Lean manufacturing and Six Sigma can be applied to the snack and bakery industry—just like any other field—to analyze processes, cut down on unnecessary steps, and work to make the desired end result come about more efficiently and effectively.

Snack, bakery companies look for certain features and benefits when purchasing laminators and sheeters.

Snack and bakery producers are demanding more features than ever from extrusion equipment.

Other priorities include frying more than one product concurrently, handling both older and newer snack and bakery formulations.

Energy efficiency, automation, and ensuring a robust return-on-investment have been top-of-mind for snack food and wholesale bakery companies in the market for ovens and proofers, according to companies that make those machines, who say sales have been strong.

Automation is nothing new for the industry, but the pandemic has revved it up further.

Snack food and wholesale bakery companies in the market for dough-handling equipment such as dividers, depositors, and rounders have been increasingly focused on machines that provide greater automation, along with the corollary efficiency and labor savings.

The tortilla chip category enjoyed a healthy boost in sales during the past year, in spite of the fact that the numbers of bags placed in shopping carts barely budged—thanks to the price increases seen throughout the grocery store and elsewhere.

The tortilla category largely flatlined during the past year, with some variation by type or brand of shell, as the world began to reopen after the worst of the pandemic and fewer consumers worked at home. 

Snack food and wholesale bakery companies in the market for machines that help prepare, store, transport, and otherwise handle ingredients are most focused on qualities like automation, ease of maintenance, and the ability to deliver higher performance in throughput and accuracy.