Investing in AI opens opportunities for baking companies

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Investing in AI opens opportunities for baking companies

26 Dec 2025

Annie Hollon

Annie Hollon is a journalist, copywriter and social media strategist from the Dallas, Texas area. She found a love for magazine writing during her time at the University of Alabama where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, double majoring in public relations and English. Beyond writing, you can find her expanding her library, attempting to teach herself the guitar and trying new hobbies.

KANSAS CITY, MO — New technology can often be daunting or intimidating, creating more questions than answers, especially when an innovation is in its infancy. But it can also prove promising when given the chance to showcase its capabilities.

These sentiments and more ring true regarding AI, a technological disruptor that, for bakers and equipment manufacturers alike, can do much more than they imagine. The potential behind it is what keeps the Baking Industry Forum (BIF) intent on not only experimenting with AI but also sharing the possibilities on and off the bakery floor.

“We see the vision of the future,” said Mike Porter, president and COO of Norwalk, OH-based New Horizons Baking Co. “AI won’t replace people, but people who understand how to use AI will. Everybody’s trying to do more with less, so we recognize that this is an opportunity to utilize technology to help advance our business and limited resources to achieve what we can’t do today. Why not leverage the technology that’s out there and available for us?”

The BIF cohort — composed of bakers and suppliers — meets throughout the year to host crucial discussions on hot-button issues impacting the baking industry. Previous topics have included preparing for FSMA and the capabilities of RealWear technology.

Points of entry for AI vary from business to business. At Portland, OR-based Franz Family Bakeries, a century-old family-owned baking company, the team is beginning to test what AI can bring to the business in terms of consolidating training information.

“We still need people who understand the baking process; it just hopefully shortcuts the education for new people coming in.” — Justus Larson | VP of operations | Franz Family Bakeries

“For us, we’re taking a lot of our in-house baker trainings that we’ve built throughout the years and uploading that into an agent,” said Justus Larson, VP of operations for Franz. “Then when things come up, we’re using that agent to do a double check.”

While still in the early stages, Larson and the team are experimenting to determine what information the system offers when a user poses a question and whether the response is accurate.
Taking the time to test the technology and clean up or tweak potential responses enables the team to train the AI agent to align with its prospective operational needs.

AI’s vast applications are particularly intriguing in terms of sharing industry know-how. In a time when companies are struggling to find skilled staffing, technology that can pass knowledge to other employees and fortify resources could be a game changer. At Franz, AI won’t replace current training; rather, it will serve a supporting role.

“We’re trying to make sure it’s not the only thing we’re relying on,” Larson said. “We still need people who understand the baking process; it just hopefully shortcuts the education for new people coming in.”

This story has been adapted from the 2025 Innovations Annual of Commercial Baking. Read the full story in the digital edition here.

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