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Puratos acquires BFL

Puratos has acquired BFL (Bakery Future Lines), an Italian family-owned company based in La Spezia (Liguria), active in B2B production of ingredients for bakers and specialised in innovating natural yeast and sourdough products. Puratos said it plans to expand BFL facilities and its workforce in order to double current production output and satisfy growing consumer […]

Puratos has acquired BFL (Bakery Future Lines), an Italian family-owned company based in La Spezia (Liguria), active in B2B production of ingredients for bakers and specialised in innovating natural yeast and sourdough products.

Puratos said it plans to expand BFL facilities and its workforce in order to double current production output and satisfy growing consumer demand for healthy bakery products that use ingredients such as sourdough.

“Recent consumer surveys have shown a clear interest in more natural bakery goods, with sourdough being particularly popular,” said Daniel Malcorps, Chief Executive Officer of Puratos. “With BFL’s long-standing reputation as one of the primary providers of natural yeast products and mixes, Puratos intends to further satiate consumer appetite for natural products. BFL’s specialty sweet bread products such as panettone, colomba and pandoro, head the list of what we believe will be in high demand.”

“In the last 20 years, sourdough and natural yeast products have become popular again, mainly due to changes in perceptions relating to diet and increased levels of health consciousness,” said Stefan Cappelle, Business Unit Director Bakery Flavours and Yeast of Puratos. “Puratos’ strong commitment to growth together with BFL’s specialized baked goods knowledge and its planned expansion will enable us to continue to revolutionize and innovate natural yeast and sourdough products and match the demands of both customers and consumers.”

Until now, all the sourdoughs used by Puratos started as liquid sourdough. This gives them organoleptic properties that are very well adapted for application in crusty breads such as baguettes and ciabattas, Puratos said,: the resulting flavour profiles contain fruity and fermented notes with some noticeable mild acidity, which is claimed to improve the crustiness of the final product.

BFL’s process focuses on a sourdough with a different and specific consistency that produces other benefits, Puratos notes, the most important of which is improved texture and palatability in sweet products such as traditional panettone.  This kind of sourdough is also used in products such as brioches and croissants.

Through a specially-designed drying process, Puratos says that BFL made it possible to conserve all the benefits of traditional sourdough in a powdered form, resulting in a sourdough that is more cost effective and has considerably longer shelf life.