Baking&Snack - December 2016 - 34

BEIGEL'S BAKERY

washdown capabilities so that no pans leave the secured area.
"We definitely go the extra mile to make sure that kosher is
really kosher," Mr. Folger said.
For instance, all whole eggs - used in about 90% of Beigel's
baked goods - are cracked and separated in-house. To keep up
with demand, an automatic system breaks about 100 eggs per
minute that are then individually inspected and even separated
before they flow into 40-lb pails. "One person is there to make
sure that there is no blood in the egg, which is very important
to keeping kosher," Mr. Gordon pointed out. "That's what we
mean by ultra-kosher. It's what we mean by offering authenticity
to our customers."
Overall, however, the bakery's complete portfolio consists of
nearly 1,000 items that are as culturally diverse as the patchwork
of residential neighborhoods that surround the plant, which
makes everything from its top-selling challah bread and hamburger and hotdog buns to traditional boiled bagels and even
crusty French baguettes. A couple dozen distributors working
exclusively for Beigel's supply fresh products to corner grocers,
supermarkets, restaurants, schools, nursing homes, universities, hotels, caterers, airlines, sports stadiums, vending and other
institutions.
"We like to maintain the quality of a mom-and-pop shop that
has just grown up," Mr. Folger explained. "We have the plusses
of an old bakery around the corner. We do so many items, and
there is quite a bit of handwork like we used to do in the old
bakery. We like to consider ourselves a one-stop shop for our
customers."
While production flows in a relatively straight line from ingredient handling through packaging to maximize efficiencies,
the facility's biggest asset is its freezer capacity. Beigel's added
5,000 sq ft to the building and built a 100-pallet freezer to provide ample storage capacity to supply large retail chains and
other new customers, which now account for 60% of the company's sales volume.
Beigel's also installed a 90- by 20-ft cake and a 25- by 60-ft
bread freezer. Those two systems help streamline production
by supporting longer production runs of niche products. They
also hold unfinished products that allow the company to bake
off bread or rolls in case of a surge in demand or hand-decorate
a cake for a last-minute special order.
The contrast between the old and new operations still amazes
Bill Lehault, senior bakery consultant, WBL Consulting, who
collaborated with Beigel's to transform the warehouse - a former beer distribution center - into a food-grade operation.
"When I came here two years ago, it was kind of mindboggling as to what they produce," said Mr. Lehault, who continues to advise the bakery on operations, food safety certification and new product development. "Because of the number
Above: The new bakery relies on smaller 500-lb batches of dough to produce its kosher
bread and rolls.
Left: Precisely divided doughballs eventually are transformed into challah bread.

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