Today, consumers pay relatively more attention to their health and are willing to spend on maintaining their health and even healthy eating. With the increasing awareness of the health benefits associated with the consumption of frozen bakery products, different and innovative products are taking their place in the markets every day. Today, it is possible to produce all bakery products and pastries in the frozen form including sourdough bread, pizza, pastry, bagel, croissant and pastry.
Öğr. Gör. Merve Burcu Akbulut
MBA Food Factory Chef & Owner
İstinye Üniversitesi
Food preservation includes very ancient methods that people use to prevent their food or product from spoiling. In the food preservation techniques that have survived thousands of years, the motivation of human beings was not to experience food shortages in the wintertime.
Food preservation techniques by drying, salting, cooking with sugar and smoking are the most well-known and ancient methods. And as long as the way and the techniques in the process do not pose a danger to food safety, they are the most reliable and preservative-free food preservation methods.
Even today, these preservation techniques are used as fireless cooking methods in modern kitchens.
The developing frozen technology has replaced such applications today. The widespread use of freezers after refrigerators in the industrial era has made food storage, preservation and even transportation easier.
Frozen Bakery Production Methods with the Developing Technology;
1) Raw Frozen Products without Fermentation
i. During the production process, the dough is prepared, cut and shaped according to the weight of the product, and sent to the freezer.
ii. In the final product consumption area, the product is consumed by thawing, fermentation (if it contains yeast) and cooking respectively in accordance with the product structure. Patties are produced with this technology.
2) Fermented Raw Frozen / Ready-to-Cook Products
i. In addition to the first method, this is the freezing technique after fermentation in the production facility.
ii. Only thawing and cooking are done in the final consumption area.
It is more practical and the best method to achieve the quality of homemade products as the fermentation time is saved. Pastries and Croissants are suitable for this technology.
i. In addition to the second method, the product is frozen after semi-cooking.
ii. In the final consumption area, the product is thawed according to its type, and the final touch is made with baking and it is served. It is the most suitable method for hard sourdough bread types.
i. These are almost 100% cooked products.
ii. In the final consumption area, for only 2-3 minutes they are colorized or the product is made crispy. It is one of the least time-consuming methods in the service phase. Soft bread types and simit are extremely suitable for this technology.
i. Completely ready to serve, it is the right technology for products that do not need cooking or hot consumption, which are only thawed and served. It may not tender what is expected in products that are consumed hot or crispy. It is suitable for cookies.
Although frozen bakery products are an alternative to fresh bakery products;
⊲ We cannot reach bakery products fresh due to ease of logistics, but can easily be reached frozen and serve our desire to consume traditional products of many different geographies,
⊲ They serve to practical life, and
Convenience is the driving force of the frozen bakery market. Among other driving forces are,
⊲ The increase in our disposable income,
⊲ Easily available in retail stores,
⊲ Increase in the working female population,
⊲ And increase in the number of people living alone.
⊲ Increase in the number of days eaten outside
⊲ Increase in the number of ordering out
⊲ Increase in the desire to cook like a chef
⊲ The opinion that frozen baked goods are safer when cooked at home.
Changing Consumer Lifestyle and Frozen Bakery Products
The change in consumer lifestyle has created a global demand for ready-to-eat food. This has encouraged an increase in the demand for frozen foods in the global market.
Also, the increase in women’s employment, coupled with the increasing number of single-person households, has been a key factor that will drive the enormous growth of the frozen food market. Of course, the development of the service sector and the growth rate of the HORECA industry should not be overlooked. Due to the change in lifestyle, consuming frozen foods or baked goods every day has now become a global norm.
Increasing Awareness of the Health Benefits of Frozen Foods,
Today, consumers pay relatively more attention to their health and are willing to spend on maintaining their health and even healthy eating. With the increasing awareness of the health benefits associated with the consumption of frozen bakery products, different and innovative products are taking their place in the markets every day.
Today, it is possible to produce all bakery products and pastries in the frozen form including sourdough bread, pizza, pastry, bagel, croissant and pastry.
The frozen bakery products market is taking advantage of developing consumer awareness to increase the production of healthy and beneficial products. The frozen bakery industry produces products such as sourdough bread with overnight cold leavening and even raw materials that contain traditional/ geographically indicated raw materials, which we cannot easily find or access individually.
What comes to mind about health in frozen bakery products are:
⊲ Safe storage conditions
⊲ Production and consumption without compromising health and hygiene
⊲ Products free of various shelf-life enhancing and preservative chemicals
⊲ Only natural preservation method by freezing
⊲ Zero-touch production in industrial production areas
⊲ Frozen bakery products containing functional foods that we cannot reach in fresh bakery products
⊲ Cold fermentation without using commercial yeast
⊲ Traceability from production to point of sale
⊲ Products with fiber and whole wheat
⊲ Low-sugar, low-fat bakery products
As a result, these are the positive outputs in the frozen bakery production associated with health:
⊲ Continuous controllability in food safety systems in industrial facilities with high production volume is the most important starting point in the consumption of frozen bakery products.
⊲ The manufacturer can quickly adapt today's health trends
⊲ Manufacturers following innovation and trends
⊲ Competition in the market with innovative products
⊲ Increase in total consumer benefit with the development of both raw material producers and equipment manufacturers with an ecosystem.
Finally, what should be presented to the consumer
On the other hand, it is seen that consumers who do not prefer frozen bakery products are in distrust about the freshness, taste, expiration date, content, etc. of these products. This indicates the cruciality of communication.
⊲ Consumers who buy or do not buy frozen bakery products expect sufficient information about the products. Notifications to be made to the consumers of frozen bakery products will affect sales figures proportionally.
⊲ For example, the content information of the products must always be accessible, whether they are frozen packed or freshly prepared with the bake-off method.
⊲ Frozen bakery products must be presented in forms suitable for the needs of consumers by providing a sense of trust. It must be accurately conveyed to the consumer that the products are not more expensive than fresh or packaged products.
⊲ Moreover, the most important issue that needs to be conveyed correctly and underlined in communication is to raise awareness that anyone who reaches frozen products from the retail channel can become a pastry chef or baker of their own home. Accurate information and various tricks should be conveyed about product preparation.
⊲ The importance of the time we will spend for our loved ones instead of product preparation should be emphasized.
⊲ The preparation stages, in which the production is carried out by professionals and the original recipes are preserved, and carried out with correct and sustainable raw materials, have to be shown to the consumer.
⊲ In fact, geographical indication products and the emphasis on contributing to local producers have become indispensable.
⊲ Since waste is avoided through frozen production, the respect we should have for the planet we live on must be underlined by the producers. It should definitely be conveyed to the consumer, regardless of the channel, that the waste-preventing frozen production prevents the wheat in the field from being wasted. Because every redundant loaf of bread thrown away is throwing away the national wealth.