Baking & Snack - September 2014 - 43

"We're hitting a nerve and giving
people what they want to have.
"
David Nolan, Hill Country Bakery
well as a production facility for short
runs and seasonal products.
The company also plans to turn
its 28,000-sq-ft part of bakery, which
opened in 2005 and features a semiautomated loaf cake and sweet goods
line, into a yeast-raised dough operation for its Coffee House Cafe initiative. Starting next fall, Hill Country
will install a laminated dough line and
proofers. Mr. O'Donnell said an additional 14,000-sq-ft expansion of that facility will provide ample room for new
individual flow wrappers and other
packaging equipment. Currently, that
facility has a Peerless 2,000-lb slurry
mixer, AMF paddle mixers, proprietary
automatic depositors, a BABBCO 120ft multi-zone impingement tunnel oven
and Arpac packaging and labeling systems. The two semi-automated bakeries
employ Unifiller cake decorating equipment to provide additional appeal to
customers' signature desserts.
In all, Hill Country's operations sit

on 15 acres and include 284,000 sq ft
of processing, packaging, warehouse
and office space that literally takes
up a whole city block in San Antonio.
The bulk of production takes place in a
115,000-sq-ft facility, built in 2009 and
now housing the company's two most
automated lines.
Overall, production runs two 12hour shifts up to six days a week,
depending on the time of the year.
Demand for Hill Country often spikes
as the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays approach. Louis Flores, director of
engineering, works with Mr. O'Donnell
and the operations team to install equipment or build systems internally in its
10-person machine shop.
The main bakery has a Shick bulk
oil system, but most ingredients arrive
in 2,000-lb totes or as bagged flour because Hill Country custom-makes so
many different products, each with its
distinct formula. "It seems like every
recipe calls for a different flour," Mr.

Cool
your way
to less
packaging.
Liquid nitrogen from Air Products
is the fastest way to cool baked
goods. Cooler products are firmer
products, and firm is what you need

Building a brand new image
Co-manufacturers and private
label producers typically don't
get anywhere near marketing
their products. In most cases,
that's their customers' responsibility, but Hill Country Bakery
offers a one-stop shop of services to bring products to life.
The bakery's team specializes in food styling, action and
commercial photography for
packaging, advertising or editorial needs. The media team can
write scripts, shoot and edit
commercials or online videos
for websites. The department
recently completed a $75,000
video that highlights the bakery's operation.

Moreover, the company's
design team relies on multi-dimensional software to simulate
actual in-product packaging
for cost-effective focus group
research, according to David
Nolan, co-managing partner.
For its Coffee House Cafe line,
the department also conducted
detailed market research -
including new product trends
and what's hot in the premium
coffee market - to aid in
developing the brand, marketing literature, merchandising
displays and point-of-sales
materials.
"We're doing what it takes to
make us faster to market at a
lower cost, Mr. Nolan said.
"

to keep your products at their best
when they're packaged - even with
current packaging methods that
use sustainable materials or thinner
materials. To learn more, call
1-800-654-4567 and talk with one
of our liquid nitrogen cooling and
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tell me more
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Baking & Snack - September 2014

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