bakingbuyer - October 2011 - (Page 11)

bread (bred) n. Flour is the primary ingredient in most bakery and food service mixes, and its quality is obviously very important. The type of flour used will depend on the type of product the mix is designed for. In very general terms, hard wheat flours will be used for yeast leavened products (breads and rolls, etc.) and soft wheat flours for chemically leavened baked goods (cakes and pastries, etc.). Often, the flour selected is a specific grade or blend, designed for the specific application of the mix. Flour milling companies that also have blending operations have a distinct advantage. They not only have the greatest selection of wheats and flour blends at their disposal, but they are well trained to make any necessary adjustments to ensure consistency from batch to batch, crop year to crop year. This is a tremendous advantage to the end user whether they are using a branded mix or their own custom blended formula. The advantages of a mix go beyond convenience and consistency of the finished product. Economic advantages include labor savings, improved inventory control, and pricing and purchasing benefits. ated with skilled bakers who understand formulation and ingredient functions can be reduced. Training costs are also reduced when comparing a scratch operation to one using mixes. Relatively inexperienced employees can be trained to use mixes with a smaller training budget. Inventory Control When inventorying individual ingredients for scratch baking, money is tied up and interest must be paid on the borrowed money. In addition, inventory turns are more frequent with mixes. Mixes also eliminate the possibility of losing individual ingredients due to expired shelf life. This is often the case when unique ingredients are required but only in small quantities. Many mix manufacturers (custom blenders) are equipped to produce portion-controlled packaging, for example, 22.5 lb. bags. The employee simply empties the entire bag into the mixer, eliminating the need to weigh the proper amount of mix. Ingredient storage space is significantly reduced with mixes, greatly reducing the warehouse footprint required. The need for numerous ingredient storage bins and containers is also reduced, not to mention the improved sanitation that comes with fewer stored ingredients. Inventory control procedures are less complicated with mixes. The actual inventory counting process is quicker, saving time and eliminating mistakes when ordering. B Skilled Labor and Labor Costs When utilizing a mix, an employee will scale only one or two ingredients rather that 5-10 (often more) individual ingredients. To determine the savings, multiply the timesaving’s times the employee hourly rate. Then consider the savings over the course of the day, the week, the month and the year. Not only is there a cost savings in labor, but additional gains are made when the employee devotes the time saved to another job or task. This is referred to as opportunity cost, but its benefit is more difficult to quantify. Regardless, productivity increases. With mixes, a high degree of technical knowledge is not required. It isn’t necessary to understand the function or quantity of each ingredient. The employee does not need to make adjustments in either the type or quantity of different ingredients. Thus the skills required and the level of experience is less and high labor costs associ- Pricing and Purchasing Mixes are priced to include not just the ingredient costs, but also the cost to blend the ingredients, the packaging, the manufacturer’s overhead and profit margin, and transportation and storage. All of the cost associated with raw material quality assurance discussed previously is also included. Thus, it’s not accurate to simply compare the cost of the ingredients used in a scratch formula to a mix. The cost of the mix will always be more. It’s necessary to factor in all of the inherent savings mixes provide to make a true cost comparison. Many of these savings OCTOBER 11 · BAKING BUYER · 11

bakingbuyer - October 2011

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