Software solutions help snack producers and bakers build a proven traceability plan to track ingredients and finished goods to prevent or handle product recalls.
Ingredient traceability is a growing compliance challenge for bakers and snack producers. Statistics show that the number of food-safety recalls has risen rapidly in recent years, and recalls are becoming more costly. Product recalls can cost companies millions of dollars, and damage to the brand’s reputation can impact sales potential for years to come. For companies impacted by recalls—including through potential ingredient contamination—rapid responsiveness is key to minimizing their impact.
Growing consumer demand for better-for-you, gluten-free and innovative baked goods and snacks continues to drive bakers and snack manufacturers to explore new ingredients and formulations. It’s also prompting them to re-examine their equipment needs, as they discover that their existing machinery may not be able to efficiently handle today’s in-demand products. For some manufacturers, a new extruder may be just the ticket.
While ease of use and sanitation are primary considerations for bakers and snack producers when selecting a scale or checkweigher, new package sizes and the need for data connectivity are also top of mind.
Equipment manufacturers offering scales and checkweighers now offer systems that feature data connectivity, hygienic design, high speeds, improved accuracy, less waste and the ability to maintain traceability. And in addition to all these improvements, today’s scales and checkweighers are easier to use than earlier models.
With the consistent growth of the snack bar category over the past few years, the Almond Board of California wanted to better understand consumer usage, consumption and perceptions of various types of bars.
Snack foods are one of the most-innovative food categories, with countless new stock-keeping units (SKUs) introduced each year. As food manufacturers face stricter controls related to the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), questions loom as to whether their innovation will be diminished.