Ed Finkel

Manufacturers of tortilla and tostada chips continue to expand the boundaries of their offerings, in terms of both more imaginative flavors and attempts to address consumer concerns about the healthfulness of a category traditionally known for corn, salt and carbs.

While select brands showed stronger-than-average performances over the past year, the overall frozen pizza category—including frozen pizzas and frozen pizza crusts/dough—has leveled off in sales.

The frozen breakfast food category, including waffles, pancakes and French toast, has seen relatively flat growth overall during the past year—but with pockets of positive sales data pointing toward new opportunities.

Snack and bakery companies that work with dough, or looser components like batters, fillings or toppings, turn to manufacturers of depositors, dividers and rounders to cut, divide, portion and round or mould their products—and the equipment continues to get faster, more accurate, more customizable and easier to clean, among other winning qualities.

Snack manufacturers are looking to build in healthfulness through the use of raw materials, including vegetables and fruit, as well as cleaner ingredient profiles with more protein and fiber.

The flexibility to produce different flavors, shapes, sizes and types of products is high on the list of qualities that snack and bakery makers are seeking from manufacturers offering griddle equipment and fryers.

Automation has begun to take over the world of sorting and ingredient handling among snack and bakery products, especially in the area of continuous batching and delivery systems.

Sanitation probably tops the list, but safety, speed, reliability, ease of use, and resource efficiency are also among the watchwords for snack and bakery manufacturers when it comes to replacing or upgrading their plant’s belts and conveyors equipment.

New designs that allow for flexible width, more compact production space, easier cleaning and better sanitation, all while featuring more technologically advanced controls, have been foremost on the minds of snack and bakery companies in recent months and years when replacing or upgrading their sheeters and laminators.

The frozen snacks and appetizers category is seeing growth as consumers ask for—and brands attempt to deliver—bold, international flavors to complement traditional, tried-and-true favorites. As always, millennial consumers remain vital to the success of this segment of frozen foods.