ABSTRACT

Temperature Control ........................................................................ 72 2.4 Other Innovative Technological Alternatives

in Breadmaking ............................................................................................. 74 2.5 Concluding Remarks ..................................................................................... 75 References ................................................................................................................ 76

Some of the fastest growing segments in the food processing industry are bakery products. Commercial bakeries have very soon understood the changes in consumer lifestyles and have shifted their production processes, products, and even distribution channels to meet the new requirements. Consumers’ demands and needs become more important and bakeries are facing new challenges for satisfying them. Fresh bread all day long and a wide variety of baked products with new avors, shapes, and sizes are some of the consumers’ demands. The progress in food science and technology has also played a fundamental role in this business success. The main players in this picture are the key consumers demanding product quality and innovation, the manufacturers offering a range of new products, and the retailers focused on product differentiation and distribution, and they constitute the market drivers identifying

the emerging opportunities of the global bakery market. A rst-glance overview of bakery evolution shows that the already de ned three mega-trends (Lord 2002), convenience, health, and indulgence or pleasure, are the driving forces of the global bakery market. Those mega-trends are embodied within eight particular categories: functional and forti ed, low and light, natural and organic, which are related to health; snacks, easy to prepare and the use of bake off technology (BOT) based on convenience; and nally ethnic and exotic, indulgent and premium, and novelty and fun that covered pleasure or indulgence (Lord 2002). Manufacturers and commercial bakeries cannot ignore these trends when planning new product development strategies.