even more.”

Fiasconaro said consumer interest in sustainability has a big part to do with demand for his products, and he saw crackers as an entryway through which

he could introduce people to spent grains. He noted there was considerable tinkering with his original recipe to land on a cracker that was familiar enough in taste and texture to appeal to a broad audience.

“When people say they want to be more sustainable, they don’t want to change everything about their lives,” he said. “But they are willing to take small actions they think will make a difference.”

There’s certainly a runway for spent grains. The global upcycled food products market size was valued at $53.7 billion in 2021 and is projected to reach $97 billion by 2031, according to a report by Allied Market Research.

Then again, Fiasconaro doesn’t think consumers are scouring supermarket aisles for upcycled foods just yet. In fact, he sees a lot of potential for more education.

“The goal for Brewer’s Foods has always been just to use as much grain as possible,” Fiasconaro said. “People need good, nutritious food, and we have this really nutritious ingredient. At the end of the day, if we didn’t use [spent grains], they’d be thrown away, and when people hear that, it really resonates.”

If it’s true that everything old becomes new again, up and coming alt grains have a bright future in the modern era of commercial baking. CB

Product photo courtesy of Brewer’s Foods

Foods made with upcycled ingredients are gaining traction with sustainability-minded consumers.

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Innovation gets salty

Salty Snacks Dollar Sales by Product Type

Snacking is on the rise. The 2023 Snacking Survey from Circana found 49% of consumers eat three or more snacks per day. And 62% of consumers want snacks that are fun to eat, according to the consumer research company’s April 2023 webinar, Snacking Supernova: How to Win in the 2023 Snacking Universe

When it comes to salty snacks in particular, Mintel research found that 27% of consumers say they are eating more salty snacks than they did in the prior year.

Current dollar sales of salty snacks were $37.57 billion, reflecting a 15.7% increase vs. a year ago. Unit sales of salty snacks were 10.83 billion, a 0.5% change vs. a year ago.

“Although dollar sales in the salty snack category have been strong, sales are inflated from the price increases over the past year to 18 months,” cautioned Sally Lyons Wyatt, executive VP and practice leader for client insights at Circana.

Corn snacks saw the greatest unit sales change of 11.9% vs. a year ago, and half of the salty sub-categories show unit sales growth. Corn snacks also saw the greatest dollar sales change vs. a year ago at 28.1%, followed by tortilla/tostada chips at 19%, pretzels at 17.1% and potato chips at 15.3%.

Even with rising prices, many consumers still view snacks as largely affordable. The category is benefiting from higher trip incidence, particularly among mid- and upper-per capita households. The combination of higher spend and higher frequency is the reason behind category growth. Strategic partnerships and limited-time offers (LTOs) are also helping brands keep category offerings current.

Versatile snacks can serve as a replacement for meals, a pick-me-up or a way to subvert boredom. Despite an uptick in private brands, premium remains a feel-good investment as an affordable form of self-care, but according to Lyons Wyatt, manufacturers will benefit from multiple entry price points. Time spent commuting between home and office also leads to more consumers choosing to pack their own snacks, with 91% of them being sourced from home.

“Ensure channel strategies include entry price points for those struggling to live within their budgets but who want to snack on their favorites,” Lyons Wyatt continued. “Keep the North Star on where the consumers are to drive penetration, buy rate and/or frequency.”

Consumers are also looking for snacks to assist them on a holistic health journey. Forty-five percent of consumers say snacks are an important part of their healthy eating plan throughout the day. Millennial “super snackers” look for ways to address their top health concerns including stress, lactose intolerance and celiac disease, while older consumers are concerned about preventing disease and managing issues like high blood pressure and hypertension.

The Circana Snacking Survey found 61% of respondents want snacks that

contain vitamins and minerals. Fifty-nine percent want snacks that contain additional health benefits beyond nutrition, such as antioxidants and micronutrients, and 48% of consumers said they want snacks that provide probiotics to help with digestion.

To that end, low-sodium and low-sugar diet claims drove dollar and unit growth in 2022 and remain popular in 2023. Salty snack items with claims like kidney health, diabetes support, hypertension support, containing essential minerals and/or cholesterol support are growing in dollars and units so far this year. Protein also remains important among 57% of those surveyed. In 2022, plant-based protein labels grew by 9% in dollar sales and were sourced from rice, soy, oat, peanut and chia seeds. In 2023, popular protein sources include oat, peanut and chia. Other trending ingredients include more exotic sources such as nootropics, collagen, super greens and maca.

Circana reported that 83% of consumers said they want snacks with a preferred flavor. This includes bold varieties such as Mexican, Hot Chili Pepper, Flaming Hot and Dill Pickle. Meanwhile, Cheese/ Cheddar also remains popular, and Sweet & Tangy BBQ is another 2023 standout flavor. The sweet-and-tangy combo dovetails with McCormick brand FONA’s 2023 trend prediction of “swicy” snacks, which fuse savory spices with sweet ingredients.

Younger generations are influencing the category with a desire for experiential and unexpected flavor combinations. Those super snackers seek products that are free from preservatives and less processed. Consumers age 18-34 are likely to pay more for added features and benefits, with a high level of importance placed on clean and simple ingredients.

Source: Circana

83% of consumers want snacks with a preferred flavor.

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However, the desired packaging size depends on the channel, the lifestyle and the life stage of the purchaser. Forty-nine percent of consumers look for snacks that come in multi/variety packs, which are performing well in the mass and club channels. In the convenience channel, both single-serve and sharing sizes are the winners, with consumers choosing one or the other, depending on their needs.

Statistically, younger shoppers are also more likely to purchase sustainable products and associate sustainability with environmental factors than older consumers. Ninety-three percent of shoppers maintained or increased their sustainable purchase habits in 2022, even during high inflation. And 73% of consumers believe sustainability is

Salty Snacks Dollar Share by Product Type

CHEESE SNACKS:

10.0%

important when selecting products to buy, according to Sustainability and the Consumer, a joint report from Circana and New York University. This could include the reduction of byproducts and waste, greenhouse gases or carbon footprint, or a negative environmental impact. Because favor for sustainability claims can change quickly, Lyons Wyatt stressed staying on top of sustainability trends to ensure alignment with current consumers’ needs.

In 2022, salty snacks with claims like recyclable and with a sustainabilityrelated certification grew in both dollar and unit sales. So far this year, those claims are growing in dollars but not in units. Circana is seeing dollar and unit growth in salty snacks with claims of being eco-friendly and using less

packaging. There is also growing interest in ingredient lists, product origin and packaging recyclability. Additionally, brands with sustainability at their core are likely to fare better than those that consider sustainability in terms of risk management or risk avoidance, according to Lyons Wyatt.

Ultimately, demand will drive innovation.

“Prioritize innovation and make sure your portfolio can compete across key demographics, and that you don’t price consumers out,” Lyons Wyatt concluded. “You need to understand what the segments are looking for to determine if you have the right call to action on these products. Then, leverage social and digital to ensure messaging is engaging for these audiences.” CB

Total US Multi-Outlet w/ C-Store (Grocery, Drug, Mass Market, Convenience, Military and Select Club & Dollar Retailers) |

Latest 52 Weeks Ending June 18, 2023

Source: Circana OmniMarket Integrated Fresh, a Chicago-based market research firm (@WeAreCircana)

Decadence in demand

Rising inflationary pressures are not keeping consumers from enjoying sweet baked goods. For cake, a perennial favorite, that is evident in the store perimeter area, including the in-store bakery. But getting consumers to spend their dollars on cake is not without its challenges.

Current dollar sales of center store cakes were $647.09 million, a 14.5% increase vs. a year ago. The most significant dollar sales change was in loaf/pound cakes at 18.6%, while the most drastic drop was in sheet cakes, which posted a staggering -62.1% dollar sales change vs. a year ago. In the perimeter, the loaf/pound cake and all other sub-categories saw the largest gains in dollar sales at 14.0% and 11.4%, respectively.

Unit sales of center store cakes were 201.56 million, down slightly from last year at -1.3%. In the perimeter, cakes saw $5.56 billion in dollar sales, up 8.3% from this time last year. Similar to center store, perimeter unit sales were also down, at 758.65 million, a -4.7% decrease vs. a year ago. In the center store, layer cakes and loaf/pound cakes were the only sub-categories to show positive unit sales growth, at 8.1% and 1.7% respectively. In the perimeter, only the all other cakes sub-category showed positive unit gain.

While dollar sales are up in the center store and perimeter, they remain inflated from the price increases over the past 12 to 18 months. But some might argue these products remain the glue — or, more to the point, icing — of social gatherings.

Center Store Cakes Dollar Sales

As many consumers adopt hybrid work schedules, celebrations featuring cake enjoyed with co-workers are making a comeback. While these gatherings may not be as large or as lavish as they once were, they remain an important way to bring people together.

In some ways, sweet baked goods may have taken on an even more important role in the lives of consumers. This is in part due to a growing emphasis on the connection between food and mental health. Partaking in the daily pleasures of something sweet can create a positive, reliable moment during the day.

Eighty-two percent of consumers feel that food can be good for their mental health, according to Dawn Foods’ Global Bakery Trends report, while 72% of consumers plan to keep sweet baked goods in their routine moving forward.

Circana’s 2023 Snacking Survey found consumers spend 31% of their core snacking dollars on indulgent snacks, an increase of just under a share point. And 49% of consumers said they consume more than three snacks every day.

“Continuing interest in indulgent snacks can be contributed in part to the stress felt because of today’s macroeconomic conditions,” said Sally Lyons Wyatt, executive VP and practice leader, client insights at Circana.

When schedules — and pocketbooks — are tight, purchases are often driven by convenience and affordability. This includes a rise in the popularity of smaller options, which also indicates a desire for portion control. Circana found snack cakes are typically purchased every 39 to 40 days, with a high number of two-time buyers. According to Lyons Wyatt, this points toward the various

roles snack cakes play in many households. Mini cakes are also trending up, showing growth so far this year.

Dollar sales for center store snack cakes were $2.22 billion, a 13.9% increase vs. a year ago. Center store snack cake sub-categories of bar/finger, all other and roll snack cakes saw double-digit dollar sales growth vs. a year ago, with roll snack cakes earning the highest gain of 27.4%.

In the perimeter, the roll snack cakes subcategory posted a 430.4% uptick in dollar sales vs. a year ago, while dollar sales of cake trays and Hispanic snack cakes dipped -4.2% and -66.4%, respectively. Center store Hispanic snack cakes also posted a unit sales loss of -24.0% vs. a year ago.

Center Store Snack Cakes Dollar Share*

True to form, cake’s indulgence remains a top driver. Dawn’s report showed the importance of reaching consumers who are mindful of what they eat. To draw attention to these better-for-you (BFY) versions, Dawn Foods recommends displaying BFY options with creative displays, sharing products on social media and posting unique video content.

Flavor innovation is also trending in cake and snack cake categories. Circana found traditional flavors such as chocolate, vanilla, lemon, carrot and assorted/variety to be popular. In terms of unit growth, the top five cake flavors are vanilla, pumpkin, vanilla and chocolate, fudge, and confetti. In snack cakes, chocolate, vanilla, Devil’s food, Oreo and birthday cake are the most popular flavors.

Top unit sellers include Oreo, vanilla, coconut, marshmallow and birthday cake. Licensed flavors are also trending in snack cakes as well as in other snacking categories. Fun and exciting flavors help drive sales throughout the year, especially during the holiday season, according to Lyons Wyatt.

“Snack cakes and cakes don’t need a special day for consumption, but sales are higher during holidays and for major celebrations,” she said. “Seasonal and LTO flavors remain a great way to drive excitement and engagement because these provide a way to refresh the shelf and keep consumers in search of new products as they shop.”

Nostalgia also holds favor in the category. Dawn’s Global Bakery Trends report found 83% of consumers like sweet baked goods that remind them of their childhood, while 78% said they like to try new foods and food experiences. Offering a twist on

Center Store Cakes Unit Sales

nostalgia offers bakers a great way to innovate on time-honored favorites.

Innovation — and, ultimately, growth — for this category will require a balance between comfortable classics and consumers’ desire for something new. It might be challenging, but it’s doable.

“It will take a variety of approaches to turn the unit and/or volume sales to positive trends,” Lyons Wyatt concluded. “The industry needs to find ways to get into more households through methods such as promotions and social media to increase how many products within the category are purchased.” CB

Savory sensations

BY ANNIE HOLLON

As consumers return to a prepandemic pace, they’re on the hunt for snacks that fit their once-again busy lifestyles. They’re also in search of unique flavor experiences ranging from palate-pleasing profiles to those that bring the heat. With an opportunity for spice and convenience, the salty snack segment, in all its versatility, is stepping up to the plate with innovative and experimental flavor combos.

When it comes to flavors, the sky’s the limit in this segment as consumers seek distinctive experiences that pack a punch. Camden, NJ-based Campbell Snacks is among the major companies jumping on this trend through its Goldfish brand.

“While consumers’ love for spicy snacks has been around for some time, it is a flavor profile that has continued to gain a following, especially with adult palates, and we take a culinary approach to creating and delivering spicy flavors that are complex,” said George Vindiola, VP of R&D for Campbell Snacks. “The Goldfish brand has tapped into spicy flavors such as the recent return of limited-edition Goldfish Frank’s RedHot and OLD BAY Seasoned Goldfish, as well as permanent offerings like Goldfish Mega Bites, designed with adults in mind.”

Well-seasoned snacks are an area of expertise for Plymouth Meeting, PA-based OMG! Pretzels, named after reactions to its seasoned sourdough

pretzel nuggets. Since the brand’s 2014 start with its flagship garlic flavor, OMG! has expanded its portfolio to include eight options, with recent additions lemon pepper, salted butterscotch and sweet chili. Buffalo is set to join the lineup soon as the ninth flavor.

Justin Spannuth, COO of Reading, PA-based Unique Snacks and chair of the SNAC International executive committee, also called out the popularity of seasoned-coated pretzels, nodding to the successes experienced by other major brands.

After recently rebranding from Unique Pretzels to Unique Snacks to allow for other product opportunities, the salty snack producer is innovating in its own right. The 100-year-old company leveraged its strength in pretzel manufacturing to create Puffzels, a puffed, non-fried, corn- and whole oats-based hybrid snack in the shape of a pretzel.

“It was an open white space that we saw in our data analytics, which is why we came up with Puffzels,” Spannuth said. “It was a spin on that category that nobody had tried yet.”

Photo courtesy of Campbell Snacks

Snack manufacturers are leaning into new spice experiences to appeal to adult consumers.

CATEGORY INSIGHT: SALTY SNACKS

In combining the two snack types, Unique Snacks introduced flavors such as buffalo, garlic butter, cheddar and honey mustard to the product base. Creating the snack in the familiar twist shape of a pretzel was by design; it encouraged consumers to try the unique texture-flavor combination.

“It’s amazing what consumers will adapt to and try because it relates in their heads,” Spannuth shared.

With all the flavors and new ways to experience them emerging in the market, how are companies tapping into consumer needs and interests?

For Campbell Snacks, technology has helped the company collect insights on flavor and culinary trends.

“Real-time feedback from consumers on social media platforms is an incredible resource to tap into culture in an ultratimely manner,” Vindiola said. “However, we also want to strike the right balance by taking the time to ensure our products have a perfect appearance, flavor and texture based on the insights we are seeing. We are finding that successful innovation lies in the sweet spot between those two.”

This feedback, for example, spurred the return of OLD BAY Seasoned Goldfish crackers for another limited run. Vindiola noted that the product’s success indicates consumer interest in flavor innovation and unexpected collaborations for the Goldfish brand.

“OLD BAY is a beloved seasoning that fans had already been sprinkling on their crackers, so Goldfish made it even easier for them to enjoy a snack they love by partnering with McCormick,” he said. “And admiration for the flavor was a driving factor for bringing OLD BAY Seasoned Goldfish back to market this year as the brand received thousands of requests on social media for the flavor to return.”

In Pennsylvania, Stephanie Kriebel, CEO and co-founder of OMG! Pretzels, and her team drive innovation by gathering feedback from various sources.

“A couple of years ago, we surveyed our B2B and B2C customers to find out what other flavors they’re looking for, and buffalo by far was the number one response,” she said. To continue collecting insights, the brand’s new packaging features a QR code to allow consumers to send in suggestions.

With several buffalo flavor variations available on the market, the brand

Product photos courtesy of Unique Snacks

Creating flavor profiles that appeal to adult palates offer R&D teams a new challenge.

worked for a few years to find the right level of flavor. It eventually landed on a medium spice that piques the interests and meets the needs of a range of consumers. With a heavy emphasis on the product’s flavor experience, Kriebel and the OMG! Pretzels team are dedicated to achieving not only the right taste but also the right textural experience when developing new flavors and reformulating current ones.

“With the existing flavors, we were working on a match that was the non-GMO version that fell within a reasonable percentage of our current cost of goods so that we could bring these to market,” Kriebel said.

To land that match, the OMG! Pretzels team worked closely with its seasoning suppliers during the R&D stage. Some flavors, such as buffalo, take more time than others to confirm. The supplier R&D team produced several batches before landing on the perfect flavor profile.

Consumer interest in convenience is also on the rise. As people return to their on-the-go lifestyles post-pandemic, they are seeking options that can keep pace with their day-to-day tasks.

“As we evolve from pandemic lifestyles, consumers are returning to eating outside of the home, so it is important for us as a leading snack brand to provide a variety of convenient small packages to take on the go,” Vindiola shared.

While a smaller-sized package is in the works for OMG! Pretzels, the brand is sticking with its larger resealable bag for now. However, Kriebel shared that a more convenient size can support the pretzel brand’s focus on elevated gifting and elegant entertaining and fit

what sales partners and customers are searching for.

“Thinking about all of the different options where a smaller-sized pack can go, a lot of consumers are already buying a larger pack,” she said, “But I think it’ll open up more opportunities for us to have a smaller size by listening to our customers and our sales partners and thinking about trends in the market and how people are gravitating more to that smaller size.”

Opportunities abound in the segment, but salty snacks manufacturing is not without its challenges. Retaining the caliber of product that consumers expect can come at a cost. Given the spice-centric nature of her brand’s products, Kriebel shared that a major challenge has been mitigating lead times and raw material cost spikes.

“While I didn’t have too many supply chain issues during the pandemic, the lead time got pushed out, and we’re still feeling the effects of that,” she said, noting that communication with suppliers has been key to troubleshooting the timing.

Supply chain issues for core ingredients such as sunflower oil created some challenges for Unique Snacks. Spannuth shared that since the company keeps a short ingredient deck and only uses one type of sunflower oil, it was difficult to find a non-GMO replacement without a contract. To troubleshoot the problem, Unique Snacks developed new supplier relationships.

“We were able to find two family-owned domestic sources of high-end oil,” Spannuth shared. “It cost a little bit more but we’re sticking with those relationships moving forward because

“As we evolve from pandemic lifestyles, consumers are returning to eating outside of the home, so it is important for us as a leading snack brand to provide a variety of convenient small packages to take on the go.”

George Vindiola | VP of R&D | Campbell Snacks

Make ingredient handling the yeast of your concerns.

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the cost and quality is worth the security, and ordering domestic and supporting other family businesses fits in our mantra.”

As salty snack manufacturers broaden their offerings, operational needs sometimes require outsourcing. While Unique Snacks is set for its internal product development and manufacturing, the company outsourced its new extruded product, which brought its own set of challenges, such as extended R&D time.

“We know our equipment capabilities and processes much better; we can make the time when we want to and there are no additional hard costs associated with it,” Spannuth said. “When we’re working on products that require equipment that we don’t have, it takes longer as you have to fit into others’ schedules. The R&D on external products is twice the length. We can probably get something off the ground in four to six months internally, but it’s going to take 12 or more externally.”

Kriebel also faced another learning curve when OMG! Pretzels started working with a new co-packer, as it’s taken a full year to complete onboarding. But the partnership is easing other aspects, such as ingredient sourcing.

With an eye to the future, OMG! Pretzels is taking steps to bring its seasoned sourdough pretzel nuggets to more consumers domestically and abroad. This includes reformulating its flavor options to omit additives like Yellow #6 and meet consumer interest for certain health claims.

“With the rest of our flavors, seven of the nine will now be non-GMO as well,” she shared. “We’ve been working really hard to come up with an elevated look, taste and crunch across our line that consumers are asking for: non-GMO, kosher, no artificial ingredients. We’re really proud to be on the cusp of that.”

With updated packaging, a new co-packer and refined formulation, OMG! Pretzels is setting itself up for higher volume, a wider audience and, ultimately, to become a global brand.

The broad scope of salty snacks offers room for legacy companies, emerging brands and snack powerhouses to all innovate in a spectrum of ways. Whether it’s a new twist on a classic crispy snack or an unusual flavor experience, the category is set to provide a new world of snacking experiences. CB

Photo courtesy of OMG! Pretzels

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Innovating indulgence

BY ANNIE HOLLON

The days of holding out for a special occasion to enjoy cake are long gone. With consumers increasingly on the lookout for ways to include a bite of indulgence into their everyday lives, cake manufacturers are stepping up to meet this demand.

Richmond, CA-based Rubicon Bakers, a social-mission bakery that produces cakes, cupcakes and muffins, is among those leaning heavily into small, indulgent treats. Sebastian Siethoff, CEO of Rubicon, shared that customer requests are consistent with the market demand, which is trending toward smaller portions.

He called out Rubicon’s 4-in. cakes and the bakery’s growth in the cupcake segment as fitting the direction the market is headed, noting that the brand’s 4-count cupcake packs are hitting the sweet spot with consumers.

“Cupcakes are usually sold singleserve or in bulk, and the four-count solution is what Rubicon is associated with,” Siethoff said, while also noting the success of single-serve cupcakes from Fairfield, CA-based Just Desserts, which Rubicon acquired in 2021.

Photo by Clara Rice

| Rubicon Bakers

In the Atlanta suburbs, Norcross, GA-based MJAY’s Specialty Baked Foods also saw interest in smaller portions and developed its petite Bundt cakes to match. The company initially offered mini Bundt cakes — twice the size of the petite Bundt — which fared well in the foodservice segment but not as well in grocery stores.

“We thought the size was too big, and folks were looking for something more portable and easier to eat in your hand,” said Gene Leland, owner and managing partner at MJAY’s. “So, we developed something smaller. Over the years, we’ve tweaked it here and there to get to the product line we have now.”

Siethoff noted that when younger consumers such as Gen Z choose to indulge in cake products, they are looking for higher quality, premium products.

“In the category, there’s a whole new cohort of consumers coming increasingly to the perimeter of the grocery store, and they’re looking to invest in an indulgent bakery item,” he said. “They want it to be clean and the absolute best.”

With a premium product made from clean-label ingredients, Rubicon is meeting the demand. Siethoff mentioned the company is innovating around multiple price points, formats and sizes, cognizant of emerging interest in daily indulgence.

“We’re trying to benefit from [the trend] by having a broad assortment of products available in terms of sizing, pricing and flavors,” he said.

However, Rubicon is also a private label manufacturer and must balance its own premium operation with solutions for retailers who seek artisanal elements in their non-branded products.

“What you have is that constant negotiation between retailers and manufacturers,” Siethoff said.

Another clean-label baking company tuned into quality ingredients is Glen Cove, NY-based Steiner’s Coffee Cake of New York, which is known for its gluten-free, four-layer German sour cream coffee cakes. Jennifer Pool, president of Steiner’s, learned early on that in addition to having the proper technique and recipe for the company’s flagship fresh-frozen product, ingredient quality is critical.

“The quality of the ingredients absolutely matters,” Pool said. “It matters with sour creams and butters because no two brands are alike.”

As the world returns to a preCOVID pace, Rubicon is investing in

its distribution to meet consumers on-the-go with single-serve products.

“It’s not only about the grocery store anymore,” Siethoff said. “We’re looking broader as well because the consumer is really out and about, so there are many retail channels to explore.”

Convenience is something that Los Angeles-based Otis Spunkmeyer, an Aspire Bakeries brand, is familiar with. Jon Davis, VP of culinary development of Aspire Bakeries, noted that the brand is really honing in on individually wrapped (IW) baked goods.

“We’re seeing demand in our individually wrapped muffins for sure,” Davis said. “The whole category is still very much in demand due to labor issues and food safety concerns in the different channels that are trying to solve for it.”

Photo courtesy of Otis Spunkmeyer

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As with many segments of the baking industry, the cake segment is not immune to the challenges plaguing the bakery, such as a shortage of labor. Leland mentioned that in recent years, MJAY’s has faced difficulties in getting the skilled laborers needed to support operations.

“Labor — particularly, skilled labor — is difficult in today’s world, and I don’t see that going away anytime soon,” Leland said. “It seems to be lightening up a little but [the labor pool is] nowhere near where it was four or five years ago.”

Rubicon offers second-chance employment, a practice that opens hiring to people who may have experienced barriers to employment such as incarceration and housing insecurity. It’s been a mission of the company since its founding in 1993 and part of why it’s a Certified B Corp. Siethoff shared that the peer-to-peer dynamic is important to making a welcoming bakery environment.

“We have people in the labor force who are coming here not only for a paycheck; they come here to turn their lives around, and we really embrace that,” Siethoff said. “We have open communication through roundtables with the team, and we listen to their feedback.”

With about 400 people working at Rubicon, Siethoff noted that the company hopes to bolster its labor force with automation to increase efficiency.

“As we grow the Rubicon brand, mission, and operation, we are continuously looking for ways to become more efficient, which may well involve automation,” he said. “We already have a good amount of equipment on the floor and will continue to look to improve upon our capabilities.”

As supply chain issues put pressure on cake manufacturers, communicating with suppliers helps bakers handle these challenges accordingly. Leland shared that navigating operational difficulties often comes down to supplier relationships, such as with Dawn Foods, a key ingredient partner for MJAY’s.

“Everybody understands the challenges that are out there,” Leland said. “No one wants to be surprised. The key to everything is to make sure you’re talking to everyone.”

Otis Spunkmeyer is able to work around supply chain challenges such as ingredient pricing and availability because its R&D team works closely with procurement, which has a good relationship with its suppliers, Davis shared.

“All of these commodities, from a pricing standpoint, are keeping us on our toes,” he said. “A good portion of our development work is to work around these challenges. My team has been very busy trying to find alternative ingredients, dual supply and new suppliers.”

With inclusions being a key component for products like Otis Spunkmeyer’s IW muffins, Davis and his team are working around these trials to develop products that fit within the brand guidelines.

“From a development perspective, there are still supply challenges in terms of ingredients and inclusions when you’re working with muffins and cookies,” he said. “A lot of these inclusions are very important and define the formulation. We’re still seeing issues in availability and minimum order quantity. We’re in the same boat, too, so we understand, but we still have to work around those ongoing challenges.”

“From a development perspective, there are still supply challenges in terms of ingredients and inclusions.”

Jon Davis | VP of culinary development | Aspire Bakeries

CONNECT LEARNADVOCATE

Reignite and develop relationships with a community of baking industry professionals, policy experts, and peers from ABA, RBA, and ASB.

Hear from agency officials, panels of business association experts, and keynote addresses from policymakers to learn about the central issues affecting the baking industry, and how your voice can make an impact.

With guidance and assistance from ABA’s advocacy experts, share our industry’s unique perspective and challenges in small group meetings with key lawmakers on Capitol Hill and help educate them and their staff on our policy priorities.

When it comes to consistency in products, cake manufacturers often focus on equipment as much as formulating. To replicate Steiner’s marquee product consistently, Pool turned to machinery.

“We use some amazing supplier partners and one piece of equipment that we’ve come to rely on quite heavily to get to semi-automation is an Edhard depositor,” Pool said. “Their depositors are phenomenal. Without them, we would not be here today.”

The addition of the depositor increased production from 500 coffee cakes per week using an ice cream scoop to 14,000 coffee cakes per day. Additional automation came in the form of packaging.

When transitioning to automated wrapping, Pool was committed to not using

plastic, upholding the sustainability pillar of her company. She was able to source a home-compost-rated biodegradable film that works with an Ilapak flowwrapper and with her product’s fresh-frozen construction.

“When we were doing it by hand, we were using a hand sealer that crafters use and in order to scale, we had to automate that whole process,” Pool shared. “However, I was unwilling to pivot to plastic. Another company that I’m a huge fan of is Futamura, which makes a clear film called NatureFlex.”

As the cake segment pivots to favor bitesized and premium products, it is set to appeal to a broad scope of consumers and customers. Whether it be a traditional cake, specialty cupcakes or individually wrapped cakes, there’s an array of innovation occurring. CB

Photo courtesy of Otis Spunkmeyer

Supply chain issues have forced some bakers to find alternative ingredient sources.

Acquisition Protection Strategy

Representations and warranty insurance can protect against the risks inherent in a merger or acquisition deal.

BY TOM PANOS, BKS PARTNERS | BALDWIN RISK

Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) are becoming increasingly complex, with various legal and financial risks involved in each deal. Representations and warranty insurance (RWI) can help mitigate some of these risks by providing protection against a breach of representations and warranties made during the M&A process. It can be applied to any industry, including commercial baking.

Understanding how this type of insurance works can help ensure a baking company has sufficient indemnification when it comes to any deals it makes.

Representations and warranties are essentially promises made by the seller to the buyer that certain conditions about the business being sold are true. For example, a representation may state the company has no outstanding tax liabilities, while a warranty may guarantee all trademarks and intellectual property rights are fully documented and owned by the company.

These representations and warranties are critical to the M&A process, as they allow buyers to better understand the assets and risks associated with the target company. However, they are a significant source of risk for buyers, as any breach could lead to significant financial losses.

An RWI policy provides protection against these risks by compensating the buyer for any losses caused by a breach. The policy is typically purchased by the buyer, but it can also be purchased by the seller.

The process for obtaining an RWI policy starts when a buyer or seller approaches an insurance broker to solicit quotes and complete an application. The insurer will review key information and documents for the parties involved such as the coverage amount sought; the form of the acquisition agreement, especially the nature and scope of the seller’s representations and warranties; the seller’s online data room; the buyer’s due diligence reports on the seller; and the seller’s disclosure schedule connected with the acquisition agreement.

The application process usually occurs in two parts. Part one is an initial non-binding indication of interest, which costs nothing, and part two consists of an underwriting or due diligence process that requires an upfront fee, which typically ranges from $15,000 to $50,000.

After the due diligence process, the insurer will negotiate the specific terms of the insurance policy, such as the scope of losses included in or excluded from coverage.

RWI has several benefits, the main one being it can help reduce the risks associated with M&A transactions. It can also give the buyer greater confidence in the deal and help facilitate negotiations. Additionally, it can simplify the due diligence process by transferring some of the burden of verifying representations and warranties from the buyer to the insurer, saving time and money in the long run.

Another advantage of coverage is that it can signal to the seller that the buyer takes the transaction seriously and is willing to pay a premium for protection against any potential issues that may arise post-closing. For sellers, offering an RWI policy can signal they have confidence in the representations and warranties they have made, which can help close a deal more quickly.

Finally, RWI can help sellers exit the deal with less risk and protect themselves from future indemnification claims that may arise from breaches of representations and warranties.

Yet, there are drawbacks to this type of insurance that buyers and sellers should consider.

RWI policies can be expensive, with premiums typically ranging from 2% to 5% of the deal value. This can add significant cost to an already expensive M&A transaction. Additionally, policies can be complex, with many exclusions and limitations on coverage. Buyers and sellers should carefully review the policy terms to ensure they fully understand the coverage provided. This may involve negotiating certain

RWI has several benefits … it can help reduce the risks associated with M&A transactions.

terms of the policy to ensure it meets the needs of both parties.

Some buyers may be hesitant to use RWI as it can be viewed as a sign of weakness or lack of confidence in the deal. Buyers should carefully consider the optics of using RWI and how other stakeholders may perceive it.

When considering using RWI in an M&A transaction, it is essential to identify the specific risks associated with the deal and determine whether RWI is an appropriate risk management strategy. Consulting with insurance, legal and financial experts to fully understand the risks involved may be necessary. It’s important to work with a reputable insurance provider that has experience in M&A transactions and who can provide

tailored coverage and support throughout the process.

Buyers and sellers should consider the impact of RWI on the overall deal, including how it may affect the negotiation process and stakeholder perceptions.

With careful planning and consideration, RWI can serve as an effective risk management strategy for M&A transactions CB

Tom Panos, MBA, is a partner at BKS Partners | Baldwin Risk. He has more than 15 years of experience in the commercial insurance industry and uses his diverse background to build mutually beneficial relationships. Contact him at tom.panos@bks-partners.com

It can also give buyers greater confidence in the deal and help facilitate negotiations.

Commercial Baking Channel

Our multimedia collection is full of videos, podcast episodes and more, where you can get a deep look — and listen — into the exciting shifts happening in the baking industry.

TechTalk with Matt Lueger, NorthWind

Matt Lueger, VP of sales for NorthWind Technical Services, explores the benefits of process control automation for bakery operations. www.northwindts.com

TechTalk with Andrea Colussi, Colussi Ermes

Andrea Colussi, CEO of Colussi Ermes, explains the company’s high-speed spin-drying solutions for bakery operations. www.colussiermes.com

TechTalk with Jeffrey van de Ven, Royal Kaak

Jeffrey van de Ven, product sales manager of Royal Kaak, touches on the benefits of the company’s servo-driven pizza pressing technology. www.kaak.com

Catching Up with Commercial Baking : Jim Warren at BEMA Convention 2023

Jim Warren, VP of Exact Mixing at Reading Bakery Systems, reflects on the state of the industry and his time as BEMA board chair.

Catching Up with Commercial Baking : Chimene Ross at IDDBA 2023

Chimene Ross, president of Killer Brownie, discusses indulgence, value and the strategy behind creating decadent, multi-layered baked goods at scale.

Innovation on the Rise: Improving Sustainable Bakery Processes

This webinar, hosted in partnership by Corbion and Commercial Baking, looks at how wholesale bakers can share their sustainability stories to attract consumers.

iba Booth Trailers

Before stepping onto the trade show floor at iba 2023, take an exclusive look at some of the show’s most innovative exhibitors.

NEXUS Sneak Peek

During BEMA Convention 2023, baking industry leaders shared what they’re excited to experience at NEXUS, a new event powered by BEMA and the American Bakers Association set for Sept. 25-28 in Dallas.

Introducing Craft to Crumb : For the Love of the Craft

Did you know? Avant Food Media launched a new platform focused on artisan baking. Take a look at how — and why — Craft to Crumb came to be.

NIR Technology with MoistTech Corp.

MoistTech Corp. is an industry leader in Near-Infrared (NIR) technology, an accurate and reliable method for measuring the moisture content of baked goods. NIR technology features non-contact moisture sensors, which can be installed to fit the conditions of any bakery. www.moisttech.com

Coming Soon: Season 8 of Troubleshooting Innovation

Troubleshooting Innovation is gearing for up Season Eight of its industry-leading podcast. The upcoming season launches Sept. 3 and features Eli’s Cheesecake. In the meantime, listen to the previous podcast seasons.

IMMEDIATE SAVINGS IN MOISTURE CONTROL

NIR Moisture Control Directly on the Production Line

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Product quality, lower waste & energy costs, process optimization, plant efficiency, and dryer control

Integrated ingredient delivery and dough production

Energy-reducing, faster-baking oven

Baker Thermal Solutions’ RapidBake oven reduces natural gas usage and provides greener energy to generate the electrical portion. The oven allows for faster bake times and increased yields, with a 20% to 40% time reduction based on product and 10% to 15% energy reduction vs. conventional convection ovens. www.bakerthermal.com

Two-robot case-loading system

BluePrint Automation’s two-robot case-loading system, the Spider 300v, allows bakers and co-packers to pack vertical and horizontal pack patterns on the same line at the same time. This secondary packaging solution allows for random product arrival at high speeds, providing flexibility in packaging formats. www.blueprintautomation.com

Butter and vanilla flavor development

Brolite’s B&V is a cultured butter and vanilla flavor that brings a true butter flavor to baked goods, icings or mixes. When used with only small amounts of butter, the butter and vanilla flavor development is accelerated and maintained. Brolite B&V may be declared as a natural flavor. www.bakewithbrolite.com

Clean-label dough conditioner

Cain Food’s PureBake is a clean-label dough conditioner formulated for high-speed bread and roll production. It’s designed with advanced enzyme technology to give bakers more tolerance in their processing systems. The conditioner assists in creating a balanced dough for improved machining while allowing for mix reduction, greater dough tolerance during and after proofing, increased volume and a tighter crumb. www.cainfood.com

Predictive modeling tool for natural ingredients

Corbion developed the Corbion Natural Mold Inhibition Model (CNMIM) predictive modeling tool to save bakers time and money by identifying the most effective natural ingredient solution for inhibiting mold growth. CNMIM helps bakers predict a pan bread formulation’s resistance to 11 different molds, taking into consideration the specific parameters of the product and process. www.corbion.com

Maple Pecan bread braiding tool

Fritsch, part of the Multivac Group, released a new tool for the production of Maple Pecan bread. The tool can be used with the company’s PROGRESSA Prime equipment to automatically fold braided dough using a technique unique to Maple Pecan loaves. www.fritsch-group.com

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Flexible depositing solution

Handtmann’s flexible VDM depositing system provides precision portioning in a wide variety of configurations into containers of all sizes and types, including trays, cans, jars, tray sealers and thermoformers. The servo-managed depositing nozzles move down into the containers to deposit product, then move up at a pace that eliminates gaps or air pockets. www.handtmann.us

Ribbon blenders

Ross’ ribbon blenders meet OSHA standards and are designed to minimize risk and maximize productivity. They feature safety shaft guards and limit switches that prevent agitator operation when any cover or manway is open. The safety grating can be installed on dedicated charge ports or across the entire blender opening for extra protection. www.mixers.com

Scoring Pick

The following advertisers appear in this issue. We encourage readers to reach out to these companies through the listed website or email for further information. This index is provided as a service to readers and advertisers, but Commercial Baking does not assume any liability for errors or omissions. Please send any updates or corrections to info@commercialbaking.com

It’s time to perform rather than just spend.

A Personal DEI Journey

I was raised to treat everyone with respect, even when that treatment may not be reciprocated. It was foundational to becoming an advocate for employees and helping them perform to their full potential.

I saw that early in my career, when I worked for Wendy’s bakery while Dave Thomas was at the helm. I watched him treat every employee in the bakery with respect.

I have always believed that employees are among a company’s greatest assets; without them, we can’t exist. During my career, I have held roles as supervisor, operations manager and plant manager, always combining my personal philosophies with bakery operations and business training from my mentors.

In each position, I kept employees top of mind and let them know we were a TEAM: Together … Everyone … Achieves … More. I learned quickly that motivated employees who understand mutual respect take ownership of their daily tasks, and that brings increased efficiency, reduced waste and high morale.

In May 2021, I became director of diversity, equity and inclusion for Highland Baking Co. Here, we are creating a workplace where everyone feels valued and respected

because of their differences, and every employee can reach their full potential and help us achieve our business goals. With support from management, we are attracting and retaining a diverse workforce that represents the customers we serve and communities where we live and operate.

Diversity brings multiple perspectives that generate new ideas and solutions. When employees know they belong, retention rates improve, people become more productive, and efficiencies emerge. It creates a competitive advantage.

When we harness our diversity, we gain improvements in the overall operation. I cannot speak enough about the benefits of having a diverse, equitable and inclusive workforce and the positive results that can be gained for your ROI. CB

Nathan Norris is director of diversity, equity and inclusion for Highland Baking Co. His career spans 44 years in bakery manufacturing, with a focus on operations management. He has participated in DEI task forces for the American Bakers Association and BEMA and has spoken at several industry events on DEI best practices.

Re:

Redefine Your Expectations for Preservation

We believe food preservation is about more than simply cutting costs. It’s about keeping food out of landfills, reducing waste and ensuring sustainable practices. It’s about keeping consumers safe and healthy and doing what’s right for the planet. If you think improving the way we make food improves the course of nature, you think like we do.

Together we can redefine preservation.