From CPG to wholesale, innovation pipelines require flexibility

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From CPG to wholesale, innovation pipelines require flexibility

29 Jun 2026

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.

WAIMEA, HI — With evolving regulations and quick-shifting consumer demand, today’s bakers face a tough challenge delivering timely innovation. From commercial bakers to co-manufacturers, striking a balance between moving fast and creating with quality requires close attention to detail and streamlined processes.

In the Operations Spotlight panel presentation at this year’s BEMA Convention, held June 25-29 in Waimea, HI, a cohort of bakery professionals shared their thoughts on innovation and how their respective companies pivot in times of need.

Esteban Gomez, senior VP of engineering at Kentwood, MI-based Roskam Foods, shared that given the company’s role as a co-manufacturer, it’s important to be aggressive in approaching new product development.

“What I mean by aggressive is we have to be disciplined with engineering and project management, engage research and development from our side and the customer side very quickly, and then be flexible to innovate as things are progressing,” he said.

For a more wholesale operation, such as Minneapolis-based Rise Baking Co., it’s a matter of communicating with all relevant parties to keep a pulse on what’s coming down the pipeline.

“We’re pretty well embedded with some of the major grocery chains in America,” said Paul Trujillo, VP of engineering at Rise Baking. “We reach out to those buyers and ask, ‘What are you looking for? How do we extend our product offerings with you right now?’ We take that back to our teams and either make additions to lines or vary the product capabilities on them.”

For more CPG-forward baking companies, product creation blooms in well-structured and organized teams of R&D experts. Kathy Sargent, VP of baking technology and commercialization at Irving, TX-based Bimbo Bakeries USA (BBU), leads an operations team that bridges the gap between product feasibility and R&D. That structure is foundational for the company’s approach to innovation, especially with its reach in international markets.

“We do typical product project debriefs, but we take it to the next level, even looking at global design and how we document what the best product and design would look like,” she said. “We do that both for the product and the engineering process itself and the equipment.”

The approach at Camden, NJ-based The Campbell’s Co. follows a structure similar to BBU, but on a domestic scale. Sarah Tsocanos, associate director of business quality, shared that the company’s commercialization team comprises both R&D and engineering professionals, supported by other internal resources. This makes it possible for the team to work within tight timelines and collect the key information behind a product’s journey to store shelves.

Sargent noted that while product development professionals tend to work on a two-year timeline for innovation, pressure from leadership can shrink that window to fully flesh out a product. Finding an effective way to communicate the challenges and realities behind the R&D process is a crucial part of the process.

“We do need to find a lot of flexibility in how to test concepts fast and get products launched into market fast.” — Kathy Sargent | VP of baking technology and commercialization | Bimbo Bakeries USA

“As leaders, we have to continue thinking about what portion of a project load we can truly accelerate,” she said. “Giving teams permission and excitement to get behind products is great, but if everything’s urgent and important, nothing’s urgent and important.”

Accelerated timelines for product creation can pose challenges for a baking company’s commercialization team.

“Because of inherently compressed timelines on many projects that come across our plate, there’s not time and opportunity to invest in capital,” Tsocanos said, noting the importance of working alongside original equipment manufacturers to identify areas of opportunity to make a new product work on existing lines and machinery. “Being able to integrate that knowledge and expertise on those projects that inherently don’t allow for that capital spend is critical and crucial.”

Over on the co-manufacturing side, Gomez noted that his team has to be flexible and reactive when it comes to development, especially when there isn’t a ton of information available on a new item, and timelines are fairly short.

“Our teams understand that we are co-developing a product with the customer,” he said. “Many times, we are installing lines, and if the product changes, we just have to pivot to cooperate.”

Gomez also noted added pressure from private equity, which has increased its presence in the commercial baking space through various acquisitions.

Panelists agreed that flexibility is a must when new creations hit the market.

“Flexibility is nice, but it feels like it always comes at a cost as well,” Sargent said. “As we optimize, flexibility is really important. Our goal is always to get our volume up, so that sometimes negates flexibility, but we do need to find a lot of it in how to test concepts and get products launched into market quickly, even if they’re regional.”

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