Baking & Snack - March 2022 - 27

OPERATIONS
Banneton Bakery
Banneton Bakery combines classic French pastry-making with its freezer-to-oven
process to create one-of-a-kind products baked in a matter of minutes.
by Dan Malovany
E
Ever since he worked as an Italian tour guide in his
youth, Victor Litinetsky admired the timeless works
from the masters. That's why he didn't seek to reinvent
the quintessential croissant with a time-tested fermentation
process when he started Banneton Bakery. Rather,
the architect and structural engineer by trade wanted to
develop an easier way to create classic, European-style
gourmet pastries.
" In our case, we can produce the upscale croissants,
Danish and other laminated products that are proofed,
then frozen solid before they're put directly into the oven
at 350˚F for 20 minutes, " said the founder and president
of the Swedesboro, NJ, business. " Those are the products
that made this company grow from zero dollars just over
12 years ago to more than $100 million in annual revenues
today. "
The pre-proofed and pre-egg washed, freezer-tooven
(FTO) pastries come in 12 varieties and 80 SKUs
ranging from top-selling sandwich and cocktail croissants
to Danish twists and other handheld laminated
baked goods with from-scratch fillings. Some, such as
its wholesome multigrain croissants, carry the Whole
Grain Council stamp.
" All of our products are made with clean ingredients,
including our house-made fruit, chocolate and almond
fillings, " noted Alex Litinetsky, Victor's son and the
company's executive vice president. " We also use a lot
of local ingredients, such as fresh milk and eggs from
Pennsylvania farms that are delivered here several times
a week, as well as local butter. "
One key ingredient not found on the label is the fermentation
time during the two-stage process. The initial
20-lb slabs of laminated dough are created on two lines,
then racked and retarded from 2.5 hours up to 24 hours.
The bakery then relies on a balance of automation and
hand-forming from dozens of employees working on
four more production lines that provide makeup and
proofing before the individual products are frozen.
" People keep telling us we should automate this part
or that part of the process, " Victor Litinetsky said. " We
prefer to stop automation exactly at the point where it
interferes with the artisan craft of the product. There are
tons of automated systems that we don't use to ensure
we are dedicated to the artisan-making process for these
freezer-to-oven croissants. "
Another factor is the convenience that FTO pastries
provide in-store bakeries and hotels, casinos, cruise liners
and other establishments that are struggling to offer
such high-end baked goods because of the skilled workforce
shortage.
" We do all of the work so they don't have to, " Victor
Litinetsky observed. " We put the time and effort into
www.bakingbusiness.com / March 2022 Baking & Snack 27
Sheeted dough is
cut into individual
strips, then formed
into various freezerto-oven
pastries.
Photos by Jack Ramsdale
http://www.bakingbusiness.com
Baking & Snack - March 2022

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