New Technologies in the Industry by Kirsten Tibballs

What is the status quo in today's pastry industry?

I have taken a look at the baking and pastry trades, which are now evolving into better bottom line industries through labour saving devices which mean, not only less labour intensive but often require lower skill levels.

I will begin by looking at the major hotels. New hotels have traditionally started with full bakery and patisserie teams producing everything from bread through to petitfours and chocolates. Often, as the hotel matures, the team downsizes and starts outsourcing some of those products. Some new hotels now skip that whole process by not including a bakery or pastry kitchen in their design and outsource that complete department, either from another hotel within the group or an outside wholesaler.

The wholesale bakery and cake business in Australia has experienced major growth with the demand coming from hotel trade. This is a very competitive market forcing the price and therefore, some times the quality down while demanding seven-day a week service. The wholesalers are unable to use the same quality ingredients the hotel outlet was utilizing and yet retain a reasonable margin. Wholesalers are manufacturing a product that is priced to sustain two margins, selling it to a hotel at a low enough price so that they can also make a profit while maintaining their menu pricing. This process is more cost effective than employing a pastry chef within a hotel or restaurant.

The retail market has maintained its quality and is now finding well-trained and highly skilled trade's people available who have been forced out of the hotel business. Restaurants are now employing more bakers and pastry chefs than ever before with a lot of chefs by trade now specializing in this area.

There is another option now available in the market, which can save time and therefore labour, without sacrificing quality. Blast chilling is a system that can open up new horizons.

As a rule everything you cook is allowed to cool at room temperature before being used or sold: this process, widely considered as normal, actually leads to quite rapid aging of food, coupled with drying, loss of consistency and flavor.

With blast chilling, the chamber rapidly chills all prepared food from oven temperature, conserving product freshness without freezing. This process makes it possible to increase product life threefold and recoup up to 10% of normal weight loss. Food treated with this process can be readily sold as required with an extended shelf life, since it's perfectly fresh. Irinox, a company I have visited on a past trip to Italy, has now set up in Australia. They are importing this fantastic equipment that enables us to produce larger quantities without the spoilage we would normally experience.

We still have highly skilled people within our industry who are creating fantastic products in this new environment. We all need to tap into this new and exciting equipment which allows us to keep abreast of the technological world.


A Career As A Wholesale Pastrychef? by Ken Train

It has been common practice for many years for large hotels, restaurants and catering establishments to buy in products that are already peeled, cleaned, diced, sliced, filleted, boned, fresh or frozen. Indeed, planning of kitchens and food prep areas are seeing smaller spaces set aside to reduce operating costs. Smaller amounts of 'qualified' staff on the payroll are reinforcing this trend.

Demands made by customers have altered the focus of many businesses, to the point where competition is so strong that flexible options have to be employed to survive. So, it's no suprise that the growth is in 'Wholesaling'. Emerging fast as a employer of growing numbers of staff within the food industry. Bakers have long provided a service to this type of demand, so have the frozen food companies. Pastrychefs/cooks are now in demand to work in this arena.

The quest for quality is always a great leveller as to which companies continue and which do not. Desserts, pastries, gateaux, biscuits, petit fours, ice creams or gelato, are all available in large enough numbers to support this emerging demand. This raises a number of issues to be addressed, such as cost, credibility and consistency.

Pricing aside, it's usually the quality that wins out in the end. Think about it? If a good restaurant wants to put it's name on a dish, you can guarentee they won't compromise on quality. Modern production techniques on a wholesale scale are cheaper, faster and more consistent to produce. Making them a viable competitive option for many.

I'm not saying that this type of supply will become a panacea for the many problems embedded in the industry. But, it may well attract more people back into an industry that is already suffering from lack of staff -qualified or otherwise-. Ask any Baker or Pastrycook what they would change about their work conditions given the chance, and I'll bet my last bagel they will say the 'early starts'. With equipment available to the industry now, there is no need to insist staff work totally unsociable hours.

Austracote

Austrabake is Australia's premium quality baking paper. It has been produced in Sydney then distributed and used nationally for over twenty years.

Austrabake is made with a pure vegetable parchment base and coated with the finest food grade silicones. This combination makes it Australia's most versatile baking paper, which offers great value for money.

The vegetable parchment provides a superior, moisture, sugar and grease barrier as well as the ability to resist browning and cracking. Baked products therefore lift faster with less waste due to sticking. The paper has top re-usability. This translates to less stock and up to 50% saving to bakers, in time saved and the number of sheets used.

Busy bakers need all the help they can get to make their working day run smoothly. This is where Austrabake can really be of assistance. Being locally produced we can make special sizes to suit any size tray exactly just ask us. All our products are packed in easy-to use dispensing cartons which protects the sheets, minimizes shelf space and allows for easy access.

Austrabake is so confident that Austrabake Siliconised Pure Vegetable parchment will offer you true value and versatility, the company is offering a Money Back Guarantee on any trial pack ordered through your supplier during 2001.

For details ring customer service on (02) 9525 9022.

Dairy Farmers

In a concerted effort to give its customers exactly what they want, Dairy Farmers Foodservice has undertaken an in-depth research project looking into the bakery and patisserie sector's usage of dairy ingredients.

The project involved group discussion into how chefs rate the current ingredients, how they use them and how these products can be improved in the future.

This research is intented as a basis for future development of Dairy Farmers Foodservice products for the bakery and patisserie sectors and also asked chefs about new products they might like to use in the future.

The project looked at the likelihood of chefs using new products with the results indicating that those with high knowledge of and willingness to try new products tended to be the more experienced bakers and chefs. Those with limited experience used a smaller and creative pastry chefs and bakers out there".

Dairy Farmers has recently appointed well-respected French pastry chef, Didier number of ingredients in the more traditional recipes.

"Dairy Farmers was particularly interested in looking at the application of current ingredients as some chefs have found additional usages and we were interested in how they adapt our current products to
Sockeel to develop a classic Dairy Farmers sweetened condensed milk recipe that it hopes will be adopted by the bakery industry, much like that of the tried and true caramel slice. The French-born Australian chef at La Renaissance Patisserie

produce new consumer products", said Dairy Farmers Foodservice Product Manager (Dairy Foods), Sharon Cole, "The results were

fascinating _ there are a lot of very skilled Francais in Sydney, also appears in a new trade media campaign developed specifically for the bakery and patisserie sector. For further information phone 1800 777 556.

Sunshine Food Supplies

Sunshine Food Supplies is an innovative manufacturer producing quality permixes for the baking & foodserive industry established in 1987. Sunshine Food Supplies has expanded to become one of the most emerging businesses in the market. Sunshine Food Supplies provides its costomers with high quality price competative products based around a customer focused delivery service. The principal business activities of the company include the manufacture & supply of the following:

Bread Improvers; Cheese Cake; Sponge Mixes; Donut Mixes; Cake Mixes; Custard; Mud Cake Mixes. They also produce specialty mixes & customised mixes & carry a complete range of bakery supplies.

Freecall 1800 000 265, Ph (02) 9557 0750, Fax (02) 9517 2624.

William Angliss

Recently the William Angliss Institute of TAFE announced Victoria's first Professional Patisserie Training Program headed up by Udo Eichelmann. The course has been designed to meet the growing demand from the industry for specialised training in this field.

Commencing in July 2001, William Angliss will be offering the Certificate IV in Hospitality _ (Patisserie).

The course comprises 44 modules, which include preparing bakery goods for patisserie; preparing and producing pastries, cakes
and yeast goods, gateaux, tortes, cakes and petits-fours; presenting hot and cold desserts, preparing and displaying buffet show pieces and coffee shop operations. It contains a broad-based range of key management, marketing and administrative modules.

The course is designed for qualified cooks and pastry cooks as well as peopie wanting to start a career in professional patisserie.

Study options for the Certificate IV in Hospitality (Patisserie) are 18 months of full- time study, or the modules may be taken on

a part-time basis. Further information can be obtained by calling the William Angliss Information Centre on (03) 9606 2111.

For further information contact: Yvonne Nicolas Media & Public Relations Consultant William Angliss Institute Tel: (03) 9606 3797 Fax: (03) 9606 3752.

Cookon Commercial

New technology encourages innovation.

A particularly interesting concept in bakery patisserie and coffee shop cabinet design made its debut at the International Catering Trade Show in Brisbane last month - drawing much favour and discussion about its innovative features.

The new display cabinet was released to the industry by Cookon Commercial, a major player in the engineering, design and manufacture of some very notable pieces of equipment in the catering industry.

Speaking at its launch during the show, Cookon Commercial's managing director Ron Pattinson said his company places high emphasis on design innovation where new technology can increase turnover and reduce running costs.

"Constantly improving fittings has enabled us to virtually eliminate those niggling annoyances that have been part and parcel of retail display cabinets in the past," he said.

"We have been able to heat the front glass without affecting internal temperatures, and new light sources also generate less heat.

"Additionally, modern technological improvements have led to the virtual redesign of the thermostat and changes in associated defrost times, while also overcoming refrigeration condensate disposal problems".

Mr. Pattinson said he is extremely pleased with the reception the new display cabinet has received.

Phone (07) 3252 3733 for more details on Cookon Commercial and see ad on back cover.

Sunbeam Foods

Sunbeam Foods was established almost 80 years ago in the Sunraysia district of Victoria to sell the dried vine fruit production of the local growers.

Since that time they have seen the crops grow to in excess of 65,000 tonnes of dried fruit and then slowly decline to today's crops of approximately 25,000 to 30,000 tonnes per year.

The decline in the amount of dried fruits processed today is a direct reflection of the growing demand for fresh grapes for the ever expanding wine market and the demand for grapes for the fresh fruit markets of Australia and our near neighbours.

A crop of `say' 25,000 tonnes of good quality fruits (sultanas, currants and raisins) allows Sunbeam Foods to supply the various demands
of the domestic market and then to offer into their traditional overseas markets of UK, Canada and Germany. Plus find supplies for some of the smaller markets around the world that have for many years sought quality Australian fruit ahead of overseas competitors.

There is still a good demand for high crown, quality Australian Sunbeam brand sultanas, currants and raisins in many markets of the world today as in the past. It is pleasing to note that Sunbeam Foods remains in the hands of Australian ownership and is operated in sight of the vines which give up their golden bounty each year in Victoria's Sunraysia district where the fruit is processed and packed ready for consumption.

For more information phone 1800 673 310.

Kerry Pinnacle

Kerry Pinnacle are always looking for strategies to provide you with solutions to make your production of products _ like muffins _ easier.

Our latest project has been to eliminate the need to add frozen egg pulp or fresh eggs to your muffin mix _ hence Pinnacle Complete Muffin Mix. There are several advantages of the Pinnacle Complete Muffin Mix.

• No thawing of frozen egg pulp or need for fresh eggs. Pinnacle Complete Muffin Mix is always immediately available for use.

• Reduction of ingredients to be weighed. Pinnacle Complete Muffin Mixing. Pinnacle Complete Muffin Mix provides consistency.

• Removal of frozen egg pulp from the makeup procedure helps reduce and eliminate microbial hazards, which can occur eg. salmonella, ecoli & yeast mould caused by inadequate thawing procedures.

Easy to use _ simply add water; Traditional muffin texture; .No egg required; .Saves time & money _ reduced preparation time; .Convenient _ always ready to use; .Can be flavoured/coloured to produce a wide variety of muffins; Consistent batter; .Shelf life of finished product to 5 days.

For further information phone 1300 650 855.