Here you are: The Bakery Journal and Innovation secrets

With so much happening around, it does make sense to have a Bakery Journal. All the latest innovations in the industry are reported here. Read the excerpt from the article -

Fresh trends: Process Innovation secrets

By Michelle Brisebois

"A form of process innovation known as Six-Sigma (a statistical term referencing 99.9997 per cent efficiency) has already been implemented in the baking industry by Maidstone Bakeries of Brantford, Ont. In a November 2007 press release Maidstone declared: “By identifying areas of production waste and leftover dough and oil, Maidstone eliminated 80 per cent of the waste, improved its environmental efficiencies and saved significant dollars in the process. While many companies avoid changing their quality management methodologies because of the perceived investments in time and money, Maidstone has proven that the transition has already paid for itself tenfold.”

Reading Bakery Systems Innovation Center: Mindboggling

Reading Bakery SystemsReading Bakery Systems is a leading manufacturer of bakery equipment, providing turnkey processing systems and support services for the snack food industry. Reading Bakery Systems utilizes state-of-the-art design and production techniques combined with the skill and insight of our engineering, manufacturing and sales team to earn the trust and respect of customers worldwide. Reading Bakery Systems offers Thomas L. Green and Reading Pretzel equipment lines that provide a variety of processing solutions capable of producing a wide range of snack products, such as cookies, crackers, fabricated potato chips, pretzels and bread snack products. Exact Mixers from Reading Bakery Systems offers innovative continuous mixing solutions to several industries, including baked snacks, pet treats, sweet goods, pizza and tortillas.

The headquarters of Reading Bakery Systems is located in Robesonia, Pennsylvania, an hour and a half drive northwest of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

What strikes me most is the "Innovation Centre." Biscuit processing all over the world has benefitted from the sophisticated baking equipments manufactured here.

Learn more about how crackers, biscuits & cookies are processed-all on the Reading Bakery Systems site.

Some of the equipments manufactured at RBS-

Mixing and ingredient feed equipment

Sheeting line

Prism Oven and Dryer

And here's how your crackers come tumbling down...

Sophisticated equipments include thermal readers, cutters, dispensers, coolers, extruders, laminators, conveyors, washers, et al. You name it and they have it--all improvised versions.    

WOW...Learning with biscuits

Just when I think that this is all about biscuits, pop comes a new dimension of thought. Ideating is definitely not about anchors.

We all know that biscuits and cookies are closest to children, one of the biggest biscuit eating segments. So why should they not be targeted. See how parents can be convinced into buying biscuits even if they have no nutritional value. A new revelation--biscuits as learning tools! Surprised? Take a look at Arnott's "Tic Toc" biscuits. They have discovered a novel way of teaching kids how to read the clock--how interesting.

In varieties as elaborate as "two 'o' clock" to "almost two 'o' clock," it is a great way to ensure that once the kids get hooked on to this method of learning, parents have but no choice but to stuff the house with Arnott's biscuits. Now this is what is called dual innovation, in "biscuits" as well as "learning methods," and a tried and tested one. Anybody-ideas?? My head is swarming with them. :-)

WHAT'S THE TIME?

Learning is fun. And even better when you can keep munching to your heart's delight while learning. Am I not smitten by this idea? Really COOL.
  

Future innovation in biscuit not a fad: A lot is happening

Biscuits are more often than not compulsive buys. However, biscuits are the one common representative of indulgence in the entire world. The impact it has on the health and buying behavior of the consumer across the globe is noteworthy. As per a research report by Daniel Lord, ex-strategy consultant, Durlacher Research (Market Analysis), future innovation in the bakery sector is a must considering the innumerable drivers in present-day society, especially with respect to health and lifestyle. According to his survey, retail giants earn 6-10% of their profits from the biscuits and bakery product sector.

An investment worth it, the trend has just started catching up as is evident from the report below-

Kraft Foods to Research Biscuits in France

By: Stephen Kersey | Comment

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Kraft Foods, which has food for sale in more than 125 countries around the globe, is opening a facility in France that will research biscuits. The facility, which will be called Biscuit Research & Development Center, will be built in a suburb of Paris at a price of around $20 million.
Said Michael Clarke of Kraft Foods Europe: “France is an important strategic market for biscuits and for Kraft Foods globally. This investment makes good business sense, allowing us to continue to drive biscuit innovation and future growth. Consumers in Europe and around the world have long enjoyed our exceptional biscuit brands, and this facility will further enable us to create delicious new products for years to come.”
Kraft’s popular biscuit brands in Europe include LU, Prince, TUC and Mikado. These biscuit brands have helped Kraft Foods take home an annual revenue of more than $40 billion.
Research & development centers aren’t a new creation for Kraft Foods. In fact, the company will have a dozen such centers after this one is completed.

Ref: http://everyjoe.com/work/kraft-foods-to-research-biscuits-in-france/

Innovation in packaging biscuits: Go green with metal

Going green is the mantra nowadays. Metals can be recycled and therefore is being considered as a strong option in the bicuit packaging sphere. The US firm Crown takes the lead--read more on

http://www.foodproductiondaily.com/Packaging/Metal-packaging-innovation-confers-eco-friendly-opportunities-for-premium-biscuits 

Biscuit manufacturing & Milk processing @ Nilgiri Bangalore.

Innovative ideas for the biscuit manufacturing has thrilled our team as it has given a new dimmension for our
research on biscuits.To get more of the idea on manufacturing the preference of the taste and extrapulating from the consumer what they really demand in the biscuit made us to explore the factories who are manufacturing it.
The visit to biscuit factory was an eye opener as it made us to see what actually goes in to prepare them.The entire assembly line of the manufacturing and packaging gave us a full insight. Since we where not allowed to take the snap for the process we could only see it and it has thrilled us by knowing the process of making such nice snacks for the childrens adults and every works of life. The visit to the Nilgiris manufacturing plant has enlightned us from being a mere biscuit eater to biscuit lover. It has also made us feel the passion by which they manufacture these biscuits and cakes.
In the process we also visited the milk processing plant at the Bangalore site which we can use as a comparision of the products and the manufacturing difficulties of the different products.We saw the manufacturing of the yogurt and another stufffs which can be one of the challanges for the biscuit industry in the future as the parents may force there children to have these products as there breakfast menu.
We where also previledged to have a look at the making of the puffs which is also one of the high demand segment for the snacks and every time munching.we where enlightened to come to know that they prepare very delicately for the veg and non veg puffs as it is of greater consern for the people as there integrity should be intact.Puffs can be one of the alternative for the biscuits as it has grown in demand in the young and adults.
The price for both the products is competitive and hence there is a choice for the people to take for the snacks.
The biscuit industry may have to face to face a huge challenge form the cakes and pasteries and even the puffs which has come in a healthy competition in between very quitelty.

Now this is no small cookie, it's real competition

I was under the impression that people eat cookies more than they eat cakes but it's tough when you have such alluring cakes to compete with. Bangalore is surely on its way to obesity. Nilgiris holds an exhibition of cakes prior to christmas and boy oh boy, aren't they amazing. Have a look at the priceless piece of the 36th annual Nilgiri's cake exhibition, 2010. I believe it took two months to do this.

The Nilgiris Experience

Nilgiris, which may have started as a small bakery in 1905 is now one of the most mechanized bakeries. It is the only bakery to have a "puff sheets" preparing machine, which rolls out 72 alternative sheets of dough and hydrogenated fat in 35 minutes. The present production capacity being approx. 6,000 puffs per day on average. What was impressive as to how organized the entire process was--
Mixing with mechanized systems for proportion and texture
Refrigeration to prepare the moulds
Cutting machine for cookies-shape-wise
Baking-different machines for different products or batch-wise bake facilities
Blast refrigeration for products which need to be stored or transported.
Cold storage

Nilgiris is a preferred brand in Karnataka, now spread across entire south India. However, what I noticed that the scale was not that of what could be expected of a century-old bakery. Whether it is a deliberate effort to stay small or they are unable to scale and expand is the question to be asked. One may say that how does it matter but this could lead to the underlying reason why Nilgiris still faces tough competition from the Britannias and the Sunfeasts. 

buscuit preferences

On the way to Nilgiris factory visist, we met one chaiwala named Mr....... As per him people like the crispy biscuit during tea preferably rusk and it was quite surprising for us that people prefer the local made biscuit against the braded one due to taste at his shop.
We can incorporate the idea of the chaiwala in our project. As per him the biggest thing for the selling of product like biscuit is taste apart from the value addition. So we will give prefernce to the taste and appeal over nutrients used (basic as well as nutraceuticals) in our innovative biscuit. It doesnot mean that our product will lack in the nutrition. We will work on different set of combination of our selected nutrients and after conducting several trials, the product which will have best appeal and taste will be selected.

Nilgiris factory Visit

We got very good learning of biscuit, cookies puff manufacturing as the desinging of any product cannot be in the isolation. This visit was necessary for us as we had many ideas about the kind of biscuit/cookies to look upon for the project. From my experience in the related field, I was aware that the implementing an idea on commercial scale is quite different due to number of constraints in the operating system. We also got the same feedback from the Nilgiri factory about the difference in body and texture of the biscuit demanded by the market VS what they manufacture.

We have also seen the manufacturing condition of the plant. Nilgiri is making basic stuff while we have came up with lot of value addition in our biscuit. As are also looking for the real fruit, nuts, where the perishability will be the major issue and hence we need to focus on improving the shelf life of raw materials by maintaining the hygienic condition.

Rakesh Raushan

People whom I spoke to and their response (biscuit preference)

Garima Mathur (Housewife, mother of a 2-year old. Biscuit preference: Parle-G, Tiger)
Rohini Lokare (Govt. employee, a mother of two boys aged 18-22. Biscuit preference: Marie)
Seema Thakkar (Political activist, mother of two (twins aged 16). Parle-G, GoodDay, Monaco)
Pratibha Deshpande (Doctor, mother of two aged 25, 28. Biscuit preference: None)
Reezu Singh (Hw, Mother of a 3-year old. Biscuit preference: Parle-G, Tiger)
Snehlata Singh (Hw, Mother of a 3-year old. Biscuit preference: Parle-G, Britannia, Sunfeast varieties)
Seema Diwedi (Hw, Mother of two, age 5, 1. Biscuit preference: Parle-G, Britannia varieties)
Rajshree Thorat (Maid, mother of a 4-year old. Biscuit preference: Parle-G)
Shilpi Agarwal (Business woman, mother of 4 year old. Biscuit preference: Parle-G, Britannia varieties)
Aboli Gangreddiwar (College going student. Biscuit preference: Salty bakery varieties)
Seema Kumar (Hw, mother of two, aged 17, 20. Biscuit preference: Parle-G, Britannia, Sunfeast varieties)
Indu Sinha (Teacher, mother of two, aged 9, 5. Biscuit preference: Parle-G, Britannia, Sunfeast varieties, bakery biscuits)
Madhulika Sisodiya (Hw, mother of a 3-year old. Biscuit preference: Parle-G, Good-Day, Sunfeast cream)
Ratna Bhattacharya (IBM employee, no children. Biscuit preference: Parle-G, Coconut Crunch)
Sheekha Banerjee (Teacher, no children. Biscuit preference: Parle-G, Marie, Cream Cracker)
Nilanjana Das (Teacher, no children. Biscuit preference: Parle-G, Cheese biscuits)
Sunaina Chauhan (Retired. Biscuit preference: Parle-G, Marie, Nutrichoice fiber)
Suhasini Nule (Retired. Biscuit preference: Parle-G, Marie, Nutrichoice fiber)
Anjita Thakur (Lecturer, mother of two aged 11, 8. Biscuit preference: Parle-G, Britannia Milk Bikis, Marie)
Trisha Mukherjee (Google employee, newly married. Biscuit preference: Britannia, Sunfeast all varieties)
Vineeta Nair (College going student, 21. Biscuit preference: Parle-G, Krackjack)
Dhanashree Patil (Dentist, single, 23. Biscuit preference: Bakery biscuits)
Children-
Kaustubh Karmakar (15). Biscuit preference: Parle-G, Tiger, All varieties of Britannia, Sunfeast
Mahi Arora (13). Biscuit preference: Parle-G, Sunfeast Cream Biscuits
Manav Soni (12). Biscuit preference: Parle-G, Tiger, Chocopie
Harshvardhan Singh (14). Biscuit preference: Parle-G, Tiger, All varieties of Britannia, Sunfeast
Sushmita Khanvilkar (10). Biscuit preference: Parle-G

Detailed Interview with a Biscuit eater

Interview with Anju Vivek

Customer Profile: Anju Vivek is a working as HR manager at NHPC. She is married. She can be reached at 0981025306.

<Vivek> why you eat biscuits?

<Anju>

• To munch, not necessarily when I am hungry
• Try new flavors, taste, brands

<Vivek> when you eat biscuits?

<Anju>

• Mid meal time

<Vivek> How much (Price) maximum you can pay for getting a packet of biscuit of your choice?

<Anju> Between Rs 5 to 100