CHICAGO — Arguably the biggest challenge facing the commercial baking industry today is its labor shortage. Numerous studies show most baking employers face significant worker shortages across multiple areas of operation and anticipate these challenges to continue for the foreseeable future. Many companies report a lack of adequately skilled candidates, poor awareness of career opportunities in bakery manufacturing and difficulty making the field appealing to qualified candidates. 

At BakingTech 2024, held Feb. 27-29 in Chicago, John Hinds, operations manager at Cain Foods and board member of the Bakers National Education Foundation (BNEF); Brenda Fermin Ramos, director of R&D for Puratos USA; and Sarah Day, director of education for the American Society of Baking, shared how the industry can better attract, educate and train labor to overcome this challenge.

“We’ve talked about this an awful lot, and we need some actions to go with our words,” Hinds said. “And we want to be a catalyst for that.” 

BNEF tackles the workforce gap by offering financial support to train bakers and allied personnel. In response to the industry’s heightened labor challenges, the organization in 2021 started its “Your Future in Baking” initiative, providing hands-on demonstrations and presentations to high school students to promote the industry and Kansas State University’s Bakery Science program. Since the initiative’s founding, BNEF has reached more than 2,500 students, teachers and administrators. 

“I think the baking industry is the perfect industry to get in front of [students] and show that there's a different career path than what they may have thought before,” Hinds said.

Puratos has also taken significant steps to teach the next generation of bakers. The company has opened 12 bakery schools in economically disadvantaged communities around the globe, offering courses on bakery, patisserie and chocolatierie to students aged 14 through 24. In 2022, Puratos opened its first bakery school in the United States in Pennsauken, NJ, its US headquarters. 

By 2030, the company aims to operate 20 bakery schools serving more than 1,000 students each year. 

“But we can’t do it alone,” Fermin Ramos said. “We want to scale that experience to other students.”

Puratos has partnered with bakeries like Grupo Bimbo SAB de CV, Mexico City, and Flowers Foods, Thomasville, Ga., to offer guest lectures and bakery tours to students, and Fermin Ramos encouraged other bakers to similarly open their doors whenever possible. 

While training the next generation of bakery professionals is critical to the industry’s future, so to is developing those already in the industry, Day noted. 

She said that adults learn differently than youth and often require different methods of instruction. 

“Adult learning theory suggests that adults learn best when they're actively engaged in drawing on their own good experiences, or relevant experiences, and then they're applying that knowledge to a real-life situation that they have in front of them,” Day said.

Adults should also be offered different training methods to fit what works best for them, Day suggested, whether it be videos, print or hands-on instruction. 

Baking companies should also strive to make their training materials more accessible to those with disabilities, Day emphasized. She noted 25% to 30% of Americans have some form of disability, far more than many people realize. Features like closed captions, contrasting colors, pre-recorded trainings and audio transcripts can all make trainings more accessible and effective for everyone, she said.