Articles by Ed Finkel

Snack food and bakery companies looking to purchase belts and conveyors are asking for larger capacity, quieter machinery, improved safety, greater energy efficiency the ability to reduce manpower, and, thus, costs.

Snack and bakery facilities need to control and prevent pests such as rodents and insects in and around their facilities to help ensure the integrity of their products.

Dough comes in many styles, and today's laminators and sheeters need to accommodate an increasing range of requirements.

Customers of cutting, slicing and portioning equipment for snack and bakery products consider a wide range of parameters: They're hoping to find machinery that offers greater use of robots and automation, better sanitation, higher safety standards, faster speeds, wider and easier-to-clean blades, and reliable and flexible systems that can handle different sizes and shapes.

The right oven is the heart of any baked snack or bakery facility, and suppliers continue to make improvements to their equipment. Aspects like smaller footprints, lower costs, more hygienic design, greater energy efficiency, better control, remote monitoring and an ability to handle a wider range of ingredients are all facing scrutiny.

Snack food and bakery facilities need to efficiently deliver water for sanitation and cleaning tasks, using just the right amount, while reusing what they can. They also often need to manage, treat and/or recover wastewater, maintaining peak sanitary standards and food safety, including proper placement of drains, to help save time and money.

Snack food and bakery facilities have a long list of requests for manufacturers of mixers, including improved speed, efficiency, throughput, durability, food safety, batch uniformity and labor reduction, as well as the flexibility to easily switch out recipes and easily perform cleaning and sanitation tasks.

Snacking has become increasingly more popular, especially among the millennial generation, and luckily both millennials and older consumers are in search of options that provide qualities like higher protein, cleaner labels and bolder, more creative flavors.

Healthier ingredients, bolder tastes and more convenient, on-the-go formats are top trends in the snack bar category. This healthier mindset has brought an emphasis on higher protein, along with and lower carbs, higher fiber and a cleaner label.