2020 was a big year for baking. The pandemic-run world we lived in during 2020 showed a shift in eating-at-home and particularly in the bakery business, sparking dramatic growth. According to Commercial Baking Magazine, center-store and perimeter bakeries grew a combined 60% during the peak covid timeframe and continued to grow at a rate of 25% even during the time when things were normalizing again. This growth during an unsure and scary time shows the tremendous value of the baking industry, and we should continue to see the growth rates continue for years to come.

As the industry expects growth, bakeries are going to start looking more into automating their production. From larger commercial mixing equipment, bakery sheeters, dough dividers and rounders and more, bakers are going to need to keep up with an increase in demand. It isn’t just the small retail bakeries either. The larger wholesale bakeries are going to need industrial bakery equipment to help stay atop the industry growth rate that is currently predicted to increase each year.

Luckily, Empire is fully prepared for the industry growth and ready to assist bakers to increase their production and help ensure success during a time where demand for baked products is at an all-time high. Empire offers a variety of bakery equipment such as bakery mixers, bakery sheeters, cookie machines, and dough production equipment that all assist in speeding up production without having to ever sacrifice quality.

The Empire line of Bakery Mixers features the IRIS Stationary Bowl Spiral Mixers, commercial dough mixers with removable bowls, and vertical dough mixers with planetary motion. Empire Planetary Mixers offer versatility with the ability to blend, aerate and mix ingredients. Empire’s Spiral Mixers allow for optimal ingredient blending and dough development with capacities up to 600+lbs of dough. The Removable Bowl Spiral Mixers are the perfect tool for running several production lines or utilize the bowls for long floor-time dough. There is no doubt the Empire’s line of reliable dough mixers will help you automate and increase your bakery’s production.

Manual dough handling is an everyday task that can be extremely time-consuming for a baker. Empire offers a variety of dough handling equipment that takes the arduous tasks of dividing, rounding and sheeting and automates the process. Empire Dough Sheeters are available in three configurations from table-top to industrial in order to accommodate bakeries both large and small. The Dough Dividers and Dough Rounders Empire offers are available in a variety of configurations to best fit a bakery’s needs and allowing them to speed up the dough production process to be more efficient and keep up with the growing demand that is trending in the industry.

For those bakeries who are in the cookie business, Empire has the solution for you to increase your cookie production. Empire’s complete line of Cookie Depositors can offer you a production rate of up to 7 trays per minute! The cutting-edge technology of Empire’s Cookie Depositors, with its 200-recipe memory capacity, allows bakers to produce a variety of cookies in a fraction of the time it takes to hand-pipe or mould cookie doughs.

The world has changed significantly in the last few years and the bakery industry is seeing those changes in the form of growth and demand. When it comes to increasing and automating your production, Empire has the solutions for you to keep up with demand and increase your profits!