Supplier Focus: Pidy
Pidy is a Belgian family business aimed at innovating ready-to-fill pastry products; something that account manager export, Ilse Suffis, says is a growing trend in the world of bakery: “Rather than spending time, resources, manual labour and raw material in making pastry bases, the readymade, ready baked, ready-to-fill solution, allows the pastry chef to show their creativity by decorating and finishing the cakes, appetizers, mini desserts, wedding cakes, celebration pastries etc.”

Furthermore, the company has seen a real demand for healthier products and has adapted its offering to cater to this.

“Pidy was the first company to produce non-hydrogenated puff pastry vol au vents, without transfats,” Suffis asserted.

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“There is a tendency for less sugar, less fat and pure ingredients - clean recipes.”
As a world leader in dry puff pastry, Pidy is also competitive in short crust, fonçage dough, choux pastry and sponge cakes as well as unique Pidy pastries.

With three production units in Belgium, France and the USA, commercial business units in Benelux, France, UK, Germany, USA , Pidy is a supplier that supports customers in more than 50 countries worldwide.

Well Bread
According to Euromonitor International, bread will remain a staple food item for most nationalities in the UAE, while traditional bread varieties, such as baguettes, pitta and sliced loafs, will remain popular.

Rising bread prices became a central focus of the Ministry of Economy’s Consumer Protection Department (CPD) in 2011. Despite the increasing cost of raw materials, particularly wheat and sugar, manufacturers were ordered to lower bread prices for the second consecutive year. However, consumers complained that manufactures in some emirates, such as Ras al Khaimah, refused to adhere to the new price list.

Unpackaged/artisanal bread saw the most dynamic retail value sales growth of 8% to reach AED 422 million (US $115 million) in 2011 and benefitted from its long-standing popularity in the country and the consumer perception that it is fresher than packaged bread. The influx of supermarkets and hypermarkets also contributed to the performance seen by unpackaged/artisanal bread, as most such outlets bake their own bread daily.

Aramtec has revealed that the majority of bread here in the region is produced from pre-mixes for which the market is huge, especially for bread rolls in hotels that are mainly used for functions and banquets.

Firm Favourites
Mochammad Arief, pastry chef The Address Dubai Marina is a big fan of Valrhona chocolate. “Valrhona chocolate uses such a highly quality cocoa and is considered one of the foremost chocolate makers in the world,” says Arief.

Arief also favours fresh fruit puree because of the “consistency in texture, colour and flavour” and adds that fresh yeast is better than dry yeast because when you use it, the resulting bread has a better taste and texture.”