Baking & Snack - December 2006 - 98

The Best Ingredients
Produce The Best
Products
global is helping this process. Currently, ISO
is developing standards for tracking goods in
the supply chain using high-frequency tags
(ISO 18000-3) and ultra-high frequency tags
(ISO 18000-6). Standardization will help
ensure that readers, tags and all components
are as consistent as bar codes.
WHAT NEXT? The growth of RFID in the
food industry will depend upon a number
of factors including pressure from customers such as Wal-Mart, reduction of cost of
tags and readers, the need for more information and the latest industry concern:
food defense. The industry will need to
weigh all these factors and make its own
decision as to potential benefits and costs.
Growth will also depend upon research
from suppliers and the academic community. The more work that is done, the
greater the potential for finding realistic
and cost-effective uses for the technology.
For example, Bruce Welt Ph.D., of the University of Florida, Gainsville, is spearheading a project aimed at helping grocers and
other retailers monitor the quality of the
products that they get from their vendors.
The prototype RFID unit developed by this
group has the ability to record and transmit
to retailers information related to "bumps"
in the distribution system. For example, if a
trucker decided to turn off his refrigerators

during a long haul, this would be detected
and transmitted. The goal of this work is to
help ensure that consumers receive fresher
and better-quality products.
Another area that will help advance the
technology is packaging itself. As manufacturers of packaging materials develop the
ability to incorporate tags into packaging
easily and at lower cost, the chances for
usage will rise.
RFID is growing around the world, but its
growth in the food industry will be slower
than many have hoped. Perhaps the greatest obstacle to the expansion of RFID use is
cost. When the low end for costs of individual tags is in the 20 to 40c range, it's obvious
that the use of RFID on retail packages is
far in the future. However, the technology
does have applications for use on cases and
pallets. This distributes the cost of many
individual units and allows traceability and
monitoring at the warehouse level. At this
level, operators can track inventory, its age
and movement providing information for
decision making and reducing losses due to
aging product.
Each and every processor needs to determine whether the technology will be
worth the time and effort. Of course, if a
major client says, "Do it or else!" there is a
good chance that you will do it rather than
lose the customer.
Ⅲ

ᮢ A full pallet of frozen packaged pizza is pulled through an RFID reader that records vital information into inventory management software. Product packaging included passive UHF tags that contained electronic product code information.
BILL HARDGRAVE, PH.D., UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS

ow good are Dunford Bakers' Double
Fudge Chocolate Cake Donuts? Good
H
enough for special request deliveries
to the sky boxes at Mile High Stadium
during Denver Broncos games. Good
enough for private jets to make special
stops to pick them up from the bakery.
Now known as Dunford Bakers, the
company began as the Dunford Bread
Company in 1931 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
John Stevens, the president of Dunford
Bakers, oversees one of the largest wholesale bakeries in the Salt Lake City area.
Dunford is in production 365 days of
the year. This popular bakery has one
retail location, and supplies baked goods
to area grocery stores. In addition, it
produces many private label brands.
While Double Fudge Chocolate Cake
Donuts are Dunford Bakers' most famous
product, the Pumpkin Chocolate Cookies
have many fans. Mr. Stevens is proud that
Dunford Bakers provides 100 people with
employment, many of whom are long-time
employees.
The secret of Dunford Bakers' success
over the years is the reputation it has
built for taking care of its customers by
supplying a quality product at a reasonable price. "We put quality into everything we do. We don't cut corners
and we use the best ingredients in
order to produce the best product for
our customers," said John Stevens.
To that end, Dunford Bakers uses
International® Bakers Services' flavors
such as BLO&V®, B&V®, Raspberry and
Pumpkin Pie. "I have known of
International® Bakers Services' flavors
my whole life," said Mr. Stevens. "We are
always experimenting with new flavors in
order to offer a variety of tasty treats to
our customers."
Whether you are looking for consistent
quality in your products or new flavors,
turn to International® Bakers
Services to reach your goals. Contact
us toll-free at (800) 345-7175, by fax at
(574) 287-7161, or in writing at 1902
North Sheridan Ave., South Bend,
Indiana 46628. We have the flavors
your customers deserve.
For more information, see Page 117

December 2006 / BAKING & SNACK / 101

Baking & Snack - December 2006

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Baking & Snack - December 2006