Milling & Baking News - April 8, 2008 - 40

2007 Baker of the Year X

able to demonstrate its continuing
commitment to the baking industry
and showcase its expanding food
safety and food defense capabilities.
In addition, the expo provided the

means for AIB to launch the endowment and annual fund campaigns for
the School of Baking.
In 2008, AIB is covering 40 events
and there are plans to introduce

a new trade show booth.
Mr. Soddy said supporting the
School of Baking will be a focus in the
future so it can meet the needs of the
modern baker. MBN

Efficiencies and consistencies
becoming essential
Helping companies become leaner is an ongoing focus

rian Strouts, head of research and technical services at AIB International, believes when it comes to the
future, companies are going
to be focused on running as efficiently
as possible.
"Cost is going to continue to be an issue that spirals up as commodity prices increase," Mr. Strouts said. "That's
where the push is going to be."
In addition to commodities, Mr. Strouts
said costs from transportation and fuel
and even staffing are pressuring businesses. He said many companies are running
pretty lean from a staffing standpoint.
"What I see is people becoming
much more concerned with efficiencies and consistencies ... I've seen
a lot of capital money go into those
bakeries in the last year to two years
to automate the lines more, to increase
the speed of those lines, to improve ingredient usage, reduce waste, all those
kinds of things," Mr. Strouts said.
Mr. Strouts said his department fits
in with other AIB activities by supporting educational offerings and audit services.
Specifically, Mr. Strouts said his department may be key to developing
new products and support for the food
safety department by being a technical
resource for field auditors conducting

AIB International

food safety audits. He said auditors
often run into a production or quality
issue that isn't in their scope of expertise and it is important they are able to
refer back to his department.
"We can address the customer needs
identified from the food safety audit and fill the information gap," Mr.
Strouts said.

Brian Strouts, head of research and technical services

During the past year, the research
team has focused on fat replacements
and efforts to eliminate trans fat in
formulations. This included working
with the city of New York on its trans
fat initiative as well as completing
projects for specific companies looking to change their formulations to
trans fat free. In addition, the Institute
worked with shortening companies to
develop alternatives.
Extending shelf life is something
AIB is always working on, Mr. Strouts
said. Also, they have been working in
the area of near infrared technology,
which will provide the means to help
quantify wheat and flour quality more
rapidly. The technology could help
determine during harvest what type
of wheat will make the best type of
products. Such technology also may
help determine if certain ingredients
are present or absent in a food.
Another area of interest in the past
year was in the organic and natural
categories and trying to fit products
into these categories. There was interest in probiotic and prebiotic applications as well, Mr. Strouts said.
"Health in general was the big picture
that was out there, but there were a lot of
things that fell into 'How do you make
healthier bakery products and what
does that mean?'" Mr. Strouts said. MBN

Milling & Baking News - April 8, 2008

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