INTRODUCTION OF BAKERY INDUSTRY

One of the largest segment of the food processing industry in India is Bakery
Industry with more than 2,000 industrial bakeries producing around 1.4 million
tons of the bakery products and 1,000,000 small-scale bakeries producing 1.8
million tons of bakery products. Surprisingly (or not so surprisingly!) India is the
second largest producer of biscuits (cookies) in the world after the USA.
The bakery industry in India can be categorized into three broad sectors.

Fig: Categories of Bakery Industry in India

Some of the popular Indian bakery brands are: Britannia, Parle, ITC and Cadbury
and they compromise about 75% of the Indian market.

TRENDS
Bakery items are a food product of mass utilization in perspective of their low
cost and with fast development and changing dietary patterns of individuals,
they have picked up prevalence among the population. Nowadays people are
opting “healthy” options such as whole grain products and hence the products
such as Britannia’s Nutrichoice, Parle’s Marigold, etc., are becoming more
popular. These new trends give a way to product innovation
Bakery products are food items which generally include biscuits, cakes,
pastries, flat-bread, tortilla, chapati, bun, croissant, etc. These products
are rapidly gaining popularity owing to their pleasant taste and health-
benefits as they are made from a variety of grains such as rye, maize,
wheat, and oats among others. The other ingredients used for baking
include water, eggs, baking soda and powder, nuts, and additives. As
bakery products provide both convenience and affordability to the
consumers, their consumption level has witnessed a rise in the past few
years. As breads and biscuits are fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), they
are consumed on a daily basis by the consumers which increases the sales
of these products in India. In addition to this, growth in the fast-food chains
further stimulates the demand for breads as they are used in sandwiches,
burgers, soups, snacks, etc. Moreover, introduction of value-added bakery
products is giving an impetus to the market growth. Apart from this, busy
lifestyles, changing eating habits and western influence has reflected in a
strong demand for bakery products in India. Looking forward, the market
value is projected to exceed US$ 12 Billion by 2024, expanding at a CAGR
of 9.3% during 2019-2024.

Bakery products, due to high nutrient value and affordability, are an item of
huge consumption. Due to the rapid population rise, the rising foreign influence,
the emergence of a female working population and the fluctuating eating habits
of people, they have gained popularity among people, contributing significantly
to the growth trajectory of the bakery industry. Bakery holds an important place
in food processing industry and is a traditional activity. With regard to bakery
products, consumers are demanding newer options, and the industry has been
experiencing fortification of bakery products in order to satiate the burgeoning
appetite of the health-conscious Indian. A number of healthy products have
been launched in the bakery segment, and are gaining popularity at a high rate.
The mounting presence of bakery chains has further triggered the growth in the
sector.
Indian scenario
India is the world’s second largest producer of food next to China, and has the
potential of being the biggest with its food and agricultural sector. The Indian
bakery industry is one of the biggest sections in the country’s processed food
industry. Bakery products, which include bread and biscuits, form the major
baked foods accounting for over 82 per cent of the total bakery products
produced in the country. It enjoys a comparative advantage in manufacturing,
with an abundant supply of primary ingredients required by the industry, and
is the third-largest biscuit manufacturing country (after the United States and
China). The bakery segment in India can be classified into the three broad
segments of bread, biscuits and cakes. India’s organised bakery sector
produces about 1.3 million tonne of bakery products (out of three million
tonnes) while the balance is produced by unorganised, small-scale local
manufacturers. Despite the fact that there are many automatic and semi-
automatic bread and biscuit manufacturing units in India, many people still
prefer fresh bread and other products from the local bakery. Since the advent
of multinational companies (MNC) selling pizzas and burgers in the country,
people are changing their tastes also. Today, they are not restricted to bread,
cakes and biscuits, but to other bakery products also. With new launches by a
few companies like Britannia, Biskfarm and Morish, competition has increased.
Also, the Indian market is observing the establishment of bakery café chains in
the form of Barista, Café Coffee Day and Monginis. The popular biscuit variants
in India are glucose biscuits, Marie, cream biscuits, crackers, digestive biscuits,
cookies and milk biscuits. As far as the Indian biscuit market is concerned, the
shares of the branded and organised sector and the unbranded and
unorganised sectors are 60 per cent and 40 per cent respectively. Indian
bakery products, especially biscuits, are in great demand in developing
countries.
Major players in this sector, like Parle, Britannia and ITC Foods, have captured
the markets to a great extent, with Britannia holding the leadership position. In
terms of value, Britannia and Parle account for around 38 per cent share each
of the total volume of branded biscuits marketed in India. Britannia Industries,
with an expected retail value share of nine per cent of the baked goods category,
proved to be the most successful player.
Baked goods are expected to grow by constant value at a compound annual
growth rate (CAGR) of two per cent over the forecast period. The urban regions
of India witnessed rapid growth and expansion of modern retail outlets in 2020.
However, modern retail outlets, such as hypermarkets and supermarkets,
continued to remain low, compared to the overall retail scenario in India. Some
of these modern retail outlets also had dedicated sections to bakery products.
Organised and unorganised bread players contribute around 45 per cent and 55
per cent of the total bread production, respectively. The organised sector
comprises around 1,800 small-scale bread manufactures around India, 25
medium-scale manufacturers and two large-scale industries. The branded
packaged segment in this sector was estimated to be worth Rs 17,000 crore in
2012, and is expected to grow at 13-15 per cent in the next three to four years.
Three or four large-sized players (namely, Britannia, Parle, ITC and Cadbury’s)
constitute 75 per cent of the market. The bread and cake market is much more
fragmented, with multiple regional and local players. The major players in the
bread segment are Britannia and Modern Industries Ltd, who hold about 90 per
cent of the market share includes Britannia and Modern Industries Ltd. Apart
from these two, there are a few large regional players, such as Spencer’s in
South India, Kitty and Bonn in Punjab and Harvest Gold and Perfect in Delhi and
the National Capital Region (NCR).
Market Summary:

 Based on product type, the market has been segmented in breads and
rolls, cakes and pastries, rusks and biscuits. Currently, biscuits
dominate the Indian bakery market, holding the largest share.
 On the basis of distribution channel, convenience stores represent the
largest segment, followed by supermarkets and hypermarkets,
independent retailers and artisanal bakeries.
 The competitive landscape of the market has also been examined with
some of the key players being Britannia, ITC and Parle.
The bakery industry in India has witnessed an annual growth rate of more than 15 per cent during the
past years. There is an immense growth potential in the global and domestic markets. The unorganised
bread sector comprises an estimated 75,000 bread bakers, mostly located in the residential areas of
cities and towns. Thirty-five per cent of the total production comes from the small scale sector, with
about 1,500-1,800 units in operation. As the bread industry is a low-margin business, cost control is
crucial in sustaining profitability in the long run.

Innovation
With the advanced aspiration for increased socialisation, Indian consumers are forcing the
demand for more hang-out options. The segment’s innovation has powered the rise of newer
café formats like bakery cafés, which reverse the concept of cafés by extending existing
bakeries and chocolate retailers to offer complementary beverage items.
Thus, unlike a regular café, a bakery café is, at the core, a provider of baked food, with the
beverage segment only a complement to the menu. A typical bakery café menu includes a
wide selection of breads, encompassing such exotic variants as wheat, rye, five-grain,
multigrain, cracked wheat, flute, baguettes and ciabatta, and other baked goodies like
brioches, croissants, cookies, muffins, cakes, scones, strudels, brownies, pies and puffs. The
menu may also feature soups, salads, and other dishes, made using wholesome, locally-
sourced ingredients, cooked and served fresh. These can include eggs in various avatars,
freshly-made sandwiches, rolls, wraps and baked beans on toast. The concept of bakeries and
bakery cafés, although it has gained traction in recent years, is not new to India. Earlier,
bakeries were set up as a result of the British influence. Concepts like Wenger’s in New Delhi
provided a unique proposition at that time, which set the pace for the growth of bakeries and
bakery cafés in the post-Independence era. Whether they are an extension of existing
bakeries, or a menu-wise expansion of a café, bakery cafés have become popular as a unique
way of dealing with the classic dilemma for any café format, i.e. how to drive sales at all hours
of the day. Traditionally, cafés, due to their strong beverage focus, used to see a lull in the
visitor count during lunch and dinner time. The addition of a food component not only helped
these cafés realize additional revenues by catering to traditionally non–peak periods, but also
offered their customers another eatery to frequent at mealtimes. Constant product
innovation is a major challenge for a bakery café. Given that many of the food products
offered at bakery cafés are best enjoyed absolutely fresh, efficient production and inventory
management is a must-tackle challenge. Despite the challenges faced by bakery cafés, the
concept has a strong footing in the market today, and looks set to grow in several cities,
adding multiple brands to its fold. The bakery industry would enjoy more innovative ideas and
concepts, and is expected to grow with the growing awareness and a flourishing economic
environment.

Bakery Units in Cachar:

There are around 22 active bakery units in Cachar
 CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR BAKERY UNITS IN CACAHAR
Bakers also face a few challenges, such as:
 Longevity of Product due to bad packaging.
 Fluctuation IN raw MATERIALS PRICES specially during rainy and off seasons.
 transportation and logistics and storage issue
 packaging, branding and levelling issues.
 Unskilled labour at work and labours shifting to organised sector from Bakery
units
 Tough Competition from Big players like ITC, Cadbury, Marico, Britannia, Bisk-
farm and etc.
 Unavailability of Technical expert and Service engineers in case of Machine
break down as a result holt in production
 Limited Ingredient suppliers like Sweeteners, colours Nuts and etc cause delay
in production.
 Lack of awareness about latest development and technology upgradation
 Government regulations;
 Demand-supply chain;
 Rising prices of flour (maida), the major ingredient, and other raw materials such
as oil, fat and eggs, and
 The price-sensitivity of the market and unhealthy competition in market.
 No entry Barriers for new entrant in Bakery Market.

The challenges would be category-specific. The biscuit category has seen
rapid growth in the last few years. The implementation of packaging
standardisation norms appears to be the big challenge. Volatility in input costs
is expected to remain, and this would add to the woes. In bread, profitability has
remained the focal point for some time. Players have been looking to increase
the share of value-added products, while focussing on operational efficiencies
linked to daily distribution. The challenge for cakes would be to expand the
consumption of packaged cakes. In fact, this challenge is also a significant
opportunity for this particular segment. With the right enablers from product
and supply chain, this is a category waiting to explode. To overcome the
challenge of rising production costs, many national and international companies
have come forward with solutions to reduce the production costs by offering on-
site trial demonstrations, which would reduce the percentage of gluten, fat, eggs
and oil used in the recipe. Apart from this, it would also help to improve the
nutritional value of the end-product by reducing the usage of harmful chemicals
and improved appeal.
Current research on the retail bakery industry

The bakery industry in India today has an important place in the industrial map
of the country. Moving ahead, the sector is expected to see more international
brands entering the Indian market. If the reports are to be believed, the bakery
industry has achieved third position in generating revenue among the
processed food sector. The market size for the industry was pegged at $4.7
billion in 2010, and is expected to reach $7.6 billion by 2015. The report also
mentioned that the shining star of the sector remains the biscuit segment,
which is expected to outperform the growth of the sector overall. While the
figures are indeed encouraging, there is a flip side to this story. As the business
and the industry thrives, the challenges accruing out of it are also growing at a
fast pace. Admittedly, the Indian bakery industry is not really geared up to face
the daunting task that lies ahead, which is of striking a balance. Like many
industries, retail bakeries see rising costs in fuel, healthcare and other
expenditures cut into their bottom lines and increase the costs of doing
business. However, there has been an uptick in demand, including trends, such
as cupcake stores and gluten-free baked goods. Driven by the evolving
perception of bakery products in India and the changing consumer
preferences, the Indian bakery industry would touch levels of Rs 483 billion in
the next five years.

The major activities in the bakery industry comprise of the following: a)

Receiving & storing of raw material. b) Manufacturing & packing of bakery
products. c) Storage/Warehousing & Transportation of bakery products All the
above activities may or may not be carried by the same facility. Hence, based on
their position in the food supply chain, a bakery industry could use the guidance
document accordingly as per the operations applicable to them. This document
provides guidance for FSMS implementation for the following bakery products.
a) Biscuits b) Bread c) Cakes & pies The document is divided into five main
sections. The first section gives an overview of the bakery industry in India along
with the rising need for food safety in the sector. The second section contains
guidance for implementation of good manufacturing practices and good hygiene
practices as outlined in Part II of Schedule 4 of Food Safety & Standard (Licensing
& Registration of Food Businesses) Regulation, 2011. The document has
specified requirements where compliance is essential and obligatory for food
businesses and in such cases the word “shall” is used. In addition, certain good
practices are also strongly advised for food safety operation & in such case
“should” is used. The third section of this document is recommendatory in
nature and provides the basic knowledge and criteria for implementation of
Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) system by the food
businesses. This section includes the manufacturing flow chart & two tables:
Hazard Analysis and HACCP Plans. Tables of Hazard Analysis is expected to help
the industry to identify the food safety risks related to each processing step, to
identify the Critical Control Points (CCPs) along with recommended corrective
actions and other related information. Sample HACCP Plans have been taken
from some established practising bakery industries. These plans could be used
as reference by the industry and modified or altered based on their operations.
The fourth section provides an inspection checklist for Food Business Operator
to audit their facility & operations. The FBOs can evaluate themselves based on
the indicative scoring. The last section gives important templates and forms
which will be required by FBOs to maintain the records. This includes mandatory
forms as prescribed by FSSAI & few templates for maintaining records of
processes critical for food safety.

OVERVIEW OF BAKERY INDUSTRY IN INDIA

The bakery sector comprises the largest segment of the food processing sector
in India and offers huge potential for growth. In India there are more than 2,000
organised or semi organised bakeries producing around 1.3 million tonnes of the
bakery products and 1,000,000 unorganised small-scale bakeries producing 1.7
million tonnes. Bread and biscuits are the most popular bakery items and
account for 80% of the total market. Not surprisingly, India is the world’s second-
largest producer of biscuits after the USA. The bakery industry has achieved third
position in generating revenue in the processed food sector. The market size for
the industry was estimated to be worth US$ 7.6 billion in 2015. Bakery products
are an item of mass consumption in view of their low price and with rapid
growth and changing eating habits of people, bakery products have gained
popularity among masses. Trends in baking continue toward lighter, healthier
products, and those containing allergen-free, organic, and whole-grain
ingredients. Interest in inclusions and fortification continues to increase among
consumers of baked goods. They include fibre, antioxidants, omega-3 oils, and
vitamin and mineral fortifications. The addition of inclusions to baked products
requires modifications to the original product formula, thus creating a new
product from an existing one. Such modifications can be challenging to bakers
as changes in formulation may result in the need for changes to equipment,
processes and ingredient costs. The use of whole and alternative grains and
grain products continues to drive new product development. In response to the
demand for products that are free from gluten and other allergens, baked goods
using flours made from buckwheat, quinoa, millet, amaranth, flax, corn, rice,
sorghum, wild rice, and other non-wheat grains remain a popular trend in
baking. These flours offer tastes and textures that are uniquely different from
wheat flours, which also serve the trend toward more types of artisan and
handcrafted breads. Commercial bakeries that produce gluten-free products
must maintain strict sanitation standards to avoid contamination if products
containing gluten are also produced in the bakery. Key issues that the industry
is facing include the need for improvements in hygienic practices as well as
technology apart from availability of skilled manpower at all levels of bakery
operations. The lack of technology and upgradation in manufacturing and
packaging has been a factor affecting industry growth. Most of Indian bakeries
are either manual or semi-automatic. Increased competition and changing
customer choices have induced bakery operators to look for sophisticated
baking equipment and technology to sustain growth and improve standards.
Bakery skills are in strong demand in the bakery and hospitality industries. The
sector reports a strong need for more training institutes which can produce
skilled workers who are knowledgeable not only about the trade but are also
competent in implementing the food safety and hygiene requirements
prescribed in the country’s food laws

bakery equipment and Machineries such as

 Mixers – weigh the ingredients and put them into blending machines
 Dough molders/ Chunker operators – operate machines that shape the balls
into loaves
 Divider machine operators – control the machines that shape dough into
small balls
 Proofer operators – allows the fermentation process
 Oven – bake the goods, carefully watching time and temperature

Major Allergens and Ingredients are
 Enzymes
 Preservatives
 Starch
 Fiber
 Colour and sweeteners
 Flavors
 Antimicrobials and Anti-oxidants
 Emulsifiers
  – 1. Cereals containing gluten; i.e., wheat, rye, barley, oats, spelt or their
hybridized strains and products of these;
 2. Crustacean and products of these;
 3. Eggs and egg products;
 4. Fish and fish products;
 5. Soybeans and products of these;
 6. Milk and milk products (lactose included);
 7. Peanut, tree nuts and nut products; and
 8. Sulphite in concentrations of 10 mg/kg or more.”

CRITICAL POINTS IN PROCESSING in BAKERY UNITS ARE –

Issue of raw material from store to processing

Only accepted material to be issued on First-Expiry-First-Out (FEFO) basis for raw
materials and First-In-First-Out (FIFO) for packaging materials. - Take out ready-
to-eat products containing lightly-cooked or uncooked eggs (e.g. butter, cream,
icing, mayonnaise, mousse) what is necessary from the chiller are supplied in
small batches. - Wherever thawing before use is a requirement (e.g. for
compressed yeast, butter which are stored at lower temperature condition),
required quantity of material should be thawed and issued at a time to
Production. In case if thawed material cannot be consumed it shall be stored
back in Deep Freezer. - Care to be taken to prevent deterioration of the material
due to long storage under high temperature in processing area.

Material Preparation
Sieve all incoming ingredients, intermediates and add backs (if any) through
appropriate standard mesh. If sieving is not feasible for example, oat flakes,
viscous liquids, manual sorting and visual inspection shall be done. - Keep sieved
ingredients/ additives in clean and dedicated containers / jars with proper
identification, suitably above the floor. The recommended practices while
handling eggs are: - Eggs are to be washed or cleaned before use to avoid any
food cross contamination. - Pool required number of eggs just before use and
break them (also known as ‘pooling’). - Raw eggs are to be prepared away from
other food, especially cooked/ready-to-eat food to avoid cross-contamination.
Processing Use equipment namely, storage bins, sifters, dough mixers, rounder,
dough dividers, racks, slicers, proofing equipment, oven, rollers, conveyors or
utensils like baking pans, pans, bowls, trays, spoons, spatulas, beaters, which are
clean, free from contaminants, evidence of insect or rodent infestation and
maintained in good repair. - Check the equipment for smooth edge, devoid of
spot welding and any paint flaking. - Maintain temperature and humidity in
proofing equipment, ovens and cooling area. - Maintain supply of filtered air to
the processing area. - Use a fine dust mask for silo cleaning and for other heavily
dust laden activities.

Premixing
Sieve flour through minimum BSS 30 mesh supplemented with a magnetic grill.
Regularly clean the sieve. - Reject consignment of flour if weevils are observed.
- Introduce a periodic cleaning mechanism to prevent cross contamination and
dust generation and to ensure safe collection of unwanted materials like dust,
dirt, foreign objects if any. - Use Good Practices such as vacuum cleaning,
collection of debris through sodium hypochlorite. - Pass sugar through magnetic
grill before use. Ensure periodic cleaning of the magnetic grill. - Use egg trays
free from dirt or pests - Collect broken egg shells in plastic bags and dispose off
at regular intervals. Do not reuse such bag.

Mixing
Clean and dry mixing room without any spillage. - All mixing utensils are free
from grease and old batter. - Washing of mixing bowls, beaters and scrappers
with hot water at least once in 24 hours. - Place mixers, bowls and tilts above
the floor level for easy access while cleaning which otherwise becomes a
neglected area and a breeding place/ infestation by pests. - Use strainer for
adding egg whisk while mixing. Clean the strainer with hot water at least once
in each shift followed by swabbing with sodium hypochlorite solution. Keep the
strainer dipped in 500 ppm sodium hypochlorite solution, when not in use. -
Clean the Mixing Room floor with hot water followed by mopping with sodium
hypochlorite solution or other disinfectants and floor cleaners.

Forming
Capture wet weight at pre-defined internal frequency to avoid underweight and
weight variations. However, it is preferable to check the biscuit/ cookie weight
at oven end rather the forming, as this creates empty band patches which lead
to edge dark biscuit/ cookies, a reason for consumer non-acceptance. - Ensure
thorough cleaning, verification and maintaining record wherever milk spray
units or nut or sugar sprinkling units are used in forming section.

Baking
Periodically cleaning the Baking Room, followed by mopping with 500 ppm
sodium hypochlorite solution or other appropriate floor odourless cleaners and
maintaining it dry. - Maintain Ozonizer discharge in the baking room at 5 g per
hour level, wherever necessitated. - Mop the cake cooling trolleys daily with 500
ppm sodium hypochlorite solution. - Keep the Reference samples of finished
product in daylight colour cabinets with white background, to evaluate the
product for its colour.

Cooling
Biscuits and bar cakes are to be transferred immediately after baking to the
ambient room. - Maintaining positive pressure in ambient room. - Maintaining
Ozoniser discharge in ambient room at 2 g per hour level, wherever required. -
Always putting on UV lights during cooling of cakes. - Restricting entry of
personnel entry in this room when the UV light is on. - Passing the product
through metal detector. - Cleaning the room, mopping of floor with 500 ppm
sodium hypochlorite solution or other appropriate sanitizers at least once in
each shift and drying. - Checking the cooling canvas on daily basis for its physical
conditions (like threads). Stitching torn canvases properly without keeping loose
threads behind. - Cleaning of supporting rollers, scrapper knife and catch trays
as and when required. - Use of disinfectant solution by workmen for disinfecting
their hands before unloading cakes. - Cakes/ Pies can also be cooled under air
conditioning provided with HEPA filtered air. Forced cooling at slab cooling room
- Cleaning of the room and keeping it dry. - Weekly sanitizing the room with 500
ppm sodium hypochlorite solution. - Always putting on UV lights during cooling
of cakes. - Restricting entry of personnel entry in this room when the UV light is
on. - Maintaining room temperature at 8-100 C with appropriate recording.

Sandwiching/ Mallow/ Centre filled application

Weigh raw materials for crème preparation in quantities as mentioned in the
recipe. - Sieve specific ingredients of crème and/or mallow and pass through
magnetic grills. - pass sandwich pass through metal detector to avoid any
presence of metal in the product.

Enrobing
Wherever pie enrobing is done, monitoring the enrobed cake weight. 28 | P a g
e - Passing the enrobed cake through cooling tunnel at a pre-defined
temperature. - To ensure surface sanitation, then passing the enrobed cake
through metal detector followed by UV light irradiation.

Slicing/Packing of Products
Cooling baked products in clean cooling chambers and tunnels. - Cooling bread
by passing cool humidified air over the product. - Clearing crumbles that are left
after slicing the products. - Spraying potassium sorbate uniformly on top surface
of naked bar cakes before packing, if needed. - Filtering the air of sorbate spray
line through an Ultra Filtration Unit periodically checked and changed. - Using
clean food grade packaging to pack the products. Exposing of PVC trays, cakes
and wrappers to UV light preferably before packing. - Sterilizing slicer blades and
conveyor belts with isopropyl alcohol at least 3 times in each shift or as and
when required. - Maintain temperature of cake slabs at the time of packing out
from the slab cooling room within the range of 14 – 190 C. - Keeping control
samples in a separate designated place. This is required to retest the samples
during any special cases like customer complaints

Air Handling Unit (wherever required)

Maintaining the Air Handling Unit inside the pre-slab and oven room. Positive
pressure is maintained in the order Pre-slab room > oven room. - Air is blown
inside the oven and Pre-slab room through sets of micro filters – first through
20 microns, then through 10 microns and finally through 5 micron filter for the
oven room. - Additionally the air is passed through HEPA filter for pre-slab room.
- Cleaning of 20 and 10 micron filters by water and 5-micron filter by forced air
at least once in a fortnight or as required. - HEPA filter is changed when the same
is choked or non-functional

1 PROCESS FLOW CHART OF

BISCUITS Receipt of Raw Materials
Receipt of Raw Materials Quality Clearance
Quality Clearance Storage of Raw Materials
Storage of Raw Materials Issue to Processing
Issue of Raw Materials to Processing Preparation and Sieving
Material Preparation and Sieving Weighing and Premixing
Weighing and Premixing Mixing as per Standardised Recipe
Mixing as per Standardised Recipe Forming
Forming Baking
Baking and Garnishing/Oiling Cooling
Cooling Sandwiching/ Enrobing Sandwiching/ Mallow application
Crème application Enrobing and Cooling
Packaging & Labelling Packaging & Labelling
Quality Evaluation, Clearance of Quality Evaluation and Clearance of
Biscuits Pies
Storage Storage of Finished Products
Loading and Dispatch of Biscuits Loading and Dispatch of Pies
• Mallow preparation

FLOW CHAT OF PIES PROCESS FLOW CHART FOR BREAD

Receipt of Raw Materials Receipt of Raw Materials
Quality Clearance Quality Clearance
Storage of Raw Materials Storage of Raw Materials
Issue to Processing Issue to Processing
Material Sieving Sieving
Preparation as per Standardised Preparation as per Standardised
Recipe Recipe
First Mixing Mixing for batter preparation
Bulk fermentation (BFT process) Transfer of batter into Moulds
Second Mixing (frames)
Dividing and Rounding
Interproofing
Moulding
Final Proofing Baking
Baking Cooling at Ambient Temperature
Depanning and
Cooling Forced Cooling of Cake
Slicing and Packaging Slicing and Packing
Quality Evaluation, Clearance of Quality Evaluation of Finished
Bread Products
Storage of Finished Bread Storage
Loading and Dispatch of Breads Loading and Dispatch of Cake

PROCESS FLOW CHART FOR CAKES

CONCLUSIONS AND SUMMARY

Purchasing
It can be concluded that purchasing side of bread manufacturers is generally
costly due to critical shortage of bread flour, linked to forced use of expensive
suppliers and high transport charges faced by both wheat and millers. Depth
interview results with farmers and miller’s representatives indicated that local
shortage of wheat is influenced by unpredictable climatic behaviour, lack of
adequate agricultural financing and water shortages in wheat farms. The key
supply chain strategies established in the study include use of new suppliers,
contract farming of wheat by millers, lobbying for government subsidies and
negotiating for lower prices with existing suppliers

Production
The research concludes by stressing that bread manufacturing sub-chain are
leading to high bread prices due to shortage of electricity and other power
supplies, failure by machinery, material wastage and defects in production, use
of low capacity machinery, use of semi-skilled and unmotivated employees, high
labour costs and problems in bread production scheduling and operations
management. Depth interviews indicated that use of own electricity generators
are more expensive to bakeries and supermarkets. The conversion inefficiencies
in preparing the dough and mixing were noted as key cost drivers in the
production level (value chain) supply chain. Strategies for upgrading the cost
structure at this stage of the supply chain include use of cheaper energy sources,
use of large capacity machinery, and use of long production runs, implementing
strict quality assurance approaches and engaging highly skilled labour.

Consumers and Demand

The study found out that bread consumers are not sensitive to price increases.
The bread was not seen as a basic product by consumers Customers’ income
was perceived as inadequate to purchase high priced bread. Customers want
attractive brands and packaging. This might be adding to overall bread costs and
price. Bread is not somehow seen as value for money by consumers. The study
somehow established that there are less customers of bread than what bread
manufacturers and retailers expected. There was generally a weak positive
correlation on the perception of bread bakeries/retailers and bread consumers
on the customer and demand issues that influence pricing of bread. On the
expectations of bread consumers, the study established that consumers want
improvement in ingredients. Consumers somehow agreed that a reduction in
price can lead them to purchase more bread. Consumers were uncertain on
whether they will allocate more money to bread if its price falls. The study can
conclude that bread consumers were generally saying their taste will change
over time.

Policy framework
The policy is not supporting the bread industry at all. There is lack of policy
consistence and a good business culture. Policies influencing GST and other
tariffs are hiking the price of raw materials.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE BAKERY INDUSTRY SUPPLY CHAIN

Policy change
The bread flour should be GST free or al low cap so as to encourage more
quantities of wheat to be attracted in the Cachar bread value chain. Price and
standard control of bread can yield effective lower prices.
Collaboration and Cooperation
There is need for companies in the baking industry to have some sort of
collaboration in order to solve the bottlenecks in the supply chain and overcome
bumps in demand or supply chain. Business to business relationships should be
created between suppliers of raw materials and bakeries by having better
information, integration enables the improvement of customer service and
production cost reduction which will in turn reduce the retail price of bread.

Innovation
There is need to manage all aspects of the supply chain to improve customer
services levels and reduce costs. There is need to engineer the supply chain to
be highly efficient. Bakeries, millers and retailers must be able engineer their
activities to meet each other’s demand at all times at the lowest cost possible
this can only be done through integration. An intergraded supply chain gives
room for innovation agreements between retailers and bread producers, and
those of millers and bakeries give room to strategies such as Just In Time which
will cut on storage costs and zero lead-time leading to a reduction of waste and
inefficiencies hence lowered retail price.

Planning and control of the supply chain

There is need for every player in the supply chain to carefully plan their
activities, well planned wheat supplier activities mean the outbound logistics are
well organised to meet the needs of the purchasing units in this case the millers.
The supply chain should be controlled at every point; this can be achieved by
every player making informed decisions on both their supplier side and demand
side.

Rationalisation of supplier base

Who exactly is the supplier in the bread industry? This is a very pertinent
question in answering the efficiency problem in the supply chain. The answer is
to be customer focused. The best suppliers are those that provide customer
satisfaction. A backward integration approach is required to analyse the
suppliers, screening of the suppliers. The most efficient are those who supply
raw materials on time and at low cost, and meet demand for bread. This can be
achieved by reducing the number of sprouted suppliers at every level of the
supply chain; this can be done by maintaining good relationships which will put
pressure on the supply side to have a social responsibility effort towards their
purchasing company. In the long run this will give rise to benefits such as
quantity discounts.
 Customer relationship
The supply chain must emphasise on creating B2B (Business to business)
relationships along the chain and B2C (business to customer) at the end of the
chain. Customer loyalty should be created between suppliers who provide
inputs; this will enable a consistent and permanent supply of raw materials into
the supply chain. Retailers should also have close relationships with the ultimate
consumer’s to understand their purchasing patterns and hence control the level
of stock in the shop or in the case of in- house bakeries the amount of bread
baked will match customer demand at all times reducing waste and
inefficiencies and hence enabling a lower priced loaf of bread.

Supply chain
best practice Best practices means understanding your operations and your
costs thoroughly, getting the best return on investment, satisfying your
customers and understanding that you are never done with the job. Best
practices involve making the right choice of suppliers and supplier routes that
are less costly and provide more efficiency for the bread industry. It also involves
an element of sustained effort that attempts to stick to a permanent and
adaptive supply chain.

Adaptive and flexible supply chain

The Cachar supply chain needs to be organised in such a way that it is open to
change. An integrated supply chain does not need to be rigid. The purchasing
firms in this case bakeries/retailers should be in a position to have supplier
databases and customer organisation databases. This will enable information on
issues such as demand and costs of raw materials to assist in the planning and
forecasting. Supplier data bases will also assist in establishing the lowest
possible switching costs in cases where the situation demands for a switch in
suppliers.

Capital Injection
There is need for a capital injection into the supply chain in order to improve on
liquidity. The entire supply chain is faced with a high liquidity crisis. Government
intervention is required in the form of capital injection in order to boost the
bakery industry’s operations in Cachar.
Meetings with all the Industry leaders of Bakery Units of CACHAR

Visit to TarakNath Bakery Unit in Cachar