Articles by Ed Finkel

Top of mind for snack food and wholesale bakery companies who in the market for new or improved mixers are qualities like consistency, temperature control, and the ability to distribute raw materials fast and efficiently.

Picking robots, automated storage and retrieval, and software that predicts future demand are among a host of technology, equipment and strategic changes that snack food and wholesale bakery companies are undertaking in their warehousing and logistics functions.

Although the tortilla category is prospering overall and should continue to do so, labor shortages are prompting producers’ interest in automation—as long as the quality can be kept high—while tortilla consumers have turned toward healthier options and innovative flavors.

Snack food and wholesale bakery companies had been steadily adding automation to their plants and equipment contained therein for a number of years—and then the pandemic hit, accelerating the process due to both the difficulty in finding qualified people to hire, and the need for social distancing that accompanied at least the early stages of COVID-19. Ovens, proofers, and associated equipment have been among the candidates for automation.

Snack food and wholesale bakery companies are building varying levels of automation in their warehouse shipping and receiving areas, ranging from forklifts to autonomous vehicles, to traceability software and more, all in an effort to make their operations more efficient, effective, safer, and more profitable.

Lean manufacturing and Six Sigma can be applied to the snack and bakery industry—just like any other field—to analyze processes, cut down on unnecessary steps, and work to make the desired end result come about more efficiently and effectively.

Snack, bakery companies look for certain features and benefits when purchasing laminators and sheeters.

Snack and bakery producers are demanding more features than ever from extrusion equipment.

Other priorities include frying more than one product concurrently, handling both older and newer snack and bakery formulations.

Energy efficiency, automation, and ensuring a robust return-on-investment have been top-of-mind for snack food and wholesale bakery companies in the market for ovens and proofers, according to companies that make those machines, who say sales have been strong.