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The hard pretzel category grew steadily in the past year as consumers stuck at home continued to snack, although fortunes varied significantly from brand to brand. During the past year, consumer focus on cleaner labels and healthier ingredients has ramped up, while manufacturers have continued to experiment with a wider variety of flavors. Pretzel product and ingredient makers predict those trends will continue.

In 2015, we launched the "Best New Snack & Bakery Products" of the year contest to honor outstanding new snack and bakery products entering the industry, with the online SF&WB audience voting for their favorites.

Serendipity is a wonderful phenomenon. Flash back to 2004. The gluten-free diet trend was just hitting the U.S. market with sudden force. Over the next several years, gluten-free would grow at an annual rate approaching 30 percent, forever leaving its imprint on the food industry.

Several aspects of snack and bakery production facilities require regular maintenance in order to preserve the safety of works, and the final product.

By all accounts, the private label sectors of the snack and bakery markets are doing quite well. Overall, across all food and beverage categories, store brands accounted for about half of all sales growth recorded in major U.S. retail channels

When it comes to equipment like ovens and proofers, internet connectivity, wider and larger machines, artisanal production methods, shorter bake times, reversible belts, energy efficiency and improved cleaning and sanitation are all top considerations in today’s market.

Sustainability has become a major driver in the development and application of new packaging materials used in the bakery and snack market along with advances that extend shelf life.

As noted in our June 2019 SF&WB "State of the Industry: Bakery" coverage, desserts categories at retail are seeing mixed results. One bright spot was refrigerated cheesecakes, a category that grew by 4.5 percent in dollar sales to $320.5 million for the 52 weeks ending March 24, 2019, per IRI, Chicago.

New routing and scheduling software integrated with telematics systems provides fleet managers with the tools they need to improve the delivery process.