Flexicon Corporation created a new low profile flexible screw conveyor with integral bin and caster-mounted frame which can bed rolled below mezzanines and other low-headroom areas.

RATIONAL, the manufacturer of combi-steamers, announced the launch of the new UltraVent and UltraVent Plus recirculating hoods for SelfCookingCenter® models 61/101 and 62/102.

Bakery Showcase 2018 featured the launch of Ireks’ new product, their Spicy Topping.

RPC bpi Protec has created the X-Dual Seal, a two-compartment re-sealable bag.

Flexicon Corporation created a Block-Buster® bulk bag conditioner with a laser safety curtain that automatically stops the system's hydraulic rams, scissor lift and turntable if the laser beam is obstructed.

Frutarom Food Protection Solutions announced the creation of two all-natural, high-antioxidant products for reducing acrylamide.

Rational Canada, now introduces its latest product: The SelfCookingCenter XS.

Due to customer demand, the company from Rhode Island has launched their new transportation box, CupCakeSafe. Patent pending, CupCakeSafe keeps fully-assembled tiered cakes or cupcakes cool, as well as safe from weather and motion-related challenges.

Manufactured to FDA food grade standards, Best Process Solutions vibratory hopper feeder features a 8" X 30" flat trough and 3 cubic-foot capacity hopper. Model HFE-830-7-1/2-(3) can handle hot and cold materials. Typical applications include feeding to packaging, batching, mixing and drying.

Organic baking brand Miss Jones Baking Co. has launched three Desserts-in-a-Cup aimed at the convenience market.

HealthSpace has teamed up with Keboola Data Services and Xotecx Solutions Corp. to make a quality control and customer experience app to improve food safety and customer engagement in restaurants.

This year’s winner of the Jake the Baker Award knows about being given options and finding opportunities, and wants to share that advantage with those less fortunate.

In the words of Laura Aiken, former Bakers Journal editor: “The first and last editorials are so hard to write. It’s hard to say goodbye, but it’s also hard to say hello.” Having Laura’s kind support and mentorship means so much to me, particularly as this is my first issue. I’m proud to say “hello” to our talented columnists, my gifted co-workers at Annex Business Media and the creative bakers and pastry chefs that I will get to know over time.

Ventes Rudolph/Rudolph Sales is celebrating 100 years of supply service for bakeries; founded in 1918, the company shares its acumen as to what it takes for a company to reach a centenary.

Chef Anna Olson spoke on Monday, April 30 at the Bakery Showcase in Mississauga, On., touching upon a topic that stymies both students and professional bakers alike: How to launch a career in baking when the trends seesaw so wildly?

Prior to designing 3D piescrapers and celebrity pietraits, Jessica Leigh Clark-Bojin, the creator of Pies Are Awesome, said she had never baked a day in her life.

After nearly seven years as the editor of Bakers Journal, I have moved to a different group within the magazine’s parent company. Naomi Szeben, a passionate home baker and experienced journalist and researcher, will be taking the reins.

One word to describe Eric Ho, owner of Bakery Sate in Vancouver, is courageous. After leaving a successful career as an engineer, Ho enrolled at Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts to study  baking and pastry. Then, without ever having actually worked in the food industry, he launched his own bakery and built it into a success.

The word celebration is often associated with the word cake. The two are simultaneously linked. There are celebration cakes for graduations, engagements, weddings, anniversaries, baby showers, birthdays and more.

Alan Dumonceaux, chair of the baking program at Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT), and Marcus Mariathas, senior director of product development for ACE Bakery in Toronto, were selected to compete for the coveted World Master Baker titles in the categories of Gourmet Baking and Nutritional Bread respectively.

Pizza lovers are dining al fresco in rural Manitoba and it all began with a wood-fired oven named Hildegard.

Jacquy Pfeiffer, pastry chef and co-founder of the French Pastry School in Chicago, was more than surprised when he casually received an email from the French Government informing him that he had been awarded the French Legion of Honour.

Toronto – Muskoka Brewery and Ace Bakery of Toronto teamed up to create bread recipes using three seasonal beers, Winterweiss, Shinnicked Stout and Harvest Ale, and offer classes on how to make them. The London Free Press reports. | READ MORE

Pizza New: A whole new era for the world’s favourite food, by chef Stefano Manfredi, looks at what happens when pizza is made using different stone-milled flours, various fermentation procedures and free of the strictures of tradition. It includes recipes for pizza rossa, pizza bianca, Roman pizza, and filled, fried and sweet pizzas such as the delicate dessert recipe below, “Pillow of dreams.”

These brownies were inspired from her chocolate bar that is infused with cherry fig black tea, as well as the chai brownie recipe in Raelene Gannon’s book tea from cup to plate, which was published in 2015.

Vanilla Cupcakes

Rhubarb Pie

Coconut Passion Fruit Domes

Pineapple Dream Bars

Hazelnut Dark Chocolate Banana Cookie

Chocolate Brioche

Birds Nest Cookies

Beans Bar

In a consumer sensory panel, reduced-sugar cookies containing pieces of dried fruit were perceived to be just as sweet as full-sugar alternatives.

Your physically demanding career means that you should treat your muscles like a professional athlete to avoid aches and pains.

There is just something magical about the summer fruit from the lush Niagara Region, in Ontario. It has inspired many bakers to make their very first pies. In fact, some have gone on to become professionals, with thriving businesses, using the techniques they have learned along the way to make perfect pies.

The range of plant-based ingredients continues to grow and nowhere is this more evident than in baking. From vegan cakes to better-for-you plant-based protein cookies, new and exciting products were exhibited at both the Winter Fancy Food Show (WFFS) and Natural Products Expo West in California this year.

Over the last decade, we’ve seen a significant rise in the demand for natural alternative sweeteners in the products we make, buy and consume. Some of these natural alternatives are well-known like honey and maple syrup, while others such as palm sugar and monk fruit, are less familiar to consumers.

Once, it would have been unthinkable to create baked goods without eggs or dairy. As  diets continue to change, so do the variety of available products. Some customers seek out vegan baked goods because of allergies. For others, it’s because they simply don’t eat anything from animals.

Spring is a time to refresh, renew and rejuvenate. I love celebrating my birthday at the end of March with a fresh, light, moist lemon poppy seed cake. It is one of my favourites to indulge and kick-off the springtime baking season.

Good Boucher brand lean beef has been recalled due to E.Coli strain 0157:H7. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CIFA) named Goodfood Market Corp as the company involved.

Craft beer as a drink is obvious; however that same beverage as a fantastic ingredient for both sweet and savoury baking is growing in popularity. Craft beers are diverse and complex with flavours that range from malt and barley to dried fruits and citrus.

Over the past few years, we have seen that even with consumers making better-for-you food and beverage choices, they are not ready to give up on dessert. Individual, minis, thins and clusters continue to be offered from artisan bake shops and large commercial companies for people to enjoy the indulgence while still maintaining a healthy dietary pattern.

New Canadian labelling laws that affect the way sugar is measured may change the way customers and manufacturers view the bakery shelf. But, what is sugar? Where do consumers’ perceptions go wrong? And why is this ingredient so prized in baked goods and also so indispensable?

As we emphasize in our new book, Negotiating Commercial Leases & Renewals for Dummies, the leasingprocess is not a simple task. Considering the number of steps involved and potential hurdles you may face, property planning and allowing for ample time can save you aggravation and - more importantly – money.  

A web presence will give your bakery business great online visibility, which in turn will enable customers to find you easily. Your new website is an effective marketing tool and will help generate awareness, exposure and extend your bakery brand. Your website should allow you to showcase your specialties, menu and services. As a busy independent baker, you may not have a lot of time left for marketing and promotion, but it is a necessary task if you want to keep your business going and expand your customer base.

Although Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield may have been right about love relationships when they penned their hit, “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do,” when it comes to business, that notion rings less true.

If conversational commerce is highlighted to be the next big thing in retail, it begs the question: “Then what have we been doing all these years? Ordering by mime?”  While the exchange of commerce has always been an interactive and involved conversation, it’s notable now because of one important development: We’re not the ones conversing with the customer. Machines are.

Planning a new website design for a small bakery can be daunting. There are many elements besides designing a beautiful, professional, secure and customer-friendly site. Above all, you have to make sure it matches the look and feel of your overall brand. Your domain name (URL) should just include your bakery company name; keep it simple.

Not so long ago, most people in the workplace received feedback once-a-year during a performance review. An employee didn’t expect a development plan, a career track, or anyone to take an interest in his or her professional growth.

One of the biggest challenges in marketing heard by businesses across almost all industries is the constant search for their next idea-the one that's going to hook and reel in new customers and clientele. It's the idea that constantly eludes them yet, if they find it, will lead to more revenues, long-term relationships and evergreen sales.

Do you feel like you can’t keep up with the latest trends in social media marketing? Join the club. Social media tools and trends change more frequently than your menu does and it can be hard to stay on top of new channels and new features for existing channels.

I just love Michelle Brisebois’ opening lines in this edition’s article on social media: “Do you feel like you can’t keep up with the latest trends in social media marketing? Join the club.” The platforms are changing, advice is changing, and heck, I daresay even people might be changing.

Imagine closing your eyes and throwing a dart at the Wall Street Journal to pick a stock you had to invest your entire savings in. You can't look at the price until the last day of the year. Nervous? Probably. Yet, this is how most businesses plan. They choose one time a year, develop a plan, put it in the drawer only to review it at the same time the following year and hope they achieved their goal. This approach is not a good investment strategy, nor is it a good business planning process.

When baby boomers took their first “real” jobs upon entering the workforce, their demands and expectations were ridiculously low by today’s standards. On their first day on the job they got an employee handbook that they took home and scanned while eating dinner or watching TV. Company training, if there was any, was minimal.

Aurora, Ont. – The Canadian Food and Wine Institute at Niagara College will offer short-term and part-time training in culinary skills, commercial brewing and viticulture in Aurora, Ont.

Charlottetown – The Culinary Institute of Canada at Holland College in Charlottetown recently opened up its new facilities – which include a restaurant and cafeteria – to students after months of renovations. The Guardian reports. | READ MORE

With their semester coming to an end, students in the Advanced Baking and Pastry graduate certificate program at Durham College (DC) were put to their final test – create a Pop-up Bake Shop in which to package, market and sell their creative concoctions.

George Brown College's chef school held its annual gingerbread house competition on Tuesday, Nov. 29, with 23 entries vying for prizes.

Belgian pastry chef Mathieu Dierinck, a technical advisor to the Callebaut Chocolate Academy in Wieze, Belgium, made a stop at George Brown College in Toronto in late October to provide to demonstration to a crowd of industry professionals and students.

There is no language barrier when it comes to high-end patisserie.

On Thursday, May 12 Cacao Barry, in cooperation with George Brown College in Toronto, hosted a demonstration by chef Ramon Morato, an award-winning cookbook author and the global creative innovation leader with Cacao Barry, based at the Chocolate Academy training centre in Barcelona.

Customers are curious about what you do, how you do it, and how they can execute some of your tricks of the trade at home. Just look at the programming line up on Food Network Canada, the abundance of food and drink magazines lining the checkouts at your local grocery store, and the buffet of websites, blogs and social media accounts catering to self-proclaimed “foodies.”

Three creative star chefs and Cacao Barry chocolate proved an irresistible combination for students of George Brown College’s baking program.

To borrow from Bob Dylan, the times they are a-changing, and nowhere is that more evident than in the baking and pastry programs across the country. And the students are changing, too.

April 27, 2015, Ottawa -- Though most Canadians don't like to admit to essential skills deficiencies, a new report from the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum (CAF-FCA) suggests that individuals stand to earn more by investing in upgrading skills such as numeracy and problem-solving.

Dec. 11, 2014, Ottawa -- With 91 per cent of educators convinced skilled tradespeople will always be in demand, there is a strong case for connecting students to hands-on activities and accurate employment data, suggests a report released yesterday by the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum (CAF-FCA).