“Sustainability” means different things to different people.

The number of gluten-free products that have entered the market in recent years is quite large—almost mind-boggling. To some degree, this trend was fostered by FDA’s relatively new rule, Gluten-Free Labeling of Foods (August 2013), which allows manufacturers of foods inherently gluten-free to make such label claims. Thus, we now have gluten-free tomato sauce, a product that was probably always gluten-free.

An engineer’s perspective on cleaning efficiencies is scary on its own merit—and I’m certainly going to date myself here—but remember the old boil tanks sanitation was so proud and protective of?

Artisanal buckwheat snack producer Better With Buckwheat is expanding into six regional and ecommerce grocery chains through June and July. 

The launch capitalizes on rising trends in brownie consumption and gluten-free treats.

Skout Organic is launching its newest snack, Vanilla Macaroon Soft-Baked Cookies, as part of the brand’s limited-time Small Batch line of cookies and bars this month.

Birch Benders Ube Mochi Pancake & Waffle Mix uses purple yams, known as ube in the Philippines, to make purple pancakes and waffles with a sweet flavor that is both gluten-free and naturally vegan

The waffles are available in three flavors, including the first-to-market savory Cheesy Waffle.

Handcrafted in small batches, artisanal crackers made with real clover honey are filled with dark chocolate liquor combined with ethically sourced, dry roasted peanuts milled creamy.

Schär’s gluten-free Speculoos cookies and Panettone offer options for gluten-free holiday celebrations.

The new gluten-free offerings can meal options for consumers with food sensitivities at Publix stores nationwide.

Creating a pleasant stir in New York’s restaurants since 1987, Tom Cat combines the craftsmanship of artisan baking with a cupful of automation plus a pinch of top-quality ingredients

From humble beginnings 40+ years ago in a small bakery near Boston to a 30,000-sq.-ft. plant today in Chelsea, Mass., outfitted with four production lines, Golden Cannoli Shells Inc. now generates more than 100,000 cannoli shells each day. The more spacious plant is also allowing the bakery to significantly increase its capacity.

You will, if you try one from Golden Cannoli Shells Inc. The family-owned, 40-year-old bakery is rolling in the dough at its more spacious, 30,000-sq.-ft. production facility in Chelsea, Mass., to which it relocated in September. The largest national cannoli maker in the U.S. strives for top product quality and strict food-safety standards as well as to ‘just doing things right.’ It’s these and many other reasons that make Golden Cannoli our 2013 Bakery of the Year.

Celebrating 20 years in business, with its latest cookbook hot out of the oven, Metropolitan Bakery, Philadelphia, delights in baking delicious breads and creating incredible pastries, popcorn and granola, among other foods. 

Crafting artisan breads, café loaves, pastries and more since 1993, Metropolitan Bakery’s Philadelphia production facility mixes clever flavor combinations with a pinch of automation, European equipment and top-quality ingredients to churn out incredibly fresh baguettes, rolls and country breads, seven days a week.

Thanks to their new 22,000-sq.-ft. production facility in Cudahy, Wis., the folks at Angelic Bakehouse now have the room, additional equipment and the structure they need to efficiently produce sprouted whole-grain breads, buns, rolls and flatbread/pizza crusts using an unusual process.

Family-owned Ballreich Bros., Tiffin, Ohio, has a large fan base that pines for its various potato chips as well as crispy new shoestring potato sticks, popcorn, pretzels and other snacks. 

Ballreich Bros.’ 75,000-sq.-ft. potato chip and snack plant churns out 2,000-5,000 lb. of product an hour. Manufacturing product on a just-in-time basis, the family owned and operated company in Tiffin, Ohio, also produces new Sweet Potato Chips and shoestring Potato Sticks in three flavors.

The bread market is changing, with fluctuating commodity prices, a still-sluggish economy, consolidations, mergers and buyouts. 

Using advanced technology, a cross-functional operational strategy and effective collaboration tools, Blue Diamond’s ‘dream plant,’ a multimillion-dollar almond-processing facility in Turlock, CA, is a reality. The nearly 200,000-sq.-ft. site sets new standards of excellence for food safety, processing and building innovation. 

‘Going from good to great’ is a pervasive theme at Phoenix-based Capistrano’s Bakery. So is the phrase, ‘It Can Be Done.’ This rather quiet, wholesale artisan baker works hard to ensure that its products are tasty, innovative and what its customers want. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

Heat and Control delivers another 2-Stage French Fry fryer system out of its Hayward, USA manufacturing facility to make batter coated French fries.

Providing restaurants and food service operations with both productivity and durability, Vulcan introduces the 35-pound, ENERGY STAR certified VEG Series. It’s a value-priced fryer that truly checks all the boxes.

Fryers continue to see ongoing improvements related to hygienic design, oil management and energy efficiency. Equipment suppliers are also offering models that occupy a smaller physical and carbon footprint, and that include adaptability to handle a diverse array of products.

Quick changeovers, smaller products, sanitation needs, oil quality and temperature control are all top-of-mind for customers of griddle and fryer equipment used for key snack and bakery applications, including doughnuts and frozen breakfast products like waffles and pancakes, as well as fried snack items, like chips.

Heat and Control, Inc., an equipment manufacturer and food processing industry supplier, recently released the OilSaver Filtration System to its Oil Management System lineup.

VITO Fryfilter, Inc. recently released an intensive cleaner individually packed as tabs, for an effective cleaning of commercial deep fryers: the VITO tab.

Bakeries and snack makers in the market for ovens, proofers, fryers, and dryers have a healthy list of features and benefits in mind. These include capabilities for customization and flexibility, reliability and consistency, temperature control, faster processing times and continuous production, and automation that operators can control and monitor remotely.

Snack and bakery companies looking to purchase new or improved ovens, proofers, fryers, and dryers have a long list of requests when it comes to features and benefits, according to manufacturers of those types of equipment.

ONE Brands is bringing Reese's peanut butter flavor to the protein bar aisle with the debut of its new Reese's Peanut Butter Lovers flavor-inspired protein bar.

KIND's new Savory Bars bring forth a unique mix of nuts and a smokey and spicy profile, resulting in a bold taste in every bite, per the brand.

The Small Batch Cinnamon Snickerdoodle Kids Bar features just five ingredients.

Skout is collaborating with cookbook author Caroline Chambers and her snack expert kids to launch Caro’s Beast Cookie Kids Bar, Caro Chambers bundle, and a bundle and book.