Liz Parker Kuhn

Controlling allergens is vital in snack and bakery facilities that seek to remain 100 percent allergen-free. The first step is to establish best practices, as well as regularly testing the production environment and finished products for presence of allergens.

ERP (enterprise resource planning) software can help snack and bakery businesses see the "big picture" while constantly improving. While many ERP software choices are available, they're constantly being improved and changing, too.

Snack and bakery facilities have many concerns when it comes to their production areas and warehouses, and food safety is at the top of the list.

In snack and bakery production, the internet of things (IoT) is essential, it can streamline production via connected sensors or RFID, and then feed data back for analysis.

Chemicals and sanitation products are essential in the food industry, and recent product advancements help improve snack and bakery facility sanitation.

Software that can provide facility-wide traceability, from the point where ingredients and packaging enter a facility, to the point of finished product distribution, is very important in the food industry.

Infrastructure maintenance is vital to snack and bakery facility safety. If any plant area is not maintained properly, recalls and other potentially expensive negative consequences are bound to occur. Regular maintenance is crucial, and many types of software and other tools can aid this process.

Private label has been stepping up its game lately, and people, particularly millennials, are starting to take notice. Retailers are adding more premium items to their store brand lines, and people are actively seeking to buy private label products instead of choosing them just because they are less expensive than the national brand equivalent (NBE).