Milling & Baking News - October 15, 2013 - 31


Ingredient feeders

crisis hitting the state government of
California even more than a restrictive regulatory environment, said
Ted Korolchuk, director of milling at
ConAgra Foods.
“Documents would stack up on
people’s desks, and they would get
to them when they could,” Mr. Allen
said.
“You would go to get a permit,
and the office would be closed,” Mr.
Korolchuk added. “I can’t tell you
how many times that happened.”
Asked about other regulatory issues associated with operating in
Oakland, Mr. Allen said the mill
works hard to be a good citizen
even as the neighborhood around
the mill shifts from a purely industrial area to a mixed use neighborhood that includes residential subdivisions not far from the mill.
“We work to be good in the community,” he said. “When there is a
noise complaint, we work to resolve
it. We move things or enclose them.”
Noise issues may range from
blowers and reverse fans to rail car
switches during the night.
Mr. Veal noted the local business
community in Oakland was very
supportive of ConAgra Mills’ plans
to expand the mill. Jean Quan, the
mayor of Oakland, has been part of
the positive response, he said.
“The mayor referred to the mill as
an Oakland ‘Hall of Fame’ institution,” he said. “She participated in
the ribbon cutting ceremony.”
Oakland, the nation’s 47th largest
city, has made great progress toward
reducing blight (and crime) in a community that has struggled for many
years, Mr. Huelsman said.
The National Venture Capital Association recently named Oakland
one of the top cities in the country
for v.c. startups.
bakingbusiness.com / world-grain.com

BAKER GIVES
“STARTING FROM
SCRATCH”
A NEW MEANING

Milling Technology

“It used to be that when
someone
transferred
here, the first warning
was — ‘Live anywhere
in the area other than
Oakland,’” Mr. Huelsman said. “My wife and
I moved into Oakland a
year ago, and we love it.”
“More generally, the
Bay Area is a leading culinary center,” Mr. Veal
said. “There is a very
diverse culture, and our
flour goes into a wide
range of products —
from wontons to tortillas.
It also goes into Boudin, which is the
gold standard for sourdough bread.
They use our flour exclusively. San
Francisco is a food centric city.”
Together with its wide ranging
base of end uses, flour from the
Oakland mill mostly will go into
traditional products — bread and
buns baked in the San Francisco/
Oakland areas as well as Sacramento, Stockton, Sonoma/Napa and San
Luis Obispo.
In addition to shipping locally,
the Oakland mill sources a significant proportion of its wheat from
the Golden State.
“We love California wheat,” Mr.
Huelsman said. “It has great milling characteristics and great baking
characteristics.”
Outbound shipments represent
another area in which the ConAgra
Mills Oakland facility is focusing on
sustainability. Partnering with Carry Transit, ConAgra Mills has converted its fleet of bulk trucks to high
efficiency, low emission diesel engines. Currently, the fleet includes
18 trailers and 8 tractors.
Another energy saving addition
within the mill is an air monitoring compressor unit that tracks the
amount of air being consumed and
loads the compressors accordingly.
Mr. Allen and his colleagues said
many smaller steps have been taken
with an eye toward food safety. For example, within the A mill, no equipment
at all is made from wood.
“The flow is 100% wood free, meaning there is no wood in the sifters or
frames or dusters,” Mr. Allen said.
“We’re in the brand protection business, something that is evolving in different areas. We supply many $100 million brands, and they have high standards that we’re proud to uphold.” MBN
— L. Joshua Sosland

ndependent baker Fred Piechocki
comes from a proud family of
bakers. However, during the Great
Depression, his grandfather, Stanley,
and father, Edward, lost their bakery.
As a result, this third generation
baker had no recipes or business to
carry on.
So what did Fred do? He started his
bakery from scratch. In 1979, Fred
opened The Cakery Bakery in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Ten
years later, he moved to Warrington,
Pennsylvania, where he and longtime friend, Henry Stoughton,
opened the Warrington Pastry Shop.
Fred describes his business as a
European style, traditional bakery
where products are baked from
scratch every day.
Best known for the 60 to 100 decorated cakes it produces a week,
Warrington Pastry Shop also turns
out 10 to 15 wedding cakes a weekend during prime wedding season.
It is also well known for Danish,
regular cakes, cupcakes, butter cakes,
cinnamon buns and donuts.
“My greatest accomplishment is to
consistently produce a high-quality
product,” said Fred. International®
Bakers Services has played a key role
in maintaining this quality.
“When I started out, I received a
sample of International® Bakers
Services B&V® and I have used IBS
flavors ever since,” Fred recalled.
His bakery also uses chocolate,
banana, rum, coconut and hazelnut
flavors. “I am very happy with IBS
products,” Fred stated. “They are
easy to use, very consistent and
economical. Most importantly, the
flavors hold up.”
“Using ingredients that will keep
product quality high will make you
proud to be an independent baker,”
Fred advised. If you value consistent
quality, you should get to know
International® Bakers Services.
Contact us toll-free at (800) 3457175, 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.
Milling & Baking News October 15, 2013 / 31

http://www.bakingbusiness.com http://www.world-grain.com

Milling & Baking News - October 15, 2013

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