COVER STORY
WHERE INNOVATION HAS TO EARN
Inside Rademaker’s Chicago Experience Centre, Kiran Grewal finds a
company taking a measured approach to innovation, combining technical testing with a long-term view of its customers, people and industry.
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here are some visits where the machinery is the story. Then there are those where the machinery becomes a means of understanding
something broader: how a company thinks, how it works with its customers and, perhaps most importantly, how it sees the future of an industry. My visit to Rademaker’s Experience Centre in
Elk Grove Village, just outside Chicago, Illinois, offered something of the latter. I was invited to spend time at the facility as Editor of Kennedy’s, to see the centre in operation, meet the people behind it and gain a closer understanding of how Rademaker is approaching the complex relationship between bakery technology, product development and industrial production. It is an interesting moment in Rademaker’s
history to make that journey. The company traces its origins back to 1977, when Theo Rademaker established the business with two employees in a garage in Soest, the Netherlands. From those modest beginnings, it developed into a global bakery technology company, establishing Rademaker BV in 1980 before moving to a dedicated production facility in Culemborg in 1981. International expansion followed, with the UK operation opening in 1983, the USA in 1984 and France in 1986. That growth has been accompanied by a
consistent investment in knowledge as well as machinery. Rademaker opened its first Technology Centre in the Netherlands in 2006, followed by further expansion and the opening of a new Technology Centre in 2021. The company’s history is therefore not simply one of manufacturing increasingly sophisticated equipment; it is also one of building the technical expertise required to understand dough, products and production processes at scale.
The Chicago Experience Centre is the latest
expression of that philosophy. Opened in 2024, coinciding with Rademaker USA’s 40th anniversary, the facility was established to give North American customers access to product testing, demonstrations, training and broader technical support without having to travel to the Netherlands. Rademaker describes it as a US hub for testing, demonstrations and system integration, equipped with multiple production lines and processing equipment to provide an end-to-end testing environment. But what struck me during the visit was that
the centre is not really about demonstrating how quickly a machine can run. Its value lies in creating the conditions in which questions can be asked before a major production decision is made. Rademaker is, by its own admission and in
the way it operates, a relatively conservative business. That does not mean being resistant to innovation. Rather, there is a clear reluctance
to make changes simply because something new has appeared on the market. Technology is assessed, tested and considered before it becomes part of a solution. The emphasis is on evidence rather than trends, and on understanding whether an innovation genuinely improves a process, a product or an operation. That philosophy is particularly relevant at a time when bakeries are being presented with an expanding range of automation, digital technology and production possibilities. At the Experience Centre, ideas can be tested against real ingredients, real doughs and real equipment before they become expensive commitments. Rademaker’s own description of its test facilities emphasises the ability to test and refine bakery processes with specialist technologists and test bakers, rather than simply demonstrating machinery in isolation. There is also something notably human about the way the company approaches that technological future.
THE EMPHASIS IS ON EVIDENCE RATHER THAN TRENDS, AND ON UNDERSTANDING WHETHER AN INNOVATION GENUINELY IMPROVES A PROCESS, A PRODUCT OR AN OPERATION
A part of the community During my time at the facility, conversations repeatedly returned to people: the skills required to operate increasingly automated bakeries, the importance of long-standing customer relationships, the role of local communities and the responsibility that comes with being a sizeable employer and business. Rademaker’s involvement with The Women’s Bakery in Rwanda is one example. The partnership, which began in 2017, brings together Rademaker’s technical expertise with a social enterprise focused on empowering women and improving access to affordable, quality bakery products. Rademaker provides technical training and process support, assistance with product
10 • KENNEDY’S BAKERY PRODUCTION • AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2026
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