Lin Carson, Ph.D., is the CEO and founder of BAKERpedia (http://bakerpedia.com). Her industry experience includes work in R&D and quality control at Wendy’s and Dave’s Killer Bread, as well as running a bakery-café. For more information, or if you want to attend a clean label bread seminar at the Middleby Bakery Innovation Center, send a note to lin.carson@bakerpedia.com.
Ingredients and processing play a 50/50 role in the quality production of artisan bread. It's the simple ingredient list and simple processing that is helping boost this style of bread's popularity in the natural and clean label trend.
Artisan breads sales are on the rise. The global artisan bakery market is expected to increase at a rate of 4.1 percent from 2019–24 to reach a market value of $4.5 billion.
Cleaning up the label of baked goods is more than just ingredients. If you're going to join the clean-label, natural baking trend, here's what you need to know about the non-ingredient side of things.
The fermentation of dough leads to a strengthening of the dough matrix. Dough conditioners and oxidizers like azodicarbonamide (ADA), bromate and ascorbic acid, as well as their enzyme counterparts, lead to the strengthening of the dough matrix.
How do I know the clean label trend is here to stay? Because you can see the market growing, as both big and small brands put out their "natural" or organic alternatives.
Baking clean label bread introduces its fair share of challenges. However, with growing demand, it's worth the challenge. And with an understanding of baking systems and a little help from new innovations, baking clean label bread has never been easier.
Consumers are weary of words like "chlorinated," "bleached" and "aluminum" on ingredient labels. While every baker is saying "But we've used these for ages!" this reason doesn't sit well with consumer groups and buyers like Whole Foods.
The desire for safe, healthy food isn't necessarily new, but it has been picking up steam ... big time. While the FDA may not have a definition for what exactly counts as a "clean label," consumers are asking to buy them. As bakers, we need to simplify our formulas with natural solutions.
