Listen to the episode here or wherever you listen to podcasts:
When it comes to the baking industry supply chain, ingredients like vital wheat gluten, starch and even raw materials for dough conditioners have been in short supply throughout the past year and a half. This left some bakers scrambling to switch ingredients and even pivot to secondary and tertiary suppliers. Sometimes that even means reformulating at the last minute. In this episode of Since Sliced Bread, Lin Carson, founder and chief executive officer of Bakerpedia, recommended bakers start by focusing on ingredients already on their label.
“The fastest way to change anything is to work with flour, yeast and enzymes because enzymes are usually not declared on the label because they are processing aids,” she said.
Ms. Carson advocates for a focus on high quality flour to help bakers reduce their reliance on strengthening ingredients. She also points out how far a team well-trained in protein analysis can take a baking company as it tries to pivot in a situation like this one.
“A lot of the time in predicaments like that the solution comes from your best people, and you have to rely on them because they are the ones who will come up with the solutions for you,” Ms. Carson said.
Listen to this episode of Since Sliced Bread to hear her take on how training and investing in flour quality can improve a bakery’s chances at reformulating.
Subscribe to Since Sliced Bread
