The company which makes industrial baking equipment for fresh, frozen, cooked or pre-cooked bread, cakes and pastries, around the world, is on a campaign to evolve with the times and modernize its equipment in response to changes in consumer behaviour as trends in premiumization, snacking and healthy eating grow.
'Savoir-faire'
Last year it also ran trials with 100 customers worldwide testing various ingredients on its machines from the country of origin of its clients.
“The evolution of our equipment is very interesting,” said Raymond Nogael, group director, marekting, Mecatherm.
“There are three main parameters which are critical for the consumer in the market right now; premiumization where people are looking for more rustic, artisanal, fresh products, snacking on-the-go, where people can eat at any time of the day and small portion sizes, and healthy eating, people are looking towards more natural, organic, healthy products to live longer.”
Nogael said Mecatherm is known for its crusty bread and baguettes, which is its French ‘Savoir Faire’. He added, it has sold a lot of production lines for this product but now it is focusing on other areas, such as soft bakery and pastries.
“With the prospect of new customers and innovation and with new client references we have been able to move into 50% crusty bread and 50% soft products,” added Nogael.
International growth
“We want to move into more diverse and flexible products, with mid-size and industrial customers based on the current trends in the market. To target these customers we need to be more de-localized and grow internationally.
“In Atlanta we have two people and hope to recruit a third, we want to catch and attract the market in Latin America with our office in Mexico and we opened a subsidiary in Kuala Lumpur five months ago to be closer to our future customers in Southeast Asia.
“In developing our soft bakery and pastry machinery we are focusing on the patisserie market for sponge cakes, tarts and macarons.
“This market is growing not just in terms of volume but in terms of snacking. We have seen growth in this area and we have been able to sell a lot of ovens dedicated to this activity.”
Mecatherm plans to showcase its machinery at IBA in Munich, Germany, this year (September 15-20).
