SpecPDM assists
Almondy in developing frozen desserts for those with a sweet tooth.
SE
SpecPDM
>300
Almondy is a Gothenburg-based company that has been baking and selling frozen cakes to the retail trade, restaurants and catering services for more than 30 years. Its almond bases are inspired by an original Swedish recipe which dates back to the 1890s. With a range of 10 delicious recipes, the bestseller Daim cake, pleases aplenty epicures that want to treat themselves after a spending spree at IKEA.
The Swedish baker has also joined forces with Philadelphia, Cadbury and Toblerone to create unique cakes. Today, just over 75,000 almond tarts are baked every day and sold in some 50 countries.
Innovation is one of Almondy’s main strategies for growth and the bakery invests a great deal of resources in developing new recipes, all of which embrace the same unique concept of delicious, simple and gluten-free. To keep up with its growing operations, Almondy identified the need to introduce an integrated software to maintain and manage data. The decision was made for SpecPage, a global solution provider which specializes in the food and beverage industry. Its SpecPDM application suite offers a central storage and specification system allowing Almondy to access and manage raw materials and recipes including ingredient lists, leveraging these to react to market demands and launch innovative desserts efficiently.
The tool also enables standardized internal processes and cost control, supporting Almondy’s growth and quality strategy.
We wanted to have better and safer control of our raw materials and recipes, comments Sara Nordqvist, Product Development Manager at Almondy. SpecPDM helps us achieve this. Recipe calculations and simulations are automated for the most part, avoiding tedious manual tasks and the risk of errors.
SpecPDM provides a single database for all product information which Almondy can utilize to develop different versions and variants of recipes. Once the compositions of raw materials are recorded in the system, the company can create recipes for half-finished and finished products. Data no longer needs to be recorded several times and gathered from archives, keeping development costs low and ensuring information is always up to date and traceable. Finally, SpecPDM automatically generates the information needed for product labeling, reports and declarations. Of the alternatives we looked at, SpecPDM seemed to fit our need the best, Nordqvist points out.
We want to make it as easy as possible for our customers to find information about our cakes and their ingredients. The automated declaration process that SpecPDM offers reassures us that we can reach this objective and that we comply with current and future rules.
The software not only allows Almondy to fully exploit its R&D potential, but also to easily and safely manage product information. SpecPDM automatically calculates allergen information and nutritional values, and produces ingredient lists and declarations according to regulatory and trade requirements. This is particularly relevant since the EU Food Information Regulation Nr. 1169/2011 came into force in December 2014. The new law requires a minimum font size and clear visual indication of ingredients that could cause allergies or intolerances on the product label.
Reflecting allergen information on the new product labels posed no problem to Almondy, as its cakes do not contain flour and are baked in a dedicated gluten-free site at its factory in Torslanda to prevent cross-contamination.
With SpecPDM, Almondy has a powerful tool available to implement additional regulatory requirements – such as information about food origins and nutritional values – in a simple manner and ensure that its products address the increasing demands of trade partners and consumers. Labels for both new and old recipes have been updated to highlight product specifications. With SpecPDM, this was a simple adjustment, says Nordqvist.
We want to make it as easy as possible for our customers to find information about our cakes and their ingredients. The automated declaration process that SpecPDM offers reassures us that we can reach this objective and that we comply with current and future rules, she adds.
The majority of Almondy’s products are sold outside Sweden; product specifications and labels therefore need to be adapted and translated to meet the requirements of the respective target country. SpecPDM helps the bakery lift the burden of customizing specification sheets and ingredient lists, as product data is maintained by default in 27 languages in the system. To support further global roll-out, any language could be added at the touch of a button. This arms Almondy with the necessary data management solution to further expand globally, maintaining its position as one of the fastest-growing frozen dessert brands.
