How leveraging trends can enhance cracker operations

Joanie Spencer, editor-in-chief of Commercial Baking

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How leveraging trends can enhance cracker operations

20 Jun 2025

KANSAS CITY, MO — Classic cracker profiles remain at the forefront of the category. However, younger consumers and their families seek a twist on the familiar with tastes and textures borrowed from other types of snacks, according to Mintel’s “US Cracker Market Report 2024.” Consumers are also open to new ideas for cracker pairings and see a bigger role for them as part of a meal.

Here are some ways manufacturers are enhancing operations to improve production and leverage evolving cracker trends.

Aligning trends with operations

Madison, WI-based Potter’s Crackers produces handmade organic whole grain crackers, crisps and oyster crackers from locally sourced whole wheat flour and dairy ingredients. The company’s R&D process begins with a solid base of blended flours to elicit unique textures. Inspiration for new flavors comes from a combination of tried-and-true original recipes with insights from new trends and customer feedback.

“It is important for us to stay on brand when releasing something new, so we work on unique offerings as well as seasonal varieties that are not produced by any other manufacturer,” said David Payne, owner and general manager of Potter’s Crackers. “We have been lucky to retain our R&D manager, Chef Joel Carlson, who has worked for Potter’s since 2010 and developed many of our original recipes. We lean on his palate and experience when developing products.”

Potter’s is a batch plant and uses a combination of manual labor and automation, aligning formulation with operations capabilities to ensure ease of line adjustments when needed.

“The addition of our new Artypac packaging machine has been a game changer, resulting in significant production increases.” — Josh Wright | director of operations | Better With Buckwheat

The company’s crisps are made using a straightforward batter-batching process that runs on a separate line from the regular and oyster crackers. The crisps are baked twice and require a day of curing with proper hydration of the dough so they can run smoothly through automated slicing equipment.

“If we underhydrate the loaves of cured cracker dough, they turn to dust,” Payne said. “If we overhydrate, they gum up the slicer and increase our oven cycles.”

A balancing act

Balancing hydration for regular and oyster crackers, which run on the same line, is also key to getting them processed correctly. Payne explained that if the dough is too sticky, it can be extremely challenging to remove from the line and onto the trays. If it’s too dry, the dough is hard to sheet thin, and the texture becomes dense, resulting in a product that doesn’t taste as good.

Yeast-leavened oyster crackers are impacted by humidity and encounter issues on the cutters when days are warm and humid. They require an extra proofing step and a lot of oven time to dry them out.

“Oyster crackers are the trickiest to machine due to the yeast leavening and extra steps needed for processing,” Payne said. “If they are sheeted too thin, they don’t rise. If they’re too thick, they jam up in the cutters. It takes a mix of speed and proper sheeting techniques to get them made correctly.”

Last year, Winslow, ME-based Better With Buckwheat launched its first line of snacking crackers to leverage interest in a better-for-you cracker option that appealed to more mainstream consumers. The company expanded beyond production of its original Maine Crisp brand, building an 18,000-square-foot facility, acquiring new equipment to scale operations, and retooling cracker formulations to align more efficiently with increasing automation.

“The expansion has significantly increased our capacity, and we are now producing 200 percent more product compared to this time last year,” said Lewis Goldstein, CEO of Better With Buckwheat. “One of the ongoing challenges is managing the surge in sales while ensuring we have the capacity to meet demand efficiently.”

Equipment meets trends

To keep up with demand, enhance operations for the newer cracker lines, and scale up production of the crisps, Better With Buckwheat invested in new equipment, including two Revent ovens and an Escher high-capacity mixer that can process three times more dough than the previous model.

“The addition of our new Artypac packaging machine has been a game changer, resulting in significant production increases,” said Josh Wright, director of operations at Better With Buckwheat. “Previously, our packaging line struggled to keep pace with production, but now it has additional capacity to accommodate future growth.”

Better With Buckwheat also optimized its production scheduling to ensure it had the right team in place to meet these new demands effectively. It expects to add a third shift soon and transition to a 24/5 production schedule to support the company’s growth.

The Mintel report found that more than 7 in 10 Gen Z and millennials agree that combining snacks can be more satisfying than a meal. Leveraging crackers as a better-for-you pairing or part of a meal creates opportunity. However, innovation that adds functional alternatives or removes traditional ingredients to support health claims may challenge operations. Constantly aligning formulation changes with production capabilities is key to attracting health-conscious consumers.

This story has been adapted from the April | Q2 2025 issue of Commercial Baking. Read the digital edition here.

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