PRODUCTION BISCUIT


Biscuit production trends explored


Kennedy’s Bakery Production spoke to Morten Riisager, Managing Director of Bühler Denmark and Head of Business Unit Biscuit, to find out more about the emerging trends in this sector.


I


n May this year Bühler announced the relocation of its Biscuit Business Unit and Nordics Services & Sales (SAS) organisation to offices in Copenhagen, Denmark. This move coincided with the renaming of Haas-Meincke A/S to Bühler Denmark A/S – symbolising the final step of its integration into the Bühler Group, following the acquisition in 2018. At the same time Bühler announced the optimisation of its production footprint, with production of its ovens for biscuit and cracker lines being consolidated into a single location in Roedkaersbro, Denmark. “These relocations create a Bühler powerhouse


in the Nordics, lay the foundation for advancing our biscuit business globally, and reinforces our presence in the Nordic countries,” said Morten. “We needed a facility that would lend itself to easy collaboration and cooperation between our different departments, our partners, and our customers. The new Copenhagen offices are designed specifically for this purpose, with open meeting zones and modern facilities which allow us to host partner and customer visits and host events in an inspirational environment.”


A key requirement


One requirement that many biscuit and cracker manufacturers are interested in today is weight control. They are looking for solutions to help minimise waste and reduce giveaway. “Accurate weight control is therefore key,” said Morten. “Today, bakeries are also looking at how they can optimise their production lines to increase efficiency, and this requires the adoption of more advanced products and more accurate depositing. Along with self-optimising lines – that use data provided by smart sensors on the equipment – energy is our number one focus today.”


Morten Riisager is Managing Director of Bühler Denmark and Head of Business Unit Biscuit.


Bakeries are being tasked with reducing energy consumption for both sustainability and cost reasons. Biscuit and cracker production is an energy intensive process, so reducing energy costs for this sector is key. “Bühler’s indirect fired ovens can offer


We have


succeeded in halving the


gas consumption of our ovens, when compared to those of 20 years ago, and


it is something that we are continually working on.”


10 Kennedy’s Bakery Production August/September 2024


significant savings when compared to older ovens,” said Morten. “We have succeeded in halving the gas consumption of our ovens, when compared to those of 20 years ago, and it is something that we are continually working on. Replacing older ovens with modern ones can result in greater efficiency and reduced energy consumption which offers cost savings and reduces CO2 consumption.” For sustainability reasons, bakeries today are looking more closely at solutions that allow them to move away from traditional gas fired ovens and to meet this interest Bühler has invested in its Applications & Training Center to demonstrate how electric ovens work. “In our application centre customers are able to test their products on both gas fired and electric ovens to compare how efficient the lines are and to test how their own recipes compare using the different heating technologies.” “Of course, making a change to electric ovens


does come with some challenges, including the fact that for some customers the infrastructure to support the use of electric ovens is not yet in place – getting enough power to run electric lines can be problematic today and so we need to work closely with our customers to find a solution and to work with local authorities to see how we can support them,” continued Morten. “Governments are pushing industry to move towards more sustainable energy sources such as green electricity, but this requires the right infrastructure to be put in place to enable this to happen.” Until this happens, however, Bühler is able to offer a solution with its Turbu M oven line which enables both gas and electric power to be used on the line, giving the flexibility to switch between gas or electricity or to use them together to achieve the right the temperature in ovens and to optimise energy costs by shifting between gas and electric depending on the time of day and energy costs. This gives bakeries a good opportunity to explore the


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