November 26, 2013 - 11:49am
What flooring options would you suggest in a new bakery?
I get this question every so often and thought I'd post it to the community. What type of flooring to you have in your bakery? How does it rate for durability, ease of maintenance and aesthetics?
Share
Production bakery or retail space? I was with you until you got to Aesthetics. Production space is all about keeping it clean and the impact on the legs of employees. Maple is expensive but it is easy to clean and easy on legs. Finished (tinted?) cement is easiest to clean and maintain but you need something softer for the staff to stand on. Retail space is a different animal. That truly is cost and aesthetics and what ambiance you are after.
My son's production bakery is in an old warehouse space so some very hard wood floors and some cement on grade for equipment.
It's actually for a test bakery. It doesn't see the production hours a full service bakery, but they are constantly moving equipment in and out of there so durability is important. At the same time it's a place for customers to visit so it needs to look good.
If you have rack ovens, then you need a floor which doesn't melt when you pull the hot racks from the oven! If you are using a concrete floor, then it needs to be painted with the appropriate grade of paint. Essentially, the floor has to be non-slippy, sealed, and easy to clean
Andy
Another important consideration is food safety. In the past, conventional knowledge did not regard food safety an important factor in bakeries as the finished goods are baked and pathogens killed. This is despite the fact that many common raw bakery ingredients harbor pathogens. Thinking on this has changed recently as people have seen the effects of post-baking contamination, and its now best practice to design bakeries with the same food safety considerations one would for a higher risk food production plant. Flooring can be a significant harborage site for grime, pathogens, and biofilms if not designed and cleaned properly. A brief overview can be found in the link below, and any reputable flooring provider who specializes in food production can advise as well.
https://www.foodsafetymagazine.com/magazine-archive1/octobernovember-2010/hygienic-design-of-food-processing-facilities/