p.26 GC Tucker - BW Spring 2013_p.26 GC Tucker - BW Spring 2013.qxd 13/03/2013 09:46 Page 26
GUEST ColUMn
with Campden BRI
it’s time
to train
Dr Gary Tucker, Head of Baking and Cereals Processing at
Campden BRI, points out the need for the industrial bakery
sector to train bakers with a different set of skills as
demands change.
Gary
Tucker
GUESTColUMn
Head of Baking
Campden BRI
Campden BRI is the UK’s
largest independent
membership-based
organisation carrying out
research and
development for the food
and drinks industry
worldwide.
It is committed to
providing industry with
the research, technical
and advisory services
needed to ensure product
safety and quality, process
efficiency and product
and process innovation.
Dr Gary Tucker is Head
of Baking and Cereals.
T
he UK baking sector is a £3
billion industry employing over
20,000 people to supply the
nation's daily bread.
With the UK getting through some
10 million loaves of bread per day,
the baking sector is a vitally
important part of the food
manufacturing industry. The sector
has gone through significant changes
throughout the years.
In days gone by, every town and
village would have had its own
small, independent bakery manned
by local, highly skilled, craft bakers
who started work in the early hours
of the morning to produce relatively
small quantities of fresh loaves, rolls,
cakes and other baked goods from
scratch.
learning on the job...
26
Today, many of the small
independents have long gone and
the vast majority of our bread is
produced by large plant bakeries
manufacturing bread and bakery
products on a massive, industrial
scale.
The Federation of Bakers (FOB)
reports that some 80 per cent of the
bread sold in the UK is produced by
plant bakeries, 17 per cent by instore bakeries and just 3 per cent
produced by craft or artisanal
bakeries.
TraininG nEEdS
These changes have had a
significant bearing on the training
needs of the baking industry.
For the majority of bakers, the
development of specialist scratch
baking skills is no longer a
priority.
Instead, training needs centre
around how to use the machinery
and technology which has
evolved to become such a vital
part of the automated breadmaking process.
That is not to say that today’s
modern bakers require less
training than their historical
counterparts or aren’t as skilled.
Rather, plant bakers need a
different set of skills and in-depth
knowledge in order to do their
jobs effectively and this will differ
depending on the type of bakery
operation and the production
Spring 2013
BISCUIT WORLD