Baking&Snack - March 2014 - 34

4 to 5°C (40 to 45°F) for up to 14 hours. Moreover, dough
pieces then receive up to an extended 2-hour proof at
43°C (110°F) and 70% humidity in a 96-rack proofer.
Even in the beginning of the process, some products
such as ciabatta and Italian breads also receive four
hours of rest time after mixing to bring out their full
flavor and delicate texture. Others items such as multigrain breads, however, go directly to makeup from the
mixer because any extensive dwell time would make the
doughs too gassy to process without damaging them,
Dennis Rossetti explained.

True to its heritage

Italian Home Bakery relies on both rack and
spiral cooling for breads and rolls that are
delivered both fresh and fully baked frozen
to its retail and foodservice customers.

The bakery's flexible roll line can produce everything
from kaiser and pretzel rolls to demi-baguettes and
spaccatelli buns for making hoagies or sub sandwiches.

34 Baking & Snack March 2014 / www.bakingandsnack.com

Fifteen years ago, the Rossetti brothers, sons of immigrant Italian parents, purchased IHB, a small Italian
wholesale bakery that operated in the northern part
of Toronto. In 2001, they moved to its current facility
to expand the business throughout Ontario and began
investing in new equipment to create the current highvolume, artisan bakery.
"We make a lot of the products today the same way
they were made back in 1955 when the bakery started,"
Dennis Rossetti said. "The only thing we changed is how
we're mechanically producing them in terms of the type
of mixers and processing lines that we use."
Today, IHB makes about 60 different products, including its popular spaccato, or "split," Italian bread
and rolls. Additionally, it offers an array of breads such
as the Multi-Grain loaf that it markets in conjunction
with the Health Check education program of the Heart
and Stroke Foundation of Canada. To keep on trend, the
company also offers gourmet cheese buns, onion buns
and, more recently, pretzel buns with a kaiser stamp for
select retailers and restaurant chains. Additionally, the
pretzel buns receive a brief wash in a 3% caustic solution to give them an authentic texture. "We wanted to
give pretzel buns a more traditional German look and
texture," Dennis Rossetti said.
For IHB, new product development doesn't involve
creating something totally out of the blue, according to
John Rossetti, senior vice-president and CFO. "R&D is
a lot like baseball," he said. "You can't hit a home run all
of the time."
Rather, it's providing a twist on what's popular in the
market. "When it comes to growing a business, you either innovate or die," he added. "My definition of innovation is not developing a new bread variety all of the
time. Innovation is bringing to the market what your
customers and consumers want."
To expand its presence in the market, IHB has also
bolstered its fully baked frozen business, which now
accounts for about 20% of sales compared with about
5% five years ago. The move enabled the company to

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