How to Set Up a Fresh Bakery Program

Bakery programs are an effective in-store marketing tool. From coffee shops to convenience stores and restaurants, baked goods are an effective way to boost profits by expanding revenue streams. 

In this guide, we will share how you can get your fresh bakery program up and running with labor-saving, plug-and-play commercial bakery equipment that is ventless. Here are the top four things to consider when designing a bakery program. 

1. Deliver Quality Food Products

Fresh, high-quality bakery products are the key to building a loyal customer base. Look for products that are pre-proofed and ready to bake. With a fresh bakery program, variety is also key. Specialty and seasonal items and unique flavors keep customers coming back year-round.

Crave-worthy bakery items are possible with cooking and holding equipment that delivers the highest quality and consistency. When preparing a wide array of baked offerings, the last thing you want is the flavor of savory items transferring to sweet items during the cooking process. 

Providing four independent ovens in one, Vector® and Converge® multi-cook ovens cook different food items to their ideal settings simultaneously – with zero flavor transfer. Operators are able to control temperature, fan speed and cook time in each individual oven chamber for unmatched bakery program variety. Multi-cook ovens also allow you to cook other breakfast items at the same time—to further expand your revenue streams and guarantee that the flavor and quality of your food stands out. 

2. Streamline Processes, Reduce Labor

A fresh bakery program is best coupled with coffee programs or to add variety across dayparts. Labor is always a big concern when expanding revenue streams. Operators want to know that their staff and crew members will be able to keep up with demand across multiple food programs, while also being able to provide customers with quality service. 

Multi-cook ovens are designed to streamline workflows. Structured Air® Technology delivers optimized, focused heat that provides faster, more even and consistent cooking than other cooking methods. This ensures your staff can focus on customers and other tasks—by eliminating the need to rotate pans and babysit the oven to achieve consistent, high-quality bakery products. 

Additionally, programmable recipes help eliminate steps in food production. Operators are able to create an online database of recipes with ChefLinc™ cloud-based remote oven management. Using an intuitive dashboard, recipes can be pushed to or pulled from ovens remotely. The ability to pre-program recipes is the key to ensure consistency across multiple locations. No matter who cooks the item, it will come out the exact same way, every time.

3. Maximize Kitchen Space With Flexible Equipment to Lower Operating Costs

To achieve a greater return on investment, it’s also crucial to identify ways to save on operating costs with ventless, efficient equipment. Kitchen spaces are shrinking, and in some operations, nonexistent. As costs continue to rise, operators now have to do more with less space, working to save money on building costs, monthly rent, labor and overhead. 

As a solution to their space challenges, operators are discovering ventless cooking equipment. Ventless equipment provides added design flexibility. This equipment can be placed anywhere outside of a traditional kitchen hood to maximize floor space while improving efficiency and workflow. Vector and Converge multi-cook ovens are both compact and ventless, allowing you to eliminate ventilation costs and utilize your space, your way. 

4. Entice Customers with Displays

When designing your fresh bakery program, consider how you can best attract customers. Alto-Shaam provides heated shelf warmers in a variety of sizes to design displays that entice customers. With LED lighting, customizable branding and windowed sides, merchandisers put food on display in the most attractive way. 

Countertop merchandisers can be placed close to the register to encourage impulse sales. While, floor-standing models can be positioned in a window that faces the street to draw in customers. Using gentle, radiant Halo Heat® technology, heated shelf merchandisers feature independent shelf control to keep bakery items hot and fresh at the highest quality. 

Our Culinary Team is ready to support your goals, by providing free consultation on cook settings, menu development, product training and more. Receive custom, personalized support, by contacting an expert today.