When it comes to product handling equipment, snack producers and bakeries are looking for flexible machines that can run a variety of products and offer quick or completely automatic changeovers.

Snack producers and bakeries are making efforts to include more fruit ingredients in the products they offer to appeal to consumers looking for healthier, better-for-you food choices. Use of real fruit ingredients resonates with consumers, since it communicates a fresh, real, wholesome message.

Recently, Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery's Doug Peckenpaugh was able to speak on an industry podcast hosted by Lin Carson, SF&WB's clean label bakery strategies columnist.

The gluten-free market continues to grow. Euromonitor reports that global sales hit $3.5 billion in 2016, up 12.6 percent compared to the previous year, and global gluten-free sales are projected to reach $4.7 billion by 2020. In this still-expanding market for gluten-free, snack producers and bakeries continue to develop strategies for growth and product improvement.

For the 20th year, the Food Safety Summit will be providing an in-depth schedule of education sessions when it returns to the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, IL May 7-10, 2018.

According to Maru/Matchbox, Toronto, sustainable products that were once considered premium are being pushed into the mainstream as consumers become more invested in the environmental and humanitarian implications of their food choices.

Greater product variety and increasing consumer attention to quality are among key factors driving snack producers and bakeries to update their inspection and detection equipment with models that, among other features, detect ever-smaller foreign objects and reduce false rejects.

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software helps producers improve efficiency and day-to-day operations. New software can help snack and bakery companies increase their financial success, and there are a variety of ERP technologies from which to choose.

Fresh bread, bagels and English muffins comprise the largest segment in bakery, valued at over $10 billion per IRI, Chicago. But sales overall remain relatively flat. Nevertheless, several strategic options exist for bakers to infuse new life into bread sales.

Chefs and food scientists alike are still focusing on developing the next new groundbreaking snack, but now with a back-to-basics approach focusing on whole and natural food ingredients to meet consumer demands.