Buffalo, N.Y.-based Rich Products Corp. has pioneered the industry’s first line of fresh bread that can be taken directly from the freezer and baked in the oven, eliminating the time-consuming preparing and “proofing” process otherwise necessary to make freshly baked bread. Patents are pending on the dough recipe and the manufacturing technology.
Rich's proprietary Fresh ‘n Ready Classic Sandwich Breads, developed over five years of intensive research, are able to fully rise and bake directly in the oven. The new product line consists of a 4" X 4" sandwich carrier roll with artisan-style features available in five varieties: Multi-Grain, Italian Herb, Italian Peppercorn, Wheat, and White. These products eliminate the long wait time otherwise necessary for fresh bread to proof prior to baking, and they greatly reduce the space required for preparation. They also allow food service establishments to serve high quality fresh-baked bread with considerably less investment in staff training and supervision. Thus, all food service institutions, even ones with tiny convection ovens, can easily serve delicious, fresh-baked sandwich bread.
“In these tough economic times, food service establishments will appreciate the cost savings, convenience, and consistent quality that Rich’s “freezer-to-oven” bread offers compared to "par-baked" and "proof and bake" bread,” says Gary Duszynski, marketing director. “Freezer-to-oven bread costs the same as par-baked bread, but tastes significantly better. Par-baked bread is partially baked at the manufacturer's plant and then frozen. Food service personnel remove it from their freezers, warm it, and serve. It is not considered "fresh-baked," and it cannot be advertised as such. “
Food service personnel simply remove Rich’s new freezer-to-oven products from the freezer, pan them onto a baking tray, and place them in an oven. In 25 minutes or less, the tasty, fresh-baked bread is ready to serve. It’s easy to serve fresh all day because operators simply bake the bread as needed. Research shows that about 95 percent of the problems food service establishments encounter when baking fresh bread are caused by employee errors in the proofing stage. By eliminating this step, Rich's Fresh ‘n Ready line of products take the guesswork out of baking. This adds up to lower costs, higher quality, greater convenience, and larger profits for food service institutions.
“Research shows that consumers value the aroma and taste of fresh-baked breads, especially breads with bold flavors and European-like features, such as artisan crusts,” says Duszynski. “In addition, when we first started this project, we did a great job anticipating future trends. We saw the growing consumer interest in nutritious and healthy eating, and knew that a warm bread option would enable our customers to offer terrific sandwiches to consumers seeking healthier alternatives. Convenience store food service and businesses of all of sizes are now tweaking their menus to add healthier choices and our products are available just in time to help them make this transition.”
