From October 6 to 8, 2026, GEA welcomed bakery professionals to its Bake Tech Master training course at the company’s Bakery Experience Center in Colognola ai Colli near Verona, Italy. This year’s three-day program explored cake production processes through a combination of technical lectures, pilot-scale trials and product evaluation. The event also gave participating customers an opportunity to exchange knowledge and connect with specialists and peers from across the bakery sector.
By bringing together academic researchers, industry specialists and GEA process engineers, the event created a forum for participants to exchange insights, explore current challenges and consider the technological developments shaping the future of bakery production. “We strongly believe that sharing knowledge is the winning strategy to overcome future challenges,” said Fabio Del Prete, Senior Vice President of the Bakery Business Unit at GEA.
Technical program covers the full cake production process
Starting with the role of raw materials, the course showed how ingredient composition and functionality shape batter structure, process stability and the characteristics of the finished product. Conventional and alternative ingredients and fat systems were considered in the context of analytical, nutritional and sensory requirements. From there, the focus shifted to the behavior of cake batters during mixing, handling and depositing, supported by rheological methods for measuring deformation and stress. Participants then followed the production process through molding, filling and baking, examining how rotary and dosing systems, oven design, baking profiles and heat transfer interact. This process-oriented approach also highlighted the influence of physical parameters, steam and moisture management on baking performance and energy efficiency.
Pilot trials connect process parameters with product results
At the Bakery Experience Center, theory was put into practice. Guided by GEA food technologists, participants explored the pilot plant and R&D facilities and followed production trials that illustrated the impact of batter rheology, depositing and dosing on color development and final product characteristics. The results provided the basis for further discussion of process performance and maintenance. Sensory evaluation added another perspective: by comparing appearance, texture and aroma across different samples, participants could directly link changes in the production process to differences in the finished product.
Training for technical and operational bakery roles
With more than 100 years of combined experience in the bakery industry, GEA Bakery provides turnkey solutions for a wide variety of applications: cookies, biscuits, crackers, cakes, pies, tarts and many more. Organized by GEA Academy, this program was designed for professionals across cake manufacturing, including plant and production personnel, process and project engineers, R&D and quality specialists, line supervisors, equipment manufacturers and product developers. The event takes place annually at the GEA Technology Center in Colognola ai Colli, near Verona, and has become an integral part of the bakery industry.
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