Cost reduction is top of mind for many baking operations, especially in recent years as inflation and ingredient shortages have raised prices throughout the supply chain. These challenges are often felt through bakers’ dairy and egg ingredients, which can be subject to volatile price swings.

“Both dairy and egg products experience price fluctuations throughout the year,” said Ashley Beech, bakery applications development manager, Corbion. “Eggs in particular are subject to price volatility due to seasonal outbreaks of avian influenza. Bakers can face extreme price changes during such outbreaks.” 

Despite the cost concerns these ingredients pose, most operations can’t go without them. Dairy and egg ingredients like milk, butter and egg whites are the star players in many baked goods, providing much of the key functionality needed to achieve a quality finished product. 

“Dairy, usually in the form of butter or dry milk, is used in bakery to add flavor and richness to bakery products,” said Aaron Reed, senior food technologist, Cargill. “Eggs also play a critical role in baked goods, from maintaining moistness in shelf life to providing aeration, emulsification and structure.”

To overcome the price volatility of these ingredients and keep costs under control, bakers are employing strategies that stretch these star ingredients further. These include using dairy and eggs more efficiently to reduce waste, extend shelf life and boost product quality, as well as partially replacing these ingredients with more affordable alternatives that still offer the functionality their baked goods need.

Making the stretch

When it comes to extending dairy and egg ingredients, the format they come in can make a big difference. Liquid eggs may function the same as dry eggs in a cake, but their impact on a baker’s bottom line can vary considerably. 

Due to their shorter shelf life, fresh dairy and egg ingredients are more prone to costly wastage compared to dry ingredients, noted Rachel Marshall, technical engagement manager, Atlantic Region, Fonterra. 

“Dried milk and protein powders typically have a two-year shelf life from date of manufacture when stored appropriately, hence offering bakers flexibility on when they use the ingredients,” she said. “Dried powders also allow ambient storage versus the chilled storage needed for fresh milk.”

Dry eggs can also be portioned more accurately than liquid eggs, reducing waste, said Nelson Serrano-Bahri, chef and director of development of the American Egg Board. 

While they are more expensive than liquid egg products, the cost savings they offer elsewhere typically make them a worthwhile investment, Reed said. 

“[Dry eggs] keep the cost of capital down where a silo, piping, pumps and automation systems would otherwise be required,” he said.

Production strategies like batch cooking can further stretch these ingredients, Serrano-Bahri noted.

“Producing in larger batches can help reduce waste, as unused portions of egg ingredients can be stored or reused in subsequent batches,” he said. “Unused egg whites or yolks can be repurposed in other recipes, such as using yolks in custards or whites in meringues, minimizing waste.”

To minimize price fluctuations, Serrano-Bahri recommended bakers try to negotiate long-term contracts with their egg suppliers that include fixed or capped egg prices. 

“This can protect bakers from sudden market fluctuations and ensure more predictable ingredient costs,” he said.

Bakers eyeing cost-cutting reductions of dairy or eggs have many replacement ingredients they turn to as well. 

Whey protein, for instance, can partially or fully replace eggs in applications like cakes and custard. These proteins can replicate the aeration provided by egg whites or the tenderizing and shortening offered by whole eggs, said KJ Burrington, vice president of technical development, American Dairy Products Institute.

“Like egg whites, whey proteins have the ability to incorporate air and the ability to gel with heat,” Burrington explained. “Whey Protein Concentrate 80 functions most similarly to whole egg because it contains about 6% fat and a portion of that fat contains phospholipids like those found in egg yolk.”

Other protein sources such as soy, pea and carob can also assist with thickening, batter stability, structure, browning and extended shelf life when reducing eggs or dairy, said Becky Regan, principal scientist, IFF. Hydrocolloids and emulsifier blends such as soy lecithin replicate many key functionalities as well.

“Many of these functional ingredients minimize waste because they are used at lower levels than the dairy or egg ingredients that they replace,” she said. 

Wheat proteins are another replacement option. Manildra’s GemPro Nova wheat proteins, for example, can replace dried whole eggs in a variety of bakery applications, particularly sweet goods, mimicking eggs’ aeration and structural capabilities by stabilizing emulsification and creating tender volume in the finished product, said Emily Hickman, director of quality and regulatory, Manildra USA. 

“Bakers can expect similar functionality to eggs when replacing dried whole egg solids at a 1:1 ratio with GemPro Nova, and our three iterations of GemPro Nova allow for more targeted egg functionality replacement,” she said. 

More recent cost-saving innovations include enzymatically modified eggs. Michael Foods offers enzyme modified egg yolks that can enhance emulsification and promote a cleaner label, eliminating the need for emulsifiers or gums.

“Both modified egg products (i.e., enzyme modified yolks) and co-dried egg products with carbohydrates can extend egg usage and reduce inclusion rates of other expensive ingredients,” said Jonathan Merkle, chief science officer and vice president of R&D, Michael Foods.

This article is an excerpt from the November 2024 issue of Baking & Snack. To read the entire feature on Dairy & Eggs, click here.