German Bread Automats Cook Up Debate

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Ah, bread baking. The
careful measurements, the waiting as the dough rises, the smell of a warm loaf crisping in the oven. Older generations in Germany
may have these memories, but for the younger population of the Rhineland, the phrase "fresh baked bread" will conjure up
images of a large vending machine and two-second wait time.

Aldi Süd a supermarket chain, has introduced baking automats called Backofen (baking oven) that dispense rolls and bread loaves. The company touts the
dispensed baked goods as being "fresh out of the oven, direct into the bag."
But German bakers who wake up at the dark hours of the morning to mix, knead
and bake are finding reason to disagree with that statement.

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The fact that it takes only
a matter of moments for the machine to "bake" a roll has been brought up as
reason why the language "freshly baked" should not be used. "It has to be
just warmed up in there, perhaps with some sort of microwave," baker Wolfgang
Schäfer commented to the Wall Street Journal. The German Bakers Confederation
is taking action and accusing Aldi Süd of deceptive advertising. Aldi Süd
admits that the dough is partially baked outside the machines, but inside there
is a low and slow heating method used that causes the flour to gelatinize,
which, they claim, means baking and not just re-heating. The Confederation is
claiming fresh baked bread as a matter of national pride. In Germany, there
are over 300 kinds of bread and 1,200 roll variations. The average citizen eats
192 pounds of bread a year.

But for some consumers this
isn't a matter of national pride; it's food that's cheap and fast. Sarifa
Naseri, a mother of two, is not sure whether it is fresh baked or not, but
commented to the Wall Street Journal that, "for the price, it tastes pretty
good and they're always kind of warm." Aldi Süd has installed 600 automats
in its German stores and plans on expanding. The sister company, Aldi Nord,
which owns Trader Joe's , does not operate the automats. So far. Though, in a country full of children
who were brought up with toys that baked cakes by way of light bulb, we're not
sure there would be much of a debate.

What do you think? Baking
breakthrough or oversized Easy-Bake Oven?

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