INDUSTRIAL BAKER

JOB DESCRIPTION

New day, new recipe! Keeping it fresh is what Industrial Bakers do! With large batch baking, recipes are specially crafted for manufacturing settings and large-scale production, As an industrial baker, it’s your job to carefully follow the recipes, seeking the right ingredients, measuring and weighing them out, and using the right equipment to mix it all together. Separating and kneading dough, mixing batters, monitoring the oven’s temperatures and cooking times are just a few of the responsibilities on your task list. Bakery foods are best enjoyed fresh, which makes them always in high demand! You can expect a fast-paced work environment with planned out food production schedules. Have you ever started making a recipe, when halfway through, you realize that you have to run to the store? Planning, scheduling and ordering materials is a huge part of running a successful bakery and may just be your area of expertise. Managing your organization’s stock, keeping some ingredients dry and others cold means that you’re on your feet, taking inventory, lifting heavy loads, placing orders, receiving shipments, tracking what’s been used and most important – how you’re going to make 40,000 buns by tomorrow. It’s a demanding job, but we know you’re up for the challenge!

THE WORK ENVIRONMENT

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In smaller operations, you may have more opportunities to work on a greater number of recipes and participate in more of the daily business operations. There can be a greater degree of complexity and more opportunities for creative flair as you’ll be directly involved in kneading dough, popping it in the oven, cooling and packaging. Here, you’re baking in the hundreds.

In mid to large sized operations, there’s an increase of machinery and automation that help companies respond to larger orders. Here, you’ll be baking in the thousands or even millions. There are teams of people who strategically work together to keep the plant flowing and producing. However, this doesn’t mean that the environment and job is totally different than a smaller bakery, you’ll still be following recipes, getting ingredients, fulfilling orders, stocking, cooking ,etc.

There’s a lot of walking, bending moving and lifting required for this position. You’ll be required to work with team member to do some heavy lifting of ingredient bags up to 100lbs, and perform routine lifting of trays and other products. Pushing racks, carts, and bins will also be required as the products are prepared, cook and move throughout the facility.

FACT: The Bakeries subsector employs more people than any other food manufacturing sector!

INDUSTRIAL BAKER SALARY

Low Range

$33k+ annually

$17 per hour

Average

$39k+ annually

$20 per hour

High Range

$46k+ annually

$24 per hour

*Annual salary calculated by 37.5 hr work week, and by a 52 weeks per year

As with most industries, your salary or hourly wage is based on your experience and education. Being a hard worker and a productive and dependable team member also go a long way in securing a higher salary. If you’re a night owl or an earlier riser (depending on how you look at it), this career may be the perfect fit for you. Bakeries often operate around the clock and are looking for team members with flexible hours to fulfill their production needs. Some employers offer an extra $1-$3 per hour for less favorable shifts, and weekly bonuses to remain competitive. Skills matter and that’s certainly the case here– like any trade, your experience level is matched with the number of hours you’ve put into mastering the skill. The more time you put into learning and perfecting each product (and there are lots of them) the further you’ll move up the chain. Some perks of the job include discounts on the company products, health benefit plans, retirement saving contributions, staff appreciation events for larger organizations as well as reimbursements for safety equipment and uniforms.

INDUSTRIAL BAKER JOB DUTIES

Here are some of the job responsibilities you’ll have as an industrial baker:

Baking and packing fresh baked product for sale.

Taking inventory and reporting to the team leads

Receiving and fulfilling customer orders

Participating in cleaning and sanitation of production equipment

Ensure GMP’s and housekeeping is properly maintained within the work area

Comply with all Food Safety and Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) policies and procedures in the facility.

Comply with all worker health and safety requirements and work as part of a team to ensure everyone stays safe.

Communicate with team members to help improve production targets and build a positive working environment.

BECOMING A INDUSTRIAL BAKER

Competitiveness & Availability

This is a hands-on industry with a daily customer base, fresh baked products never go out of style. So, unless the whole world suddenly boycotts bread & sweets (never going to happen!), you’ll find that Industrial Bakers are always in high demand! This is a reliable career and a place to call home with endless opportunities for advancement as you gain more experience. Produced fresh, bakery products have a short shelf life and must be close to their customer base. Therefore, you can find employment opportunities all throughout Canada and internationally.

Advancement Opportunities

Bakeries come in all shapes and sizes, and make a variety of products– from your everyday loaf to delicate pastries. This means that there’s tons of opportunity to hone your skills, to become the biggest and badest baker in the business! Most bakers learn all their skills on the job through repetition and guidance from seasoned supervisors – so don’t worry if you haven’t got any experience. If you’re just starting out, try to look for positions that will allow you to explore a few different areas of the business. Once you get those skills under your belt, find an area of interest and specialize in that craft.

Education

Many employers require a Food Safe Level 1 certification and completion of your high school diploma or equivalency. Any prior experience in a baking environment is always valuable. If you’ve practiced baking at home for quite some time, this is also considered experience for most employers. Throughout Canada, many Colleges offer a 1-2 year certificate, diploma and/or apprenticeship programs in baking and pastry arts, introducing you to the skills, safety and business side of things. While you can (and do) learn on the job, programs like these can bring you up to speed faster and expose you to the full gamut of possibilities – fast-tracking your career. Any education in food safety, food science, processing/ manufacturing or production are also highly attractive to employers. You may want to consider some short courses in food safety and other industry-related topics, such as:

Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs)
Quality Assurance/ Quality Control
Sanitation & equipment operation
Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)
Workplace Health & Safety
Mathematics

If you’re just starting out, you may want to consider an educational program to kickstart your career or to help guide you to the specific area(s) you are most interested in (ie: cupcakes may not be your thing, but pasta is your jam).

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