Flour Power

World Bakers
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Flour Power is the new podcast dedicated to the people, ideas, and innovations shaping the future of the baking industry. Produced by World Bakers, it offers a unique space where knowledge meets inspiration, and where professionals across the value chain can gain insights that matter to their business. Each episode highlights expert voices from across the industry - from leading bakers and ingredient specialists to technology providers, researchers, and market analysts. With our editors, they explore the topics that drive success in baking today and tomorrow.

Season 1

  1. Bread Is an Excellent Storyteller with Lara Schütz, Bread Sommelière

    EPISODE 1

    Bread Is an Excellent Storyteller with Lara Schütz, Bread Sommelière

    Lara Schütz is a master baker trained in Canada, Austria, France, and Germany, who is also qualified as a sensory analyst and bread sommelière. In the first episode of Flour Power by World Bakers, she explains how a bread sommelière helps bakers understand the history, origins, flavors, and reception of bread by the public. Her role involves pairing bread with certain dishes and teaching clients how to recommend bread. She also organizes bread tastings and works with bakers to create new products. You can listen to Lara discuss with host Jo Ilie, the Senior Editor of World Bakers and European Baker & Biscuit, about the challenges of working with clients who may have unrealistic expectations or limited knowledge of the baking industry and about the opportunities for growth and innovation in the industry, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe. She believes that bread is an excellent storyteller and that every bakery has a unique story to tell. Resources and Learning Lara recommends the "Language of Bread" brochure as a resource for bakers who want to learn about sensory language and storytelling. She also suggests following bakers on Instagram and reading books on the subject. https://www.akademie-weinheim.de/fileadmin/editorial-content/Weinheim_Bread_Language_.pdf Meet Lara at World Bakers Summit in September 2026, in Bucharest. https://worldbakerssummit.com/ worldbakers.com

    49 min
  2. How to Foster Creativity in Bakery NPD with Jonathan Adams, UK R&D Director at Baker&Baker

    EPISODE 2

    How to Foster Creativity in Bakery NPD with Jonathan Adams, UK R&D Director at Baker&Baker

    In the second episode of the Flower Power by World Bakers podcast, Jonathan Adams, UK R&D Director at Baker & Baker, offered an in-depth look at the realities of modern bakery product development, highlighting both the scale and complexity of innovation in the sector. Across its European operations, Baker & Baker launches around 350 new products annually, with approximately 200 developed in the UK alone. About 5–10% of these qualify as true innovation; the majority focus on reformulation, seasonal updates, or customer-specific briefs. This reflects a broader industry dynamic where balancing creativity with commercial constraints is essential. Innovation, Adams explained, is no longer driven solely by traditional sources such as cookbooks or TV shows. Social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok now play a central role in identifying fast-moving trends, which can emerge and peak within weeks rather than months. To keep pace, his team conducts “food safaris”, monitors global markets, and organizes dedicated innovation sessions to create space for ideation alongside routine development work. Crucially, creativity also extends beyond ingredients to manufacturing processes. The team is encouraged to experiment with existing equipment to develop hybrid products, demonstrating that innovation can be driven by operational flexibility as much as by new concepts. Despite this structured approach, product success remains uncertain. Adams noted that only a small fraction of concepts make it to market, and even fewer achieve commercial success. Timing, pricing, packaging, and market readiness all play decisive roles. A strong internal reaction - when the team immediately recognises a product’s appeal - often signals potential success, but this is not guaranteed. Supply chain volatility is another key challenge. Fluctuations in the availability and cost of ingredients such as cocoa, vanilla, and lecithin require continuous reformulation and close collaboration with suppliers to identify viable alternatives without compromising product quality . Ultimately, Adams underlined that bakery innovation is a multidisciplinary effort, combining creativity, technical expertise, and commercial pragmatism to deliver products that meet both consumer expectations and operational realities.

    28 min
  • 2 Episodes

About

Flour Power is the new podcast dedicated to the people, ideas, and innovations shaping the future of the baking industry. Produced by World Bakers, it offers a unique space where knowledge meets inspiration, and where professionals across the value chain can gain insights that matter to their business. Each episode highlights expert voices from across the industry - from leading bakers and ingredient specialists to technology providers, researchers, and market analysts. With our editors, they explore the topics that drive success in baking today and tomorrow.

Information

  • Creator
    World Bakers
  • Episodes
    2
  • Seasons
    1
  • Copyright
    © Trade Media Solutions
  • Show Website
    Flour Power
  • Provider
    Trade Media Solutions S.R.L.