The massive exhibition, focusing on baking equipment, occupied eight halls at Düsseldorf’s Messe Nord Convention Center.

More than 1,000 baking companies convened on 30 acres of hall space at the 2009 iba exhibition in Düsseldorf, Germany, last month. The now 60-year-old event retained its international flair, with more than half of exhibitors hailing from countries outside of Germany. An overwhelming 79,500 attendees viewed the latest innovations for the baking industry. The overall effect and sheer size of the displays was impressive.

“Before the fair, the initial forecasts were somewhat subdued, but the quantity and quality of the visitors far exceeded all our expectations. All through the event there was a definite air of confidence and a willingness to invest — iba 2009 reflected the unlimited dynamism that there is in the baking trades,” said Peter Becker, president of the German Bakers' Confederation. “It is the most important innovations powerhouse for the next three years, and one that will drive the market forward.”

The newer, greener generation of ovens, production systems and machinery were of primary interest at iba 2009. European Union bakers are under intense scrutiny from consumers to work towards greener solutions, both for altruistic and cost-saving purposes. They also operate with greater governmental incentive to work towards greener manufacturing than their U.S. counterparts. Small baking businesses and larger ones alike can learn from some of the forward-thinking, green systems that Europe is currently producing. Energy-saving products help reduce costs significantly in baking, refrigeration, freezing and fermenting operations regardless of size.

Another common theme among the equipment manufacturers exhibiting at iba was a push to create easily scalable systems that allow for growth. Large-scale bakery systems tend to be modular, and manufacturers are looking into ways to work towards more uniform industry equipment standards, allowing individual modules to more easily interface with one another.

One manufacturer pointed out that systems that can't easily evolve with a growing bakery will actually hinder growth — hence the focus on scalability and a simpler modular interface. The idea is to have pieces within a single system “speak the same language,” both in hardware and software applications. This becomes more important as the United States begins to emerge from an economic winter and bakeries are again seeing the signs of growth potential.

A long-term equipment trend that continues to be evident at large equipment shows, such as iba, is a push to reduce or eliminate equipment downtime due to sanitation and maintenance. Manufacturers are focusing on the tiniest cogs and wheels to build in efficiencies. Some examples are obvious, such as using rounded bolts heads that accumulate less extraneous flour instead of angular hexagonal bolt heads. Manufacturers also are machining larger and more complex parts out of single pieces of stainless steel to ease cleaning. The next iba show will be held Sept. 28-Oct. 3, 2012 in Munich, Germany.

In-store bakery theater

• WP Bakery Group debuted a push-through version of its Matador® Store oven designed for in-store baking applications. The push-through ovens allow bakers to load bread into the oven from a back room or production room, but unload the finished loaves on peels in the front of the store. This creates a sense of theater and delivers aromas directly to consumers. Also, the high performance steam generator creates abundant, wet steam that is optimally distributed in the baking chamber. This delivers delicious pastries, crusty bread, bright shine and excellent bloom. Call Kemper Bakery Systems, North American subsidiary of the WP Bakery Group, at 203/929-6530. www.wpbakerygroupusa.com

High hydration dough capability

• A major trend in the worldwide bread market is the use of sheeting lines, such as Rademaker's Crusto® concept for high water dough and/or slack dough products, that produce high quality breads with more flavor. Sheeting has tremendous benefits for these doughs even with high capacity outputs. Sheeting lines can be easily equipped to reach capacities of 6,000 kg of dough per hour. With Rademaker's Weighing Module® and De-Gassing Unit®, bakers can obtain a high accuracy and perfect fine crumb structure for sandwich loaves. Call Rademaker at 330/650-2345.
  www.rademaker.com