IBIE, show daily - Sunday - (Page 4)

T ortilla makers seek yield, quality gains What makes a new product successful? Attendees at the Tortilla Industry Association (TIA)’s technical conference heard from a company known as one of the best product innovators: McDonald’s Corp. In April, McDonald’s rolled out Premium McWraps, which were recently dubbed a “McHit” on the cover of Bloomberg BusinessWeek. Tortilla manufacturers and members of the allied trades got an insider’s perspective about how McDonald’s introduces menu items when Richard Junge, menu innovations, McDonald’s Corp., Oak Brook, IL, keynoted the meeting. For the past 10 years, Mr. Junge, who was raised in the wholesale baking industry, has led bakery product innovation at McDonald’s. He addressed the company’s product strategy, noting first that taste and bold flavors are essential. He also pointed out that McDonald’s seeks to align its menu items with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010. After describing the company’s menu innovations team, comprising chefs, marketing experts and food scientists, Mr. Junge discussed in a fun way how McDonald’s takes new products to market. Every product travels through four stages: discover, design, develop and deploy. He said the company used a stage-gate process that all new menu items must follow before launch at its 14,000 restaurants. The TIA Technical Conference is once again co-located with IBIE, offering those who participated in this two-day event the opportunity to also attend North America’s largest bakery show. As part of this year’s conference, the organizing committee held its first ever “Search for a Better Tortilla Technology” program. Intending to bring innovative ideas to attendees interested in boosting yields and improving quality, the committee awarded four winners a $1,000 cash prize along with the opportunity to speak at the conference. Committee co-chairs Richard Irvin of Tyson Foods and Glenn Shelton of Lawrence Equipment selected the winners. The winners and the topics on which they spoke were Stephen Bright of AB Mauri, “Increasing Health Benefits and Reducing Costs through Scale Weight Reduction in Flour Tortillas”; Pat Jobe of Clabber Girl, “Reducing Stickiness in Tortillas Packaged at Elevated Temperatures”; Kirk Richard Junge, menu food innovation at McDonald’s Corp., describes the product development approach taken by the company’s menu innovation team. O’Donnell of AIB International, “Monitoring Hydration and Gluten Development in Flour Tortilla Dough Mixing”; and Diane Hoffpauer of Glanbia Nutritionals, “Optisol 5000 Functional Flaxseed for Wheat Flour Tortillas.” — Shane Whitaker More than 180 individuals registered for the TIA Technical Conference, which is co-located with IBIE. Shick exhibits live demos on show floor Shick USA got its start nearly 60 years ago handling bulk flour and has added many capabilities over the years, including ingredient handling and process control, according to Scott Fischer, vice-president of sales and marketing. During the show, the company will feature a liveaction flour cooling demonstration and other material handling solutions. “We are here not to display the capabilities that we have During the show, Shick will feature a live-action flour cooling demonstration. 4 • IBIE • been doing for many years but to showcase our new proficiencies,” Mr. Fischer said Friday afternoon during booth setup. While Shick will meet with existing customers and review current and future projects, he said IBIE is an opportunity to educate others about the company’s capabilities in automating ingredient handling. “IBIE is also an educational opportunity for our newer employees to get to know our partners and become familiar with other processes so we can help to further their careers,” Mr. Fischer said. Industry partners are important to the success of Shick, he noted, because material handling is often not the first thing bakers think about. “They think Sunday, October 6, 2013 about mixers, ovens, proofers and packaging systems,” Mr. Fischer said, “and then they say, ‘I’ve got to get all these ingredients to the mixer. How do I do that?’ ” One of its process partners, Linde, is exhibiting alongside Shick. “We have worked with them on the inline cooling of ingredients, and with this demonstration, bakers can see a real-world application where we are injecting carbon dioxide into the transfer line to cool flour,” Mr. Fischer said. For additional information, visit Booth No. 6630. — Shane Whitaker

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IBIE, show daily - Sunday

IBIE, show daily - Sunday