Tackling wheat woes and consumer taste: Puratos reformulates and launches new bread improvers

The Belgium-headquartered bakery specialist has reformulated its S500 bread improver brand and developed S500 Sense, a market-specific variation.

The S500 range contains a newly developed xylanese enzyme technology that works to enhance bread freshness. The bread improvers are the first product to include this new technology.

Flour power​

Lydia Baines, marketing manager at Puratos UK, said that the newly reformulated product ensures good quality bread irrespective of flour quality.

“This season’s wheat harvest in the UK meant poor quality flour with less protein, therefore products are not baking and rising as they should,”​ Baines told BakeryandSnacks.com.

Puratos was already reformulating the bread improver but realized that the problem of poor wheat and flour quality was a factor the enzyme technology could also address.

“This product will work with any quality flour – there won’t be any wastage because the bread will come out well,”​ she said.

The reformulated bread improver offers security, Puratos said, because it can be used in a wider range of processes including direct, retarded and long fermentation and even short freezing.

“The superior dough tolerance and increased machinability ensure that you always have the best product with regular shape and outstanding volume – even when over-proofing.”​ 

A ‘sense’ of consumer taste​

Puratos’ S500 Sense range is a market-specific bread improver, tailored to consumer taste profiles.

For the UK market, the company has a natural sourdough flavored product. The dried sourdough used in the bread improver mix is produced at Puratos’ dedicated sourdough production facility in Belgium.

Baines said the flavor profile was chosen in light of extensive consumer taste research conducted across the country.

“I certainly think that the Great Britain baking trend is helping – consumers know what sourdough is… This trend towards British baking is causing consumers to demand better quality and more traditional breads,”​ the marketing manager said.

“The future is from the past,”​ she added.

She said the sourdough bread improver offers bakers a point of difference in the market.

Confident of its product​

The reformulated bread improver and flavor variation targets the industrial and artisanal baking sectors as well as retail.

Puratos claims the bread improver range is the best on the market and is launching the S500 and S500 Sense with a money-back-guarantee.