46 minute read
Seen and Heard
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“Bakers in Europe are dealing with an energy crisis, and bakers in America are struggling with labor shortages. Efficiency is more necessary now than ever. But we shouldn’t push sustainability to the back burner. Sustainability and efficiency can work together to drive bakers’ success into the future.”
Catalina Mihu | editor-in-chief | baking+biscuit international While moderating an IBIEducate panel discussion on sustainability
Photo courtesy of IBIE
Tyson Yu | CEO | Aspire Bakeries On the biggest changes he’s seen in the industry
Photo courtesy of the American Bakers Association
“BEMA and ABA have both established DEI task forces and working groups in the past year to facilitate communication about it within the industry. We decided that IBIE was the perfect place to bring the two groups together and have the conversation all as one — because it really is about the industry.”
Emily Bowers | VP, education and operations | BEMA On why the IBIE co-owners chose to collaborate on DEI discussions during IBIEducate
Photo courtesy of the American Bakers Association
“To this day, I still get down on my hands and knees and will scrub all of our mixers. It’s not because I have to. I do it because when I meet with my employees, I tell them, ‘I’ll never ask you to work harder than me, and I’ll never ask you to do something that I wouldn’t do.’ That’s when you lead by example.”
Buddy Valastro | owner | Carlo’s Bakery When asked about improving loyalty with staff
Photo courtesy of IBIE
Shrene White | general manager, emerging nutrition | Ardent Mills During IBIEducate session on regenerative agriculture
Photo courtesy of the American Bakers Association
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THREE SIMPLE RULES
With its latest expansion in Florida, Toufayan Bakeries writes the script on taking risks and reinvesting the payoffs.
BY JOANIE SPENCER
Ridgefield, NJ-based Toufayan Bakeries knows how to get things done. Whether it’s adding a whole new product to the portfolio or taking on a new expansion, the Toufayan family values are always at the foundation.
Take Toufayan Bakeries’ Plant City, FL operation, the company’s third bakery location and site of its most recent expansion. With a new bagel line and a 160,000-sq.-ft. greenfield warehouse addition, the bakery embodies the principles instilled by the family’s patriarch and company chairman, Harry Toufayan.
At first glance, these projects are simply the result of hard work, customer focus and a commitment to reinvest in the business. Then again, tracing back how those values have built this company reads like a movie script depicting the classic mid-century American dream.
By the time Harry started selling pita bread to supermarket bakeries in the early ’70s, his family had been baking for about four decades. The business began as an Armenian bake shop in Egypt before Harry’s parents immigrated to the US, eventually operating a small bakerygrocery below their apartment in West New York, NJ.
A 2021 Baking Hall of Fame inductee, Harry blazed a trail in the industry as one of the first suppliers of traditional pita bread into supermarket delis. If Harry had an idea, it almost assuredly came to fruition.
The hard work and dedication of Toufayan Bakeries’ Orlando facility laid a foundation for a successful bagel installation in Plant City, FL.
All photos by Olivia Huels | Avant Food Media
“My dad is a very smart man,” said Karen Toufayan, Harry’s daughter and VP of marketing and sales. “He was in a supermarket waiting for his deli meats and thought to himself, ‘This would be a great place to have my breads. While a customer is waiting for their deli meat to be sliced, they could just grab a package of bread.’ And it just grew from there.”
But Harry isn’t just an “idea man.” He had the foresight and work ethic to execute on those ideas, even the risky ones, and the company has operated that way ever since. In fact, nearing 82 years old, Harry still reports to work at 5 a.m. every day in the Ridgefield bakery.
“When I think about how the company culture reflects the foundation that Harry started, I would say first and foremost, it’s hard work,” said Greg Toufayan, Harry’s son and Toufayan Bakeries’ current owner. “Nothing happens in a bakery without having people willing to put their boots on the ground, who care about what they’re doing and want to make the bread the right way.”
That ethos is what built the company’s reputation as a top flatbread and bagel brand and a marquee co-manufacturer of bread, bagels, cookies and more, with a portfolio topping 100 SKUs in total.
In Florida specifically, Toufayan entered the world of contract manufacturing through a handshake agreement with a major snack brand. While the Orlando facility was deep in its pita and flatbread production, it began producing breadsticks for this new partnership, which skyrocketed the business and expanded the Orlando operation from 50,000 sq.-ft. to its current 230,000.
From left: David Van Vugt, Greg Toufayan, Karen Toufayan and Greg Royal celebrate the success of two concurrent projects in the Plant City bakery.
QUALITY AND SAFETY PROGRAMS
At Toufayan Bakeries — in every location — the bar is always set high. That’s especially true for quality and food safety at the company’s facility in Plant City, FL.
“We have a great quality assurance team out there, led by Rick Smiley,” said Greg Royal, VP of sales and operations.
Being BRC- and GFSI-certified isn’t enough. The bakery earned a gluten-free certification when it began co-manufacturing a gluten-free product for a customer and also has organic and kosher certifications. Food safety is equally important in Toufayan’s Plant City bakery.
“We consistently have routine meetings where the food safety team gets together and reviews all our opportunities and challenges,” Royal said.
But the team is also active, they walk the talk.
“Every day, you’ll see Rick out on the floor, walking the entire bakery, looking at all four walls, making sure we’re producing safe, quality products for consumers.”
“We take a lot of pride in our contract manufacturing,” said Kristine Toufayan, Harry’s daughter and head of finance for the company. “Without a doubt, the attention that we put into that side of the business is just as important as what we do for our own brand. It comes full circle; we wouldn’t have had the money to reinvest into the bakeries and our own product line if it hadn’t been for that business.”
After significant growth in New Jersey and Florida, the Orlando bakery was at capacity by 2005 producing bagels, buns, pita and breadsticks. Meanwhile, about an hour down the road, an old Archway plant was about to be shuttered. Harry scooped up the facility with a plan to ease capacity in Orlando by shifting bun production to the newly acquired Plant City bakery, freeing Orlando to focus on flatbread, pita and bagels.
But Harry had another idea. Rather than replacing the Baker Perkins and Reading Bakery Systems cookie lines, he decided it was time to get into the cookie game. “He looked at the cookie lines and said, ‘We’re going to sell cookies now,’” Karen recalled. “Greg tried to tell him, ‘No, we’re replacing the cookie lines with bun lines,’ but my dad knew this was good equipment. He came to me and said, ‘We’re going to sell cookies. But don’t worry, we’ll figure it out.’”
Since then, the company has picked up co-manufacturing business for cookies, just as Harry predicted, and it also began manufacturing its own high-end cookie brand, Goodie Girl, at the Plant City bakery.
“[Goodie Girl] is a great brand,” Karen said. “We invested in producing a high-quality product, and it’s paid off. This brand has done really well in the market.”
The operation also added a bun line to ease that pressure in Orlando before the most recent expansion. But as cookie and bun manufacturing hummed along in Plant City, bagel business boomed in Orlando, and the bakery needed more help with capacity. In the spirit of reinvestment, it was time to make room for a new bagel line in Plant City to ease that pressure.
“Orlando’s success with our largest co-manufacturing contract for bagels created this demand that they continuously needed to fill,” said Greg Royal, VP of sales and operations. “They were absolutely at capacity, so the idea of a bagel line in Plant City was so that we could keep that business and build on those customer requests to make more bagels every week or even every day. We had the luxury of being able to start a new line because of that very solid base of business.”
This location always had more expansion in its future, so the time was right to not only install a new line but also add another building on the 30-acre lot.
“When this property was bought, there was additional space that was unoccupied at the time,” Royal said. “There was an idea that we would outgrow the original building after expanding a couple
times, knowing that there was this nice piece of land that could be developed. We needed to add more space, specifically for warehousing, with the bagel line that was coming.”
It was April 2020 when both projects kicked off. While most consumers were in COVID lockdowns and bakeries were in hyperdrive to keep products on store shelves, the team at Plant City was also gearing up to commission the bagel line and start warehouse construction on the other side of the property.
“When we first started talking about this, there was no COVID,” recalled David Van Vugt, corporate engineer, who spearheaded both projects. “All we had was a great idea of adding a building so we could put a bagel line in. And the next thing we knew, COVID hit.”
Looking back on a two-year project, the pandemic may well have been the easy part. With construction jobs waning in 2020, the team was able to lock in much of its pricing prior to the raw material shortages stemming from supply chain disruption.
“We got the quotes for the warehouse in January or February, and we were still a little bit hesitant,” Greg recalled. “And then in April, I just said, ‘Let’s do it.’”
Constructing a greenfield building, commissioning a new line and running the four other lines to keep up with unprecedented demand required the kind of commitment and dogged determination that comes from the very Toufayan foundation the company was built on. And leading that charge, Van Vugt was cut from the same cloth.
How else could these two concurrent projects finish on time — and on budget? Today, the completed warehouse is a matrix of packaging materials, ingredients and finished product ready for distribution. Aisles are organized in a grid that resembles a city center with the bustling traffic of seven forklifts keeping things moving. Still, the building has potential to triple its capacity once the remaining 32-ft.-high racks are installed.
Housing shipping and receiving, the warehouse also acts as a hub to keep production running smoothly. The procurement and supply chain teams schedule two weeks out what materials are needed for daily production. And throughout the day, a shuttle runs between the two buildings … “West” for the warehouse and “East” for the production facility. Between the additional space provided in the West building and strategy from procurement and supply chain, the bakery has a better chance at heading off those raw materials shortages.
“If we get the sense there will be an issue with a certain ingredient, we can order more in advance before the lead times get pushed back,” Royal said. “There are always delays in getting packaging and ingredients, so the benefit of having this much space is that we can store up more in advance and avoid production interruptions.”
What’s more, once the racks are installed, this building could potentially house additional production lines should the need for more capacity arise down the road.
The West building made room for a new bagel line in the East building while also streamling daily production.
In a chicken-or-egg scenario, it’s hard to say which came first for this $24 million project — the bagel line or the warehouse. It may have been a relatively even split on the capital investment, but one thing was for sure: “We would not have been able to add the bagel line without this new building,” Royal attested.
The new building was finished on time, and the bagel line installation was completed about three months ahead of schedule. That’s no small feat considering the technology that came together: AMF Bakery Systems mixing, makeup and proofing; ABI forming, conveyance and boiling; an AMF Den Boer tunnel oven; a Stewart Systems overhead raceway cooling conveyor; and Key Technologies shaker conveyors that feed into three packaging leges including slicing from LeMatic, rebuilt UBE baggers and Kwik Lok closures.
Greg Toufayan | owner | Toufayan Bakeries Oftentimes, early installation is great news. But in this case, the new line took up about 70% of what had been warehouse space in the East building, so the team had to find a way to relocate that storage before its new home in the West building was ready. That meant juggling production schedules, supplier partnerships and local relationships with extreme finesse.
“We met with the fire marshal and the city inspector, and they knew we needed help,” Van Vugt recalled. “We had all this equipment coming in, but the warehouse wasn’t ready, and I didn’t have the [certificate of occupancy] yet.”
Relationships with vendors and with the city allowed Van Vugt to expedite enough of the project to gain a temporary certificate of occupancy and move storage and raw materials into
dedicated space in the warehouse and make room for the line installation.
Van Vugt was determined to keep warehouse construction on schedule in concert with a smooth bagel startup and without sacrificing the rest of production. Doing so meant working 16-hour days that often started at 4 a.m. to make sure production was running without a hitch.
“Every day, I had an agenda. And I wasn’t going to stop until it was done,” he said.
The bagel installation’s smooth startup wouldn’t have happened without a combination of trusted relationships and Van Vugt’s instinct. With more than 40 years of bakery experience, he has worked in nearly every facet of production. If hindsight is 20/20, Van Vugt can see straight through the eye of a needle.
For example, he worked with AMF Bakery Systems to develop system that carries bagels through the proofing process on boards that are then washed and transported back up the line via robots, virtually eliminating downtime on the line.
Internally, the Toufayan team focused on every detail of each machine on the line, ensuring purposeful placement down to every curve of the conveyor. They even spent time in other bakeries — including some customers — to research the best of the best. “We only get one shot in about 10 years to get this right,” Greg said. “So, we had to make it the best we possibly could.”
Some might call it “over-engineering,” but a successful startup starts with developing the proper strategy for suppliers to execute.
“Our partners did a great job with manufacturing the equipment,” Van Vugt said. “When we put it in, there wasn’t a lot we needed to do because it was all done ahead of time. They knew what we wanted and the specs we were looking for. So, when it came in, we were pretty much up and running.”
The technology was ready to roll, but there was more to learn in Plant City.
automation & robotics
Bagel Production Line Dough Handling Sheeting Proofing Pan & Product Handling Pick and Place Vision Inspection
Aside from Van Vugt himself, virtually no one in the plant had experience with bagel production, and the team had to squeeze a big learning curve into a small window. Thankfully, Plant City could rely on a wealth of expertise just down the road in Orlando, where that Toufayan team had nearly 20 years of experience in bagel production.
Years of hard work and dedication in the Orlando bakery is what provided the ability to reinvest in Plant City’s growth, so sharing that expertise was like a passing of the torch.
Knowing a thing or two about dedication, Van Vugt gladly accepted that torch and remained committed to ensuring a smooth knowledge transfer. “I was out there every day with them,” he said. “I was with the machine operators, the mixers, out there with the oven, adjusting speeds on the conveyors or playing with the bake time to get the settings balanced.”
Vital tech support from vendors such as ABI and AMF allowed Van Vugt to essentially be in several places at once while the line workers were trained in their specific areas.
After just six weeks, the line was running two shifts per day, and it currently runs about 30% faster than the original Orlando line. For Greg Toufayan, it’s a testament not only to the efficiency of the equipment but also to the Toufayan-style work ethic behind the name.
David Van Vugt | corporate engineer | Toufayan Bakeries
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The successful startup of Plant City’s bagel line was a win-win for the Plant City and Orlando bakeries.
“There’s an intense effort that has to be made by people in order for things like this to happen,” Greg said, recalling how aggressively Van Vugt and his team pursued the project to the very end. “That’s how it all got done on time, despite everything.”
A baker’s commitment bears a striking resemblance to unconditional love. Whether it’s Van Vugt soldiering through construction red tape while working 16-hour days or Royal driving 50 miles to meet a colleague on a Sunday for a needed part, commitment is in the Toufayan DNA.
“It’s like a love story,” Van Vugt said. “You want to cry at the end. When we smelled those bagels and saw them coming down the line, we knew it was worth it.”
As Plant City settles into its new digs, Orlando can now reap the benefits to re-build its production lines, taking the pressure off people who had worked such tremendous overtime all those years to set the growth in motion. In turn, the Plant City team can apply key learnings from its installation back to the lines in Orlando.
“It’s a win-win for both bakeries,” Royal concluded.
So, as life starts to feel more like normal for both Florida facilities, what’s next?
Predicting the future can be tricky for a company so comfortable seizing opportunity. Currently, the team is working with The Austin Co. to explore options for future sites while also sharpening focus on the Goodie Girl brand.
Considering all Toufayan Bakeries has accomplished since Harry arrived in New York with his parents, the sky truly seems to be the limit, as long as there’s a dream to achieve … and they stick to Harry’s three simple rules.
“At one time, Toufayan Bakeries was just a small, 750-sq.-ft. shop where my dad wanted to figure out a better way to make a dough ball,” Greg recalled. “And by reinvesting in the business, focusing on customers and putting in hard work, he created a foundation that is the reason why we are so successful today.” CB
INNOVATIONS FROM THE BAKERY FLOOR
In Plant City, FL, Toufayan Bakeries discovered a veritable “field of dreams” in a 160,000-sq.-ft. facility. After diving into the cookie business with the three existing lines that were in place when Toufayan acquired the bakery in 2005, the company expanded first with a bun line. The plant’s most recent growth includes a new bagel production line and a separate, 160,000-sq.-ft. warehouse constructed on the property, both completed on time during the COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain disruption that followed. Below are the supplier innovations that can be found throughout the bakery floor to produce cookies, buns and bagels.
ABI forming, conveyance, boiling system AMF Bakery Systems mixing, makeup, proofing, oven, robotics Baker Perkins oven Burford Corp. pan shaker Combi case erecting Key Technologies conveyors Kwik Lok closures Loma metal detection Shick Esteve Laramore flour reclaim LeMatic slicing Reading Bakery Systems wirecutting system and oven UBE baggers
shickesteve.com | @shickesteve
Growth Strategist
Hearthside Food Solutions CEO Darlene Nicosia provides a new perspective to the co-manufacturing supply chain.
BY JOANIE SPENCER
Peek inside Darlene Nicosia’s portfolio, and you might see something of a jigsaw puzzle. But when the pieces are aligned, it’s a manufacturing tapestry of procurement, logistics, supply chain optimization and analytics, and corporate management, colored with touches of innovation and brand building throughout.
For more than three decades, her career has spanned from Frito-Lay to Kraft to Coca-Cola before joining Hearthside Food Solutions as CEO. In that time, Nicosia has amassed unparalleled expertise in untangling challenges as intimate as inventory and shelf life to ones as far-reaching as digital transformation for global supply chains and implementing the first bio-PET bottle program.
With a Master of Science in management and a certification in computer-integrated manufacturing systems from the Georgia Institute of Techonology, Nicosia sees the world through a bifocal lens. And with the ability to shift from engineering to corporate leadership depending on the need state, her perspective is setting Hearthside up for a bright future, indeed.
“In every role with my career, I was constantly touching multiple layers of the business, end to end, throughout the supply chain,” she said. “I might have been domiciled in a particular functional area, but my work has been expansive and enterprise-wide.”
If manufacturing is like a chain, Nicosia has mastered the art of parlaying her skills from one link to the next. Her engineering, operations and corporate experience with major brands has created a natural transition into the world of co-manufacturing as many companies in bakery — and food production in general — are rethinking their growth strategies, especially with the uptick of R&D innovation for incubator brands and new products for the mainstays.
“I see contract manufacturing as a necessary partner in this industry,” Nicosia said. “A lot of companies are really thinking about their future and how they grow, and it’s clear that contract manufacturing is on trend now.”
At first glance, a move from beverage to baking might seem like a leap. But the truth is, there are vast synergies between running a beverage brand and the world’s largest food co-manufacturer.
“There are immense similarities that apply across all categories, even though what’s made at the end of the day is very different,” she said.
Many of those similarities revolve around processes — dosing, mixing, processing, packaging, palletizing and distribution — likely because processes are formulaic. However, what makes them successful is identifying the best practices that can be gleaned. Nicosia has an undeniable knack for drilling down into processes and creating razor-sharp efficiencies, especially when it comes to identifying the right equipment technology to suite the operation. Processes like injection moulding from a cup supplier or secondary packaging for aluminum cans have all bore best practices that can be applied at Hearthside, especially as this world-class company continues its global expansion.
“If you think about people in the roles that really drive this business — the supporting technologies, the disciplines, the skills that are applied — whether it relates to quality, food safety, maintenance or sanitation,” she said, “there’s tremendous opportunity to share best practices.”
At the heart of that sharing is the team. “Successful leaders at all levels know how to contribute to the goals of the larger enterprise mission,” Nicosia said. “And they manage their teams by building trust and establishing purpose. In my experience, I have learned that you don’t just transact at a cost level. You try to understand how things are made and how we can work together to design to value.”
With leadership in manufacturing for major brands, Nicosia brings the customer perspective to Hearthside, as well as an important view on how consumer demand is impacting the market. Bringing together those two concepts will enable her to become an extension of Hearthside’s customer supply chains.
For a co-manufacturer with a portfolio including some of the world’s top brands, this is a vital trait. Hearthside has a responsibility to deliver the products that its brand customers — and their consumers — expect. Delivering on those expectations means Hearthside is protecting its customers’ most valued assets.
When the process is the product Hearthside sells, Nicosia’s leadership becomes a personal investment.
“I have a responsibility to ensure that Hearthside carries our promise to the customer in everything we do,” she said. “We have to add value across their supply chain; we have to help them drive their innovation.”
In that respect, Nicosia takes a 360° understanding of what it takes to deliver on innovation in a complex network of systems, teams and facilities and how global brands assess opportunity, risk and value. These are the strategic conversations she’s prepared to have with Hearthside customers in terms of where investments need to be made, whether it’s
brand building, breaking into a new market or finding other adjacencies for growth.
“If a customer has to divert dollars into infrastructure for plants and manufacturing, it takes away from their focus on the top line and really building with the consumer,” she said. “That’s where we can be an extension for them; they can do more to build their business while we build the infrastructure to support them.”
These issues are more important than ever, especially with consumer choice driving change often at a breakneck pace. Gone are the days of an 18-month speed to market. Brands need to go from ideation to store shelves practically on a moment’s notice, so long commercialization cycles and inflexible infrastructures have become the antithesis of innovation.
Darlene Nicosia | CEO | Hearthside Food Solutions
CB
Nicosia’s focus, then, is maintaining the efficiency, flexibility and effectiveness needed to support rapid innovation for these global brands.
“When you have to make choices between investing in consumer-facing brand building and capital infrastructure, those are tough decisions,” she said. “Many companies are looking for asset-light solutions so they can keep the investments focused on growing the top line, and that’s created an even greater need for companies like Hearthside.”
In the chaos that’s ensued since 2020 — and has yet to let up — co-manufacturers like Hearthside are well positioned for growth, though no manufacturer will come out of it unscathed. From Nicosia’s perspective, there were many companies prior to 2020 that enjoyed long periods of growth and increased category sales. While many did operate at peak performance with no trouble from their supply of raw materials or lean inventories, it’s easy to become complacent when times are good.
While many have learned the hard way about building resiliency into the process through technology investments, physical redundancies and stronger partnerships, Nicosia can still look to the future with optimism.
Of course, there’s no crystal ball to predict what the market will look like or how it will impact the industry, but the era of chugging along to the status quo is certainly a thing of the past. And Nicosia is here for that.
“One of my biggest beliefs is that speed wins,” she said. “So, the next phase of growth for this company — and, I think, for the industry as a whole — depends on transformational change.”
That said, transformation can’t be dependent on just one thing. As Nicosia embarks on this journey of growth and innovation with Hearthside, she’s focused on the big picture.
“It’s about technology, processing efficiency, highly adaptable systems and talent coming together,” she explained. “It’s a matter of really looking at how to partner together and create step change in the industry.” CB
Patent Pending
Seeing the Bigger Picture
Setting sustainability strategy requires holistic approach.
BY MAGGIE GLISAN
Tune into the news at any given moment, and you’ll likely find a story related to climate change, whether it’s about massive fires, extreme drought or rare weather events. The narratives have become so commonplace that they barely grab people’s attention as they scroll from one headline to the next. Yet the latest research suggests issues pertaining to the environment are, in fact, very much top of mind.
In recent years, transparency and trust have topped the list of Innova Marketing Insights’ top consumer concerns, but in 2022, people have zeroed in on environmental issues.
“For the first time ever, more consumers surveyed globally for Innova’s Lifestyle & Attitude Survey say health of the planet is their top global concern, rather than health of the population,” said Lu Ann Williams, insights director at Innova.
It’s a significant shift, and it’s having a big impact on how companies plan for the future. In a recent Deloitte Global survey of 350 executives, 91% said their business felt the impact of climate change, and 84% said they are personally concerned about the impact of climate change on their business.
There is no global standard for sustainability practices, and commercial bakeries run the gamut regarding individual progress for improving energy efficiency, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving water efficiency and reducing waste. That said, there are several tools and resources that can help manufacturers determine where they are, where they need to go and how they need to get there.
Since this is a global issue that impacts every industry and individual on the planet, it’s helpful to take a step back and look at the big picture, starting with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Also known as The Global Goals, this set of 17 standards tackles the world’s most challenging issues and outline targets to achieve by 2030.
They include an actionable framework — agreed upon by world leaders — to address environmental concerns including affordable and clean energy, responsible consumption and production, and clean water. But they also address human rights and social issues like health and wellbeing, gender equality, and safe and inclusive communities.
The SDGs are the cornerstone of Mexico City-based Grupo Bimbo’s ambitious new sustainability goals, which build on more than 15 years of sustainability programs and projects. In the past few years, the company has been
Nearly 25%
of US commercial building space is actively benchmarking on Portfolio Manager, the Energy Star program’s online benchmarking tool.
Source: US Environmental Protection Agency
Photo courtesy of Grupo Bimbo
As part of its sustainability pillars, Grupo Bimbo is working to become a zero-carbon and zero-waste business.
recognized by the Ethisphere Institute as one of the most ethical companies, as well as the first company in Mexico to receive clean energy certificates.
The strategy is based on three pillars: Baked for You, Baked for Nature and Baked for Life. Like the SDGs, Grupo Bimbo’s pillars take a broad approach to sustainability, one that focuses not only on the planet but also people and communities.
“The key ingredients are all linked to the purpose of the company, which is to nourish a better world,” said Alejandra Vázquez, Grupo Bimbo’s global sustainability VP. That includes promoting wellness through plantbased diets and nutritional diversity, becoming a net-zero carbon and zerowaste business, advancing regenerative agriculture, and improving the lives of its people and communities. This broad approach to sustainability falls in line with today’s shopper. According to a survey conducted by The Conference Board in collaboration with The Harris Poll, consumers are increasingly expanding their definition of sustainability to include issues like fairness and corporate citizenship.
“Our research with The Conference Board reinforces the unique sustainability inflection point we’re seeing with American consumers,” said Rob Jekielek, managing director at The Harris Poll. “An organization’s environmental footprint and impact still matter, but treatment of employees and the workforce is rapidly emerging as a new core pillar and proof point for showcasing an organization’s sustainability impact today.”
Vázquez said using benchmarking tools was crucial to helping define short-, medium- and long-term goals. For example, a target for achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 was developed following Science Based Targets initiative’s (SBTi) framework. SBTi is a partnership between environmental non-profit CDP, the United Nations Global Compact, World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
Benchmarking also helped Grupo Bimbo assess what similar companies are doing and determine how to work together toward these larger global goals.
As a global company operating in 33 countries, it was also important for Grupo Bimbo to establish customized action plans based on environmental, social and governmental standards for each specific region.
“In each one of the organization’s regions, we define a specific roadmap for the overall goals that we need to reach as a company,” Vázquez said. “The speed and the way in which each will reach those goals will depend on the maturity [of sustainability standards in the country]. In some places, we are working toward renewable energy, and in other places, we are working toward electrical vehicles, but all of us are going to hit the goal by 2030.”
Like Grupo Bimbo, Los Angeles-based Aspire Bakeries is using the SDGs as a guidepost as well as broadening its approach to sustainability. Using inputs from internal stakeholders as well as brand, customer and employee expectations, the company recently outlined five areas of focus which include people, food, planet, sourcing and communities.
The American Bakers Association (ABA) also has a history of meeting members where they are and supporting
companies in their sustainability efforts. But the organization is also starting to think more holistically about sustainability as the commercial baking sector becomes more willing to engage in targeted commitments.
“I think it’s time for us to revamp where we are and seek additional recommendations for bakers to embrace,” said Rasma Zvaners, VP of technical and regulatory services at ABA. “We run the full gamut of large global companies to small- to medium-size companies that are more regional. Three years ago, you had some that were out front and willing to make statements about their goals, but there may have been some hesitancy from some of the small- and medium-sized companies that simply lacked the resources.”
Fast forward three years, and Zvaners thinks bakeries are more inclined to commit to specific sustainability targets. That’s in part because of increased pressure from major retailers like Walmart and Target to meet sustainability specifications, but it’s also about the reality of climate impacts (like drought in the Western US) on individual businesses.
One significant way ABA has helped support bakeries’ sustainability efforts is through its promotion of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Energy Star certification. The national program recognizes participating bakery facilities that improve energy efficiency by 10% or more within five years, and the top 25% of energy-efficient US manufacturing facilities receive the EPA’s Energy Star certification.
Fifty commercial bread and roll bakeries and 24 cookie and cracker bakeries have received the recognition since ABA began partnering with the EPA in 2010. Of the 92 manufacturing plants recognized by the EPA’s Energy Star certification for superior energy performance in 2021, 42 were ABA member facilities, and their efforts resulted in an energy saving of just over 6 million MMBtu.
“Energy Star was an amazing first step for the sector and continues to be a strong program,” Zvaners said. “It has provided a base framework. For those that were starting to think about sustainability early on, it provided a cookbook of ideas.”
Portfolio Manager, the Energy Star program’s online benchmarking tool, has also proven to be an effective resource for commercial bakeries. The tool allows individual companies to input their facility’s energy uses, then calculates an energy performance score so they can see where they rank relative to their peers. Nearly 25% of US commercial building space is actively benchmarking on the platform.
Although the tool doesn’t allow users to identify competitors by score, it does help bakeries get a sense of where they are excelling and where they can improve based on where they stack up against their peers. Ultimately, that data can help inform strategy. And it can lead to significant cost savings, too.
Another program encouraging better sustainability practices is the US Department of Energy (DOE)’s Better Plants program. As part of the Better Buildings Initiative, Better Plants partners with manufacturers, as well as water and wastewater utilities, to boost their competitiveness by improving energy and water efficiency and also reducing waste and greenhouse gas emissions.
Lu Ann Williams | insights director | Innova Market Insights
Flowers Baking Co. of Batesville was recently recognized with a Better Practice Award for its energy efficiency projects, which included boiler, compressed air, LED lighting upgrades, waste heat recovery and variable-frequency drives for exhaust fans, among other projects. In total, the bakery reduced its annual energy use by more than 13,000 MMBtu.
“When planning equipment upgrades, Flowers Baking Co. of Batesville incorporated energy efficiency throughout the project design, reducing energy usage and costs long-term,” said Margaret Ann Marsh, VP of sustainability and environmental at Thomasville, GA-based Flowers Foods. “Across the Flowers network, this program has become a case study in how to look at every operational upgrade project as an energy efficiency opportunity.”
Flowers’ efforts highlight a key takeaway: Reducing your environmental footprint isn’t just good for the planet; it’s good for business. Companies that lean into the challenge and lead with solutions come out with a competitive advantage.
Energy-efficient building improvements are not the only way to get ahead of the pack, of course. Packaging is one of the biggest hot-button issues when it comes to sustainability, especially from a consumer perspective. According to Innova’s Lifestyle & Attitude Survey, 20% to 25% of consumers adjusted their product choices for environmental reasons such as choosing food with environmentally friendly packaging.
Karen Reed, global director of marketing and communications at Kwik Lok, said one of the biggest challenges when it comes to meeting packaging sustainability goals in the US is the lack of federal regulation.
“There’s currently a patchwork of regulatory obligations, and that can be difficult for bakeries to navigate,” Reed said. “As more state legislation is passed, it will become increasingly challenging.”
Zvaners also said that packaging is top of mind right now for ABA members as they sort through state-by-state legislation, but she expects Congress to step in to set some general expectations — much like they did with GMO labeling — that level the playing field at some point in the next few years.
In the meantime, Reed said Kwik Lok is focusing on developing products that give companies options, depending on what their current sustainability requirements and goals are.
“We’re trying to develop a portfolio of options, where people can choose what works for them right now, knowing that that is going to change rapidly,” she said. “We are paying attention to what’s happening with material science and with regulation, and we see more change on the horizon.”
They say that change is the only constant in life. And with that, consumers will no doubt expect faster progress moving forward. That includes commercial baking companies expanding the definition of sustainability and taking a more holistic approach when it comes to goal setting. It also means using competition as a driver for innovation … while keeping the larger picture in mind.
“Success hinges on collaboration,” Reed said. “This is not something any one company’s going to do by themselves. We have to change the whole system. We have to change how we approach our work. We have to create infrastructure, both in our companies and in the places we live.” CB
Sustainability is not a one-size-fits-all solution and requires collaboration among customers, vendors and leadership.
The Old World’s Enormous Impact
Time-honored traditions still shape the modern bakery process.
BY BELLA FOOTE
Jonathan Davis | culinary innovation leader | Aspire Bakeries
—Left
Fermentation, a crucial element in baking, has and continues to evolve as bakery needs and consumer interest shift. Where there is civilization, there is fermentation. From the skin of a grape to the palm of a hand, yeast surrounds us always. Humanity has managed to harness this nearly invisible force since as far back as 7000 BCE in Neolithic China, where evidence of an alcoholic beverage made from fermented fruit, honey and rice was discovered. And whether yeast is acquired in the wild or at the nearest grocery store, people have been using it to enhance flavors and reap benefits for thousands of years.
That starter in a bakery’s troughs of the fermentation room harken back to when sourdough was likely discovered — at a time when bread was likely a flat cake with ground seeds — and wild yeast from the surrounding area drifted into the mixture.
In early societies, fermentation was mainly seen as a way of preservation: a necessary survival tactic in the face of extreme conditions. It wasn’t until 1856, when French chemist Louis Pasteur correlated yeast with fermentation that fermentation became somewhat normalized by society. Commercialized versions of yeast resulted in baked goods with lighter texture and quicker rise time … but with blander flavor. It was, unsurprisingly, around this time that commercial baking companies such as Wonder Bread first began production.
Sourdough — and its starter — is most likely what comes to mind when fermentation intersects with baking. Sourdough starter is composed of lactic acid bacteria and wild yeast, which feed on the carbohydrates in waterhydrated-flour when allowed to ferment and can be used to add dynamic flavor to a variety of baked goods such as pancakes, rolls, croissants, bread, pizza, bagels, risen cakes and so on. While warmer environments speed up the leavening process, many commercial bakeries — whether a small operation or a multi-million-dollar industry leader — often prefer a longer, colder fermentation period for their baked goods.
“We feel that the slow, cool fermentation times really make that natural yeast work a little bit harder, and when that happens, it brings complexity,” said Jonathan Davis, culinary innovation leader for Los Angeles-based La Brea Bakery, an Aspire Bakeries brand. For years, La Brea Bakery has been a leader in the world of artisan-style breadmaking, first opening in downtown Los Angeles as a small retail shop in 1989. Since then, it has become one of the top artisanal bread suppliers in the nation. Davis has been on the La Brea Bakery team for nearly 30 years and has seen firsthand the benefits of the bakery’s 24-hour ferment on its sourdough.
Sam Zeitlin, owner of Chicago-based Zeitlin’s Delicatessen, a modern Jewish deli, also prefers cold fermentation.
“Our sourdough bread sits on average 30 hours before being baked using Dutch ovens,” Zeitlin said. “Each bagel sits for two days in our fridge before being boiled and baked. We allow the bagels to be proofed without covering so they achieve a robust crust.”
However, some sizeable commercial bakery operations do not participate in a long ferment, despite its essential aid to flavor and texture development. Rather, they rely on a variety of different methods to achieve similar results, all in the name of efficiency.
A longer ferment usually requires time and space, and those factors can ultimately impact profitability.
Yeast is an essential part of fermentation, which is a critical process for quality artisan bread production.
“Some commercial bakeries will use vinegar to enhance the sourdough flavor or rely on bought-in ingredients as a shortcut,” Davis suggested.
But these days, consumer demand leaves little room for shortcuts. Despite rising inflation costs, people seem willing to pay more for premium artisan breads that often employ the longer methods. In March 2022, overall bakery department sales rose 10.2% vs. the previous year, according to IRI data.
In a recent trends report from the International Dairy Deli Bakery Association, despite cheaper options in the bread aisle, many consumers are willing to spend the extra dollar or two for attributes like health and flavor, even in an inflationary environment. It’s becoming increasingly important to make every piece stand out.
Essential to that is fermentation and, specifically, yeast. Larger companies typically use commercial yeast — either in combination with sourdough starter or in place of it — to produce their baked goods. It’s more easily controlled, requires less time and is more readily available. While a higher proportion of commercial yeast speeds up the fermentation process, it can also result in less flavor development. However, some bakeries have managed to find a balance.
“We use both non-GMO commercial yeast and sourdough starter, but generally less commercial yeast because of the starter,” Davis said. “For example, we like to add sourdough starter to our French bread because it adds more flavor complexity.”
Zeitlin has also managed to find that ideal balance between sourdough starter and commercial yeast.
“At Zeitlin’s, we use a little sourdough starter in all our bread,” he said. “We will also add commercial baker’s yeast to our bagels, challah and babka. We like adding instant yeast as a way to provide a more consistent, softer product. This provides the desired texture we want.”
In addition to a renewed interest in artisan-style bread, consumer behavior is trending toward a focus on foods with functional benefits and overall gut health. The impact of fermented food on microbial diversity in the gut and
overall health is unparalleled, with sourdough and other fermented foods said to aid in digestion as well.
“Slowly fermented sourdough — done the traditional way with starter — imparts more health benefits to the final loaf of bread because the slow action of bacteria and yeast help make the grain in the bread more digestible, much like soaking or sprouting beans,” explained the founders of Yeemos, a family-run company that produces food cultures.
Likely born out of pandemic-induced isolation, many people began started making their own sourdough as the DIY bread craze skyrocketed.
Although some commercial bakers worried that fewer consumers would be purchasing bread if they were making it at home, an opposite phenomenon actually occurred.
“We’re starting to get really interesting consumer questions like, ‘How long is your fermentation?’ and ‘Where do you get your flour from?’” Davis noted. “Those questions would never have come up before. [After making bread on their own], people can appreciate how challenging it is and how consistently we’ve done it for more than 30 years. It’s not easy.”
Sourdough’s popularity, combined with renewed nostalgia, has resulted in many bakers returning to — and finding inspiration from — ancient breadmaking techniques and natural leavening methods.
“There is a lot of interest at the moment in returning to some old varieties of grain that have long since disappeared,” said Stephen Hallam, brand ambassador for Dickinson & Morris and chair of judges for the Tiptree World Bread Awards, during Troubleshooting Innovation, a Commercial Baking podcast. “But they’re giving different textures to bread. They’re giving different flavors, different appearances. And there’s consumer demand for that.”
Some bakers, for example, are experimenting with an heirloom wheat flour called White Sonora Wheat, which dates back to the 1600s. This consumer trend has led to experimentation among industry leaders as well.
“We are constantly experimenting with flavor profiles,” Davis said. “A lot of the things we’re looking at are alternative flours. When we first started, we had one bread flour. Now there are endless varieties of flours, from all these grains that are available now. And this all greatly impacts the fermentation process.”
Whether people truly yearn for a taste of the past or simply the nuanced complexity of a cold fermented loaf of bread, one thing will remain true: The fermentation process has stood the test of time, and it cannot be bested or cheated. It is something communities have always known and a concept that has been passed down from generation to generation. After all, anything truly excellent requires time, energy and plenty of patience. CB
© kaninstudio on Adobe Stock
The pandemic’s DIY bread craze spurred consumer interest in the fermentation process for foods like sourdough.
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