Martin Křižák from the Křižák bakery

What are the most significant changes compared to your beginnings in this field?

First and foremost, it's experience, but one of the most significant changes from my early days in the baking industry is overemployment. I perceive that there is a shortage of skilled and hard-working people in the labor market at the moment. However, this problem is nationwide and not just in our industry. A lot of people are running their own businesses, and at the same time there are a lot of foreign companies operating in our area. This is largely due to the logistical position of the Czech Republic, which is almost the center of Europe, making it very interesting for the aforementioned foreign companies.

Has your product range changed with the times?

In our early days, we focused on classic commercial baked goods such as rolls, breads and Christmas cakes. Over time, our product range has evolved in a completely different direction. We process ingredients in a completely different way, whether it is flour or other cereal products. We have resisted supplying our products to supermarket chains, which means that we have started to target a completely different market. These are, for example, gastro-pubs, health food stores, farm shops, in short, stores that offer food with a different added value. This is where I see the way forward for smaller bakeries, which is still one of our focuses. At the same time, we also have our own stores, but this segment is quite unstable. There are periods when these stores do very well, but then there can be a downturn and people start saving more. It's not that customers have stopped visiting these stores, but they are buying less. Our goal is to have our stores operate as independent entities that are not dependent on the bakery. Unfortunately, in a recession, this model may not work very well.

Is there any technology that has radically changed your industry during your career?

One thing is a more responsible and environmentally friendly approach to production. I‚m thinking of heating ovens with biomass. These technologies have quite a promising future, not only in our industry. Another technology that is undoubtedly having a big impact on the baking trade is thermooil. It has had a significant impact on the quality of baked goods. This is mainly due to atmospheric pressure, which does not have such an impact on the quality of baking when using thermo-oil, whereas it can have a really significant impact when baking with conventional burners. There are other factors that make this method of baking easier and the quality of the baked goods better. Using a thermo-oiler makes the baking process faster, which means the bread retains more water and is much juicier. We can also see the development of mixing technologies. The new machines knead the dough to perfection in a really short time, and it doesn't heat up unnecessarily. I would also like to mention the cooling machines and their advantage when working with long maturing doughs. If we look at large automated industrial lines, here the machines do not so much affect quality as efficiency. On the contrary, I would say that in these cases it is quality that takes a back seat to efficiency.

Is this craft still burdened by tradition, or are younger bakers coming into their own?

From this point of view, baking is still a traditional craft, but of course there is also a generational change in the industry. The descendants of older bakers and the younger generation of bakers are also getting involved. But I don't think this has affected the tradition or the range of bakery products in any significant way. In my opinion, young people are bringing more emphasis on marketing or new technology to the industry. But as far as the craft itself is concerned, there is not much to change. Bread has been baked for several thousand years and the process of making it is still the same. We‚re still working with live material, which you can't change much. If I see someone trying to do that, it's usually to the detriment of the pastry. Any improvement product will not improve your bakery products, but rather make your work easier and more efficient.

Are baking trends from abroad gradually coming to us?

Definitely, the main boom in this respect was in the 90's, when preparations came from Germany and other Western countries. That period was the most important from my point of view. But nowadays I would say it is rather the opposite. The Czech Republic is at a high level in terms of the range of baked goods. The Czech baker has products on the counter that you will not find elsewhere in the world. I try to go abroad as often as possible, but there is little that inspires me or throws me for a loop anymore. We prefer to find ways to go back to our roots. When we are in France, for example, we try to find an old baker who bakes baguettes the old-fashioned way. That's the way that inspires us the most.