Suppliers move the needle with baking innovation

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Suppliers move the needle with baking innovation

5 Jan 2026

Maddie Lambert

Maddie Lambert is a copywriter and editor from Joplin, MO. She graduated from Missouri Southern State University with a Bachelor of Arts in English – literary studies. When she’s not poring over the magazine or lost in the pages of a new novel, you can find Maddie exploring her local bookstores, spending time with her husband, or sharing her latest literary discoveries with fellow book enthusiasts.

KANSAS CITY — True of every IBIE cycle, time moves quickly. But industry members matched the pace step for step, and throughout the hustle and grind preparing for the show — and the business boom after — one thing was abundantly clear: Innovation remains at the forefront of baking.

Post-show, bakers are still requesting solutions for sugar reduction, allergen-free formulating and costly ingredients that can also retain product taste, texture and shelf life. On the equipment side, manufacturers are seeing a demand for intuitive, user-friendly interfaces and flexible technology that can be integrated into existing operations.

The Commercial Baking team has curated a collection of solutions that answer the question circulating across the industry: “How can we do what we do, but do it better?”

Across the country, food budgets are fluctuating. Consumers want grain foods with extended shelf life. In fact, a study conducted by Kerry Group in 2023 found that one-third of consumers are willing to switch to brands or products that have a longer shelf life. The longer products can live in consumers’ pantries, the more likely they are to be a repeat purchase.

To help bakers maintain these sales, J&K Ingredients released a new version of Bred-Mate 1614. The natural-verified mold inhibitor is formulated to keep yeast-raised baked goods fresh. This clean-label ingredient is made from cultured wheat flour via controlled fermentation, providing a natural alternative to artificial preservatives that can be used in bread, cakes, tortillas, rolls and more.

Harpak-Ulma’s FM400 horizontal flowwrap packaging machine was also designed to meet the needs for product freshness and shelf life. The high-speed modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) equipment features a modular design that supports a variety of barrier films and automatic feeding systems. MAP technology extends product freshness by ensuring airtight packaging integrity and answers the need for speed by producing 150 packs per minute.

Packaging equipment manufacturers are also creating ways to help bakers keep products fresher longer. Formost Fuji created a servo-driven horizontal flowwrapper designed for high-quality, consistent packaging that won’t strain a baker’s budget, providing a turnkey solution to maintaining freshness. To ensure efficient sealing, the equipment incorporates advanced technology, such as induction fin heaters, to provide operators with faster temperature response and accuracy. The FW 3400 CXIIs Flowwrapper is sold at an entry-level price point when purchased with standard equipment. The machine offers features such as a user-friendly, tablet-like interface for easy operation and training.

Eco-friendly products have purchase power simply by their attributes alone. As consumers keep an eye on the impact food production has on the environment, baking and supplier companies that prioritize sustainability can build stronger brand loyalty and gain a competitive edge through sought-after energy-saving equipment. The balance between speed and sustainability is the cornerstone of success.

Puratos’ Cubease offers bakers a chance to achieve both. The cube-shaped concentrated dough conditioner is designed not only to be more efficient and user-friendly but also to serve as a sustainable alternative to traditional powdered bread improvers.

Bakers can add the pre-measured cube to the mixer without scaling or pre-treatment, resulting in reduced operation time and accuracy, batch by batch. The cubes also have a CO2 impact 10 times lower than traditional conditioners and offer optimized storage, with a 95.6% reduction in packaging volume.

Lallemand’s Essential Baking Time Reduction dough conditioner also addresses the critical need for energy conservation in the baking industry. The solution takes an enzymatic approach, modifying the water retention of dough and reducing baking times by up to 33%. By allowing quicker drying in the oven, bakers can increase production capacity, lower operational costs and reduce carbon footprint.

One can’t mention on-demand solutions without egg replacers. With avian flu outbreaks causing supply chain instability and high egg prices, there’s a growing consumer demand for plant-based, vegan and allergy-friendly products. Egg replacers provide a cost-effective and stable ingredient, enabling food manufacturers to create products that don’t compromise taste and functionality.

Corbion’s Vantage 11E delivers optimal texture and resilience in bread and bun applications without the need for reformulation. The ingredient supplier’s Vantage 12E provides manufacturers with a method for reducing dried or liquid whole eggs by up to 40% in cakes and sweet goods and seamless integration into both open-bowl and continuous mix systems.

In a nutshell, innovation is always afoot, be it the push for clean labels, answers to intuitive tech needs, or alternatives to foundational ingredients. In a year of fast-moving change and increasingly complex consumer demand, suppliers in all segments are moving the needle on what’s possible in bakery operations.

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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