Latest Innovations from Puratos: Bakery App and Rolling Kitchen

Having been editor-in-chief of F&B World Magazine and now columnist at Manilaspeak, Marilen Fontanilla is frequently on my guest list. But last week, she was the one who invited me. I got to be her ‘plus one’ at the event of Puratos Philippines.

Puratos started out as an ice cream manufacturer in Brussels, Belgium. Over the last 50 years, the company has evolved and expanded its presence to over 100 countries, including ours (Puratos has been in the Philippines since 1988). The company creates and produces emulsifiers, enzymes, sourdoughs, yeasts, bread improvers, and mixes for use in bakeries, patisseries, and chocolatiers.

 

“Our mission is to help you be more successful with your business,” said Marketing Manager Apple Lopez-Bayongan, addressing their distributors. “We really partner with our clients, we don’t just sell you ingredients then tapos na. We do product ideation, recipe sharing,” she added.

 

 

Puratos regularly conducts a global survey on what the consumers want.  The data collected is shared with their distributors and among those reflected in the most recent version is the consumers’ preference for mobility.

“Convenience is what customers are looking for, they want everything within reach,” described Apple.

To address this, Puratos Philippines launched two ‘firsts’ that may have just secured them the title they have been eyeing, to be “the Filipino baker’s reliable partner in innovation”.

At the event, Puratos introduced the very first mobile application in the bakery industry called My Bakery. The app makes it possible for customers to know more about the products of Puratos and their uses (recipes galore!), it also allows easier access to customer service assistance, and helps find the distributor nearest you.  Ordering through the app is possible too (but expect to be charged delivery fee).

 

 

The event program proceeded to a baking demonstration by celebrity chef Rosebud Benitez (of Weigh To Go) .

She showed us how to make Brookies (brownie-cookie hybrid) using Puratos Tegral Fudgy Brownie premix and Bacon and Cheese Corn Muffins using Puratos Tegral Daily Corn Muffin premix.

While pouring and mixing, Chef Rosebud enlightened her audience on the benefits of using Puratos ingredients. She emphasized product consistency and efficiency. Despite changes in your manpower, you can be sure that your kitchen churns out products of the same quality. And because you don’t need to spend so much time and energy measuring, mixing, etc you have a chance to be more creative, to come up with more concepts, to look after other aspects of your business. Also, the use of Puratos mixes reduces raw material inventory so you can make do with smaller storage space. Plus, the mixes make it easier to do costing, less items to compute means less hassle.

Most of all, using Puratos ingredients comes with the priceless privilege of receiving support from their technical team. Aside from market information and concept sharing, Puratos also provides recipe and demo support and seminars.

But with only a single innovation center located in their Taguig office, it’s been quite a challenge to reach out to their 100 plus distributors around the Philippines.

Their innovative solution (another first!): The Move ‘N Bake truck! Now they can do baking demos just about anywhere!

“Our research and expertise will enable you to meet your challenges which are (1) to differentiate through innovation (2) to reduce costs and make sure operations is as efficient as possible and (3) to give you peace of mind. If everything is complicated and you cannot rely on us, it becomes very difficult for you to run a smooth operation. Our commitment is try to provide you with those solutions,” summarized South East Asia Area Director Bernard Poplimont before leading us to the Belcolade room filled with goodies of all shapes and sizes.

The diversity of Puratos’ line up was showcased through four booths. There was a booth with different types of bread from all over the world while another focused on our very own local bakes. The Dream Café booth made me smile with all the cute treats. The fourth booth was all about chocolate, where Cacao-Trace was briefly explained to us. It is a global program which builds upon the farmer’s local knowledge and expertise on cocoa and empowers them to be more productive and sustainable. Click on Cacao Trace to get the details.

Find out more about Puratos Philippines through their website, Facebook page, or Instagram account.