From idea to shelf: Shaping the future of industrial baking

Industrial baking is under pressure from several directions. Consumer preferences are shifting. Product development cycles are accelerating. Producers are being asked to simultaneously deliver greater flexibility, consistent quality and better sustainability performance.

For GEA, this is a field where engineering, food expertise and customer collaboration come together in a tangible way. In this interview, Stefano Antonini, Senior Vice President and Head of GEA’s Business Unit Bakery, talks about the trends reshaping the market, the technologies gaining importance and the role of the Bakery Experience Center in Verona.

Stefano, we're standing in the middle of a live trial. What's actually happening here today?

A customer is running the final validation of a new product on one of our pilot lines. They've been developing this together with us over several sessions, and today is the moment where everything comes together – the recipe, the process parameters, the thermal profile. If it works here under industrial conditions, it works in their factory. That's the whole point of the Bakery Experience Center.

How often does that happen – customers coming here to develop products with you?

This occurs whenever our customers develop new products that will be processed with our own technology, as well as when we validate our bakery lines on existing products made using competitors' technologies or older versions of our machines. To give you an example, the manufacturer of an iconic biscuit known for its precise and distinctive characteristics is considering switching from gas ovens to our electric E-Bake oven. Here they can test their products to ensure that this technological change does not affect product consistency.

The center features two fully equipped pilot lines and an advanced R&D laboratory. We can reproduce industrial conditions with absolute accuracy, fine-tune every parameter and validate the process before a customer commits to an investment. Many of the bakery products you find on supermarket shelves today were actually born right here, through joint development sessions. Customers bring the concept; we bring the technology and the process knowledge.

Let's zoom out for a moment. The bakery industry is a massive market. What's driving the change you're seeing?

The bakery consumer market exceeds 500 billion dollars a year, and it's evolving at incredible speed. Consumers want more variety, cleaner labels, healthier products and consistent quality – and they want it all delivered with a lower environmental footprint. At the same time, innovation cycles are getting much faster. Customers come to us with ideas that need to become industrial reality quickly. And then there's a major push toward clean energy and electrification. Producers are actively looking for efficient solutions that reduce emissions and energy consumption and help them meet their sustainability commitments.

That's a lot of pressure on producers at the same time.

It is. They're looking for partners who understand both process and food and who can help them navigate an increasingly volatile operating environment. Today, manufacturers are under pressure to guarantee consistency, reduce operating costs and support long-term sustainability goals. That's exactly the space we operate in.

Energy and raw material volatility are no longer episodic. Ongoing instability in energy markets continues to affect gas and power prices, with a direct impact on food manufacturing costs. At the same time, key ingredients such as cocoa, sugar and eggs are showing increasingly sharp price swings, driven by a combination of energy related inputs, climate effects and supply side constraints.

In this context, producers are not simply looking to optimize costs. They are looking for processing solutions that deliver consistency, protect margins and make their operations more resilient in an environment where volatility has become the new normal.

You mentioned electrification. How is GEA responding to that specifically?

One of the most important developments is our GEA E-Bake electric oven. It allows customers to bake using renewable electricity, with up to 40 percent reduction in energy consumption compared to conventional gas models. It uses a new micro-convection concept with localized airflow control and offers multiple heat transfer modes – radiant, convective or hybrid configurations. And it's designed as plug-and-play modules, which reduces installation time by up to 70 percent. For many of the new products we help develop here in Verona, electrification is becoming a strategic enabler rather than just an option.

And this carries GEA’s Add Better label?

Yes. Add Better is GEA’s internal ecolabel, validated by the independent certifier TÜV – and according to ISO 14021:2021. The label is affixed to technologies that deliver measurable environmental improvements – lower energy consumption, less water use or less waste compared to previous generations. The E-Bake is one of the technologies that carries this label. It's a way for us to show customers that sustainability is built into our technology.

What about the other side of the line – before the oven? You've also introduced a new extruder.

The GEA Bake Extruder is a complete redesign and the fastest extruder ever built in the world. It delivers higher throughput, improved accuracy and greater flexibility. The new wirecut system ensures excellent product definition and significantly reduces dough waste. This is a key factor for both product quality and sustainability. When you combine precision forming and depositing with the thermal performance of the E-Bake, you get a line that's fundamentally more efficient end to end.

How does digitalization fit into all of this?

Digitalization is the accelerator. Our lines integrate sensors and analytics that collect real-time data on temperature, humidity, energy consumption and other critical parameters. When our customer creates a new product, every detail matters – hydration curves, thermal profiles and airflow dynamics. Digital tools allow us to see inside the process, not just observe the outcome. That means fewer trial-and-error cycles, faster validation, and a product that can be reproduced reliably at full scale. It also supports predictive maintenance, which increases line availability and reduces unplanned downtime.You've described technology, data and sustainability.

But you keep coming back to the customer relationship. Why?

Because technology alone isn't enough. Producers want flexibility, efficiency and sustainability – but they also want guidance and a partnership. They expect strong technical support, digital tools and a long-term relationship. Breakthroughs often happen when we apply our technologies in a new way. The customer brings the vision and we help them turn it into a product that works every day, at full capacity, with the quality consumers expect. When we collaborate closely, we're not just adjusting parameters. We're shaping the identity of the product – its texture, its color, its bite and consistency.

What's the moment that makes all of this worthwhile for you personally?

The most exciting moment is when a product that existed only as an idea suddenly becomes real. You see it take shape on the line, see the customer's reaction and you realize that consumers will soon find this on supermarket shelves. Many of the bakery products that have become consumer favorites in recent years were born through this kind of partnership. They started as a challenge, evolved through trials and were perfected using our technologies and engineering insight. When a product succeeds in the market, we know that part of its DNA was created here. That's what makes this work so rewarding.

And looking ahead – what's the ambition?

Our priorities are clear. We will continue to innovate, strengthen our role as a strategic partner and contribute actively to the sustainable transformation of the bakery industry. That means advancing electrification and energy efficiency, expanding our digital capabilities and keeping this place – the Bakery Experience Center – at the heart of how we work with customers. Whether it's helping develop the next breakthrough product or supporting producers in making the bakery classics consumers have trusted for decades with greater efficiency and care.