He claims there is enough built-in flexibility in most bakeries to meet the latest consumer trends. "It's just a case of tweeking -- we see increasing levels of automation, but nothing has fundamentally changed. "

That said, tiny steps taken in the pursuit of efficiency over the last 20 years have added up to a giant leap in bakery process and technology, contributing to the success of a bread and morning goods sector now worth more than £3bn a year -- the equivalent of nine million large loaves every day.

However, with volume sales expected to increase by just 0.5% per annum over the next five years, but returns from added-value products forecast to do significantly better, future efforts are likely to be concentrated on reducing costs on commodity lines while finding imaginative solutions to the technical challenges posed by demands for healthier diets and premium tastes -- including low-salt products and bread with additions.

Chorleywood Bread Process

By using high speed mixing it was possible to reduce fermentation time. The best thing since sliced bread, as far as the industry was concerned, the CBP has been uniformly adopted and is now responsible for producing around 80% of bread in the UK.

Most recent research at CCFRA has concentrated on taking the guesswork out of the mixing process by using near infra-red (NIR) spectroscopy to evaluate changes occurring in the dough. According to CCFRA's baking business manager Paul Catterall, the technique, which uses a probe placed inside dough mixers, can tell manufacturers when it has been properly mixed for the desired product, thereby potentially improving quality and consistency.

A technology used widely elsewhere in the food industry, infra-red scanners are just one of the many sophisticated interventions that could ultimately lead to the 'lights off' or fully automated factory. Another is Stable Micro System's new constant strain inflation rate monitor, previewed at last year's Food & Bake exhibition, which not only checks but also allows the inflation rate of the dough bubble to be altered as the volume changes, giving manufacturers control over the structure and volume of the final product.

In an industry where a high level of 'giveaways' constantly undermines costs, any advance that allows bakers tighter control over output is to be welcomed, as APV's Keith Graham explains: "Dough is a live product and as a batch makes its way through the divider, the density is increasing. Bakers have to decide the worst case scenario and set the divider to give the right weight under the worst conditions, so they could be scaling at 830g for a 800g loaf -- at 6,000 loaves an hour that's a lot of product you're giving away."

At Warburtons, which will open Europe's biggest bakery in Yorkshire this summer, Lock doughweighers have been installed to help overcome the problem. Placed after the dough rounder and before the first proofer, Lock Inspections System's CK1500 gives feedback servo control to the divider instructing it to compensate for under- or overweight product. Lock claims accuracy rates of ±1g and Warburton's chief engineer John Smith says it has yielded "significant" cost savings.

The family baker, which has built its business on freshness, believes innovation in the speciality breads sector will be crucial to its future success. But bread with inclusions presents its own challenges.

"The Tweedy bread mixers used for high speed mixing are very efficient, but if you start adding things like raisins, it beats them to a pulp," admits Graham. APV is to introduce a new generation of its Uniplex mixer to solve the problem. "It treats the dough a lot more gently. You put the fruit in towards the end of the mix, so it spins it around without the shearing action of the Tweedy -- it's an example of a consumer trend leading to real innovation in technology."

Government pressure is another. The Federation of Bakers' voluntary and progressive 30% overall reduction in salt to meet health guidelines was backed by members, but there is a sticking point. "The process is difficult when you get down to low levels -- below 350mg it becomes a major issue," says Federation director John White.

Less salt not only results in reduced crumb strength but also sticky dough. "One member had tremendous problems last summer in the heat," says White. While oil can be used upstream of the moulders, here it causes major headaches which some are addressing by introducing a new generation of self-cleaning rollers, such as APV's Multitex4.

More significant changes, however, are on the horizon, not least allergenic contamination and tighter traceability. While White insists that larger plants already have systems in place to accommodate public health demands, the recent recall by Allied Bakeries of muffins contaminated with peanut residues leaves a question mark.

"Cleaning between runs is becoming a significant issue," says APV's Graham. "Most machines are suitable for wipe down or even hosepipe cleaning, but in future I think we will be required to supply machines that can withstand pressure washing. A particular concern is belts, particularly fabric belts which can't be cleaned easily."

Tougher and certainly more expensive to crack will be tracking and traceability issues. "I think there will be an increasing trend for supervisory instruments, such as those installed in the pharmaceutical industry," says Graham. "The big problem with bakery is that you start off with a batch, then go to continuous process before dispatching it in batches again."

Although software solutions already exist, the cabling and sensor systems required to implement them are prohibitively costly to install and manufacturers see payback as being marginal. Even modern lines do not have the infrastructure in place, claims Graham.

But with tougher traceability legislation now here and industry insiders predicting that efficient recall systems will no longer be enough, can bakers afford not to invest?FM

Don't burst your bubble

Researchers at Campden and Chorleywood Food Research Association (CCFRA) have developed a continuous vacuum dough process (COVAD) by adapting a screwtype machine.

Initial trials have successfully produced a wide range of product types and textures, including sandwich bread, soft buns, mixed wheat-rye bread, baguettes, and bread for crumbs and crutons.

To be used in any batch mixing process, COVAD was created by adding pressure and vacuum facilities to an existing machine and adapting the screw configuration to achieve the same results for batch process.

"With the introduction of the pressure vacuum mixer we can play so many tunes on the bubble structure that a wide range of bread types are possible," says Kim Little who is organising a one-day process training event at CCFRA next year. "Open bread structures which are required for breads such as the bloomer or farmhouse can be produced efficiently and consistently using such mixers."

For further details, contact the training department on 01386 842104.

key contacts

APV Baker: 01733 283000

CCFRA: 01386 842000

Lock Inspection Systems: 0161 624 0333

Stable Micro Systems: 01483 427345