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Editor’s Note

Editor’s Note

The bar’s tenacity

© Alice Pasqal on Unsplash

BY LIZ GOODWIN

For those looking for a quick and tasty bite to eat, the humble bar answers the call. A snack that can be devoured during carpool, between meetings or en route to the gym, perhaps no other food is up to snuff when it comes to palatable convenience. But when day-to-day errands and work obligations ground to a halt during lockdown, consumers found they had time for a more complex — and perhaps messier — snack. But bars were still a faithful friend to many who wanted nostalgic indulgence.

As the pandemic landscape continues to morph, here’s what bar producers are seeing in terms of equipment needs and formulation challenges amid the rise of new ingredients and more.

A bar’s recipe for a success requires equal parts good formulation and reliable equipment. Mark Lindsley, director of R&D at Downers Grove, IL-based Hearthside Food Solutions, said both elements are critical, especially when dealing with single extrusion, co-extrusion with fillings or even triple extrusion. Without a solid understanding of the base formula and how it performs in the oven and the right equipment, adding new flavors and ingredients becomes even more challenging.

“It’s like a perfect marriage of equipment technology and formulation,” Lindsley said. “Formulating

is complex in respect to having it be thermally stable. And as it gets more complex, you need a highly trained operator — almost at an engineer level as far as competency — to be running that operation.”

As new ingredients debut and dietary demands from consumers skyrocket, a well-versed operations team that understands ingredients is essential. Trends like high-protein bars, plantbased products and gluten-free offerings take time to navigate when product quality is a top priority. Mijeong Kim, process engineer at Reno, NV-based Nature’s Bakery, knows this firsthand.

“One of our biggest challenges comes with our gluten-free fig bars,” Kim said. “We have high standards when it comes to making sure they maintain a certain taste and texture and that they’re as good as our whole wheat products. Our team also takes extra precautions in sanitizing and cleaning as well as separating ingredients between runs.” Gluten-free is also a popular demand for Chicago-based Schulze & Burch Biscuit Co., a private-label and co-manufacturer of cold-formed, granola and cereal bars. Some of the company’s products are naturally wheat-free, so there are no extra steps involved, but cleaning challenges still loom.

“We’ve got bars that are naturally non-gluten containing, but the big challenge is making sure the line is sanitized,” said Joshua Current, R&D manager at Schulze & Burch. “On the cereal bar side, when you’re looking at a grain-based product, wheat is typically the big one, oats being the second and then pulse flours, which are more difficult as far as texture and flavor replication.”

With so many SKUs in the mix — and each one requiring different equipment depending on the production type — changeovers and downtime are a killer when it comes to speed. And when allergens are involved, it only gets more complicated.

Photo courtesy of Nature’s Bakery

Nature’s Bakery produces clasic bar flavors with a healthy twist. “Each processing type has its own set of considerations, but especially when you get into allergen cleaning, that’s a huge deal,” said Steve Egizio, director of technical services at Schulze & Burch. “It can require a 100% breakdown, so the time required to do the cleaning is long on labor hours and has a high risk of part damage. Finding a production system that’s efficient enough to keep costs down and is also flexible is one of the biggest impacts.”

Nature’s Bakery also holds itself to a high standard when it comes to facility cleanliness, especially with the variety of bars it produces. From baked-ins to oatmeal crumble bars to fig bars and more, it’s important to run a tight ship.

“We work hard to make sure our baking process is efficient and sanitary,” said Phil Stringer, senior process engineer at Nature’s Bakery. “We really take pride in having a clean facility, so we need equipment that is optimized to avoid any overspill.”

When it comes to flavor innovation, it’s all over the board for bar producers. Some see the demand fall more into the better-for-you and high-protein categories, but many manufacturers also see a strong demand for the classics.

Nostalgia and permissible indulgence were powerful forces in the pandemic’s peak, and they’re still holding on tight, according to some.

“High-protein systems were and still are a big challenge, but all that work we were doing pretty much vanished overnight with COVID because nobody wanted them anymore,” Lindsley said. “People just wanted what tasted good. And in some food systems, protein has begun to resurface, but we’re not really seeing any of that yet. We’re making classic

bakery products that taste good, but those healthier days might return.”

Current echoed Lindsley’s sentiment, saying the classics were still holding strong and, if anything, people want their snacks to turn back the clock.

“Our flavor requests are usually pretty static with popular options being chocolate, trail-mix type bars or peanut butter, as well as strawberry and more seasonal flavors,” he said. “We’ve also been looking at breakfast cereal-style flavors, almost going back to childhood. I have seen a lot of innovation in that space with people taking big flavors and expanding on them.”

For Nature’s Bakery, familiar baked favorites — made with wholesome ingredients — are also a focus, with flavors like pumpkin spice, brownie and banana chocolate chip. But with these, there’s a lot to juggle, especially when incorporating new product development into a rapidly growing operation.

“Our sales are going up and up and up, so we have to ensure the operational capacity matches that,” Kim said. “Our food scientists come up with great ideas and prototypes, and the challenge comes when we have to manage a variety of ingredients on the plant floor and maintain a unique taste profile while keeping the product consistent.”

And as innovation keeps pushing forward, companies need equipment that can handle both classic and new ingredients that may be outside the box.

“One of the innovations happening in the baking industry is going after those novelty ingredients like plant-based proteins, different sugars and different fibers,” Stringer said. “It’s important to have processing equipment that can handle those ingredients or smaller-scale pilot equipment to do rapid prototyping. It has to be affordable, efficient and effective with ingredients that smaller companies are using.”

And of course, supply chain issues further complicate changing trends. Experimenting with new ingredients already takes time, but now it’s even more challenging when bakers can’t get their hands on those raw materials because of delayed deliveries or cost increases.

It’s impacting everyone, but especially those who use niche ingredients.

“Our purchasing group does a good job with contracts to keep us going, but the pandemic has been tricky for all ingredients,” Current said. “It seems like every week something is running short, so sometimes it’s based more on logistics than related to costs skyrocketing. Especially when you get into specialty ingredients, the costs are already up, so any hiccup in the supply chain adds to it.”

As bar producers navigate hurdles from every direction, having flexible equipment is a must.

Whether it’s in packaging or sanitation, equipment that is reliable and adaptable is key.

“A lot of suppliers are keying in on changeovers and sanitation, and I don’t really see that demand going away,” Egizio said. “I remember when we used to do changeovers on weekends or an off-shift, but there are few opportunities for that anymore. Now you’re losing an hour of production a day, so equipment that can handle those faster changes with built-in flexibility is key.”

There’s also a need for product consistency. For those at Nature’s Bakery, the science matters when it comes to ensuring product quality.

“We want to positively impact the consumer experience with each bite and each innovation,” Stringer emphasized. “Having access to technology that ensures product consistency from physical aspects to ingredients are key in optimizing the consumer experience and baking snacks they can always count on.”

“Each processing type has its own set of considerations, but especially when you get into allergen cleaning, that’s a huge deal. Finding a production system that’s efficient enough to keep costs down and is flexible is one of the biggest impacts.”

Steve Egizio | director of technical services | Schulze & Burch

Although the world of food trends has taken a beating, the bar presses on as a dependable snack. Whether it’s providing a childhood favorite flavor or meeting a new dietary trend on the go, the bar will remain a cornerstone in the foundation of American snacking. CB

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