Packaging enhancements, a twist on shapes and ingredients and many new flavor combinations continue to win over consumers. 

Going for LEED Silver certification, Blue Diamond Growers’ new, state-of-the-art almond production plant in Turlock, CA, features nearly 200,000 sq. ft. of sophisticated almond technology, setting new standards of excellence for food safety, processing and building innovation. 

Savings-savvy Capistrano’s Bakery combined two small baking operations and renovated a larger, 38,000-sq.-ft. production facility in Phoenix that features a used, multizone, traveling-tray oven it had rebuilt with state-of-the-art features. 

Chicago Specialty Bakers brings traditional, Old World baked goods to life for today’s discerning consumers.

Golden Boy Pies still retains the homespun ideals of its roots, despite notable expansion over the years—and the future is poised to bring more of the same.

The upscale POP Gourmet concept has gained significant momentum since its inception—and the company continues to build energy through co-branding, diversification beyond popcorn and international expansion.

Independent—and rapidly growing—Canyon Bakehouse has set high standards for gluten-free as it strives toward baking only ‘best-to-market’ products.

Today’s market for better-for-you extruded snacks is skyrocketing, with products like veggie straws and other puffed/expanded products finding appeal among shoppers seeking alternatives to traditional offerings.

As more consumers scrutinize ingredients in the foods they buy, bakers and snack producers are turning to inclusions to create better-for-you products that deliver irresistible taste.

Company: Krispy Kreme, Winston-Salem, N.C.
Website: www.krispykreme.com
Introduced: November 2011
Distribution: National
Suggested Retail: $1.09 for a 4-oz. package of Glazed Chocolate Pie; $4.29 for a 14.9-oz. box of Dipped Cake

In a move toward boldly-flavored, healthful products, manufacturers are finding innovative ways to meet the needs of consumers who favor sweet and savory bakery foods and snacks. Starting with the dessert first, familiar flavors and healthful benefits can be found in many of Wholly Wholesome’s pie products.

The snack industry should plan on attending or exhibiting at SNAXPO 2012, March 16-19, in Phoenix at the Phoenix Convention Center. Hosted by the Snack Food Association, this exciting diamond anniversary (75th year) snack event will provide opportunities to network with snack food industry professionals from around the world, learn the latest and greatest trends and technologies and hear interesting speakers, such as former Arkansas governor and best-selling author, Mike Huckabee.

According to the website, ideafinder.com, we consume more than 4.3 billion lb. of snack food a year, which could be why snacks may soon end up becoming America’s favorite meal.

On its own, chocolate is a wonderful treat. Marry chocolate with the perfect flavor pairing, and the snack becomes even more memorable. Classic pairings, such as chocolate with peanut butter, raspberry or mint, are here to stay, but adventurous flavors are growing in popularity.

It can be rather tough for sweet goods products these days. The huge movement to better-for-you items hasn’t exactly been good news and a smooth fairway for this category. But bakers and manufacturers of sweet goods, snack cakes and other delectable treats are watching the demands just as closely as producers in other bakery market segments, and heeding the calls.

Cookies are a robust segment within the bakery industry. There are brands that have been around for decades and have become household names, but there are also many up-and-coming brands that offer unique flavors for niche markets and are set to become the next class of pros.

Busy lifestyles and affordability aren’t the only reasons why consumers add frozen baked goods to their shopping cart each week.

From flavors to popular culture, what’s hot and cool are what drives new products from the Battle Creek, Mich.-based company.

Harris Interactive recently released the results of its 2012 Harris Poll EquiTrend study, which analyzed the responses of more than 38,500 consumers on key measures of brand health for more than 1,500 lifestyle, product and service brands. When questioned about the brands they are likely to reach for when craving a salty snack, respondents chose Lay’s Potato Chips—the top-ranked salty snack for the past eight years—followed by two other Frito-Lay North America brands, Doritos and Tostitos.

Pretzels have been around for more than a thousand years, originating in southern Europe around 610 A.D., according to historians. Today, crispy, hard pretzels are consumed by people in many of the countries represented at the 2012 Olympics.

When it comes to the Olympics, most people prefer some sports over others. The same holds true for consumers when it comes to snack foods.

Low in calories, high in fiber—popcorn may just be the perfect natural snack. Of course, that doesn’t stop manufacturers from trying to up the ante by enhancing all the whole grain has to offer. Now, popcorn can be found competing with chips, pretzels and even candy in the snacking Olympics.

Marketers of beef jerky, a favorite of truckers and a staple at gas-station checkouts, want it to be a healthier snack. Makers of the spicy, salty dried treat find that consumers can accept turkey versions and are now stepping up sales with moister, tastier and fancier dried-meat products, some in flavors such as Basil Citrus and Lemon Garlic.

Pork rinds are probably the most misunderstood item in the snack category. This is surprising, because people have been eating pork rinds—also called pork skins—as long as they have been eating pigs. One of the world’s first snack foods created thousands of years ago, and favored in the southern states, pork rinds are a simple combination of fried pork skins and salt.

Phoenix-based Inventure Foods expands its portfolio of brands by entering into a licensing agreement with Vidalia Brands of Glennville, Ga., to develop new snack line.

Rudolph Foods’ Second Annual Pork Rind Appreciation Day campaign will culminate on the biggest football day of the year 

Potato chips and chocolate? Snack manufacturers and bakeries are experimenting with unique combinations to satisfy consumers’ desire for a snack with the perfect sweet-savory blend.

Biscuit lovers have until midnight on April 22 to enter their favorite biscuit recipes in the International Biscuit Festival 2013 Biscuit Bake Off.

The one and only Eli’s Cheesecake, considered a Chicago food icon, could be the largest specialty cheesecake bakery in the country

Bakery products are evolving all the time in today’s market. To win the race, they mix healthful and tasty ingredients with a scoop of distinction.

Flowers Foods’ latest addition to its product portfolio—Mrs. Freshley’s Cinnamon Coffee Cakes—is sure to please cinnamon lovers.

Demand for chocolate in snack and bakery items is driven by two core consumers: Luxury seekers; and healthy snack eaters who both share a common desire for great-tasting chocolate produced in a sustainable fashion. 

What entices each bite of a mini salted-maple, toasted-almond Cronut—as I recently relished at Donut Savant in Oakland, CA..

Snack producers and bakers have expanded their explorations into sweet-savory profiles, with sweet-salty, sweet-spicy and sweet-herbal all gaining favor.

The California Fig Powerball was created as a snack to take on the go, a quick bite that will provide a burst of energy that also delivers sound nutrition.

Cracker Jack’D, a Frito-Lay brand, has added a protein-packed snack mix to its product line—Cracker Jack’D Protein Mix.

As consumer demand for baked goods and snack foods changes and grows, so do bakers’ and snack producers’ equipment needs and wants. Baking
systems manufacturers are listening to their customers and introducing new or redesigned machinery that fits the bill.

Reliability, flexibility, consistent product quality, easy sanitation and high-volume output are just some of the things bakers and snack producers want from a new oven or fryer. 

As Bühler Aeroglide’s vice president of process engineering, Tom Barber will work with customers worldwide.

Better-for-you ingredients and innovative flavors continue to keep potato chips at the top of consumers’ list of favorite snacks, while the classics still resonate.

As consumer demand for more and diverse baked goods and snacks heats up, today’s ovens and fryers let bakers and snack producers increase production while reducing related costs.

John Van Duin will head up Florigo Industry’s processing division in Asia Pacific.

In the wake of strong demand for Donkey Chips, the company needed new equipment to significantly increase production of its line of tortilla chips. Here's how they did it.

New fryers and oils enable bakers and snack producers to create more and better-for-you versions of the fried dough products and snacks consumers can’t live without.

The global processing and packaging provider will highlight its start-to-finish solutions for the snack industry via an interactive booth experience at SNAXPO in Houston.

When it comes to sweet goods like doughnuts, Danishes, sweet rolls, muffins and coffee cake, the market is in a state of flux. As Walter Postelwait, president of Pak Group LLC/Bellarise Baking Ingredients, Pasadena, CA, puts it: “The total segment appears to be growing slowly, but has hot pockets of activity.”

The chips segment has grown quite lively over the past year, with new product areas emerging and others, like apple chips, seeing considerable growth and maturation. Snack producers are also starting to grow beyond potatoes, offering sweet potato, beet and parsnip chips.

Florigo (from tna) has announced the launch of a new continuous potato chip fryer that features patented opti-flow technology for improved frying performance.

The flexibility to produce different flavors, shapes, sizes and types of products is high on the list of qualities that snack and bakery makers are seeking from manufacturers offering griddle equipment and fryers.

Combining heavy duty performance and energy savings technology, Vulcan has announced the launch of the CEF Countertop Electric Fryers, including the industry’s first ENERGY STAR certified countertop electric fryer.