With over 1.4 million tons of baked goods produced in Colombia annually, bakeries are always seeking to scale operations, control costs, and maintain quality. Exact Mixing, part of Reading Bakery Systems, designs industrial continuous mixers that combine ingredient metering, mixing, and dough handling into one streamlined process. With models suited for everything from low-moisture snacks to high-absorption bread doughs, these systems help bakeries in Colombia boost efficiency, deliver consistent quality, reduce waste, and meet international standards.
- Rising Production Demands Require Higher Throughput
According to the Colombian Association of Bakers (ADEPAN), Colombia produces over 1.4 million tons of baked goods annually, with consumption per capita reaching 22 kg annually. Bakeries need equipment capable of scaling efficiently to keep pace with rising domestic demand and export potential. Exact Mixing systems can produce up to 10,000 kg of dough per hour, allowing large facilities to double or triple output without increasing floor space or labor requirements.
- Labor Shortages Drive Need for Automation
Labor costs in Colombia’s food manufacturing sector have steadily increased, with wages rising by 12.1% in 2023 due to inflation and a tightening labor market. Traditional batch mixing requires significant manual oversight, including loading, unloading, and cleaning between batches. By switching to Exact Mixing’s continuous systems, bakeries can reduce direct labor involvement in mixing by up to 70%, reallocating staff to packaging, quality control, or R&D.
- Reducing Ingredient Waste
In batch systems, hydration and flour incorporation inconsistencies can lead to up to 5% ingredient loss per shift due to overmixing or rejected dough. Exact Mixing’s precise inline metering reduces this waste to below 1%, saving potentially hundreds of kilos of flour, water, and oil per week. For a plant producing 3,000 kg of dough daily, even a 4% reduction in waste equates to 120 kg saved per day, or over 43 metric tons per year.
- Downtime and Cleaning Efficiency
Traditional mixers often require 20–30 minutes of cleaning between batches. For facilities running 8 to 10 batches per day, that’s up to 5 hours lost daily. Exact Mixing systems offer CIP (Clean-in-Place) options that cut cleaning time by 50% or more, recovering 2–3 hours of uptime daily. That can add 15 production days per year, without increasing labor or operating costs.
- Export Expansion Requires Consistency
Colombian exports of processed baked goods (cookies, packaged breads, snack cakes) rose by 18% in 2023, reaching a value of over 90 million USD. Export partners like the U.S. and Central America enforce strict quality standards. Exact Mixing ensures consistent texture, hydration, and temperature in every product. This is critical for maintaining compliance with market regulations and avoiding costly product recalls or rejections.
- Energy Efficiency Supports Sustainability Goals
Energy costs account for 20–30% of operating expenses in industrial bakeries. Exact Mixing’s streamlined process eliminates repeated motor starts, idling, and mixing delays, leading to up to 20% energy savings compared to batch mixing. This is especially impactful in Colombia, where average industrial electricity prices are high for Latin America.
Exact Mixing’s continuous mixing systems offer a powerful, proven solution: increasing throughput, reducing waste, cutting labor costs, and ensuring consistent dough quality. As the industry pushes toward modernization and export growth, these systems provide the operational edge bakeries in Colombia need to compete in local and global markets. Contact us today to get started.
