PLANO, TX — Middleby Bakery Group, a global leader of industrial bakery equipment and technology, announced the addition of industry veteran Matt Zielsdorf as global category manager for specialty bread and pastry.
In this newly created role, Zielsdorf will be responsible for pushing Middleby Bakery further into the pastry and specialty bread categories through innovation from brands such as Baker Thermal, Auto-Bake Serpentine and GBT, which Middleby acquired earlier this year.
“My goal is to deepen partnerships and discover new opportunities in areas like artisan and specialty breads, flatbreads, pizza and pastry production,” Zielsdorf said. “We’re identifying new ways to not only partner with customers but also expand our supplier partner network to further innovate in the artisan bread and pastry space.”
As industry technology advances in dough sheeting, lamination and makeup, Middleby Bakery brands are identifying ways they can work with supplier partners through thermal technology to push the envelope on innovation even further.
Zielsdorf began his career in 1999 with the Peerless Group as the third-generation family member at the company. He has also led sales and strategy for manufacturing companies including Fritsch USA, Apache Stainless Equipment and Multivac Fritsch.
Middleby developed the category management role as a new strategy, which taps into Zielsdorf’s extensive experience with driving strategic sales growth and team development in commercial baking and manufacturing.
