THE IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGICAL PROGRESS TOWARDS ARTISAN BAKERY

Abstract

The technological progress of industry has determined a radical change of bread production, diminishing the manufacturing time, the manner of processing the ingredients and the amount of resources needed. Across the last decades, the most affected by the evolution of the industry was the artisan bakery, the local producers who were forced to comply with the actual tendencies. Local artisans succeeded to provide bread and bread products to local community, but the large variety of products offered by industrial production has replaced the local products in consumer preferences, in manner of flavor, taste, ingredients, availability, manner of packaging and the most important – aspect. The aim of this paper is to study the effects that industrial forestall has on artisan bakery, to analyze the factors that have determined the gradual decrease of the number of local bakeries and the preferences of the actual consumer concerning bread choice in Europe and in Romania.