In 1948, Carlo Bauducco traveled from Italy to Brazil. Equipped with his family’s original Panettone cake recipe and a piece of sourdough, he opened his first pastry shop in São Paulo with his wife and son. By 1978, many more Bauducco products had become available. Today, the Bauducco brand is sold in more than 50 countries thanks to Haas.
Bauducco is part of Pandurata, a company that owns one of the most advanced industrial parks in Latin America. Haas Leobendorf’s marketing manager Irene Kapaun spoke with Bauducco’s manufacturing director Adilson Spolidoro and ‘Haas do Brasil’ food technologist Marcia Corasolla.
Adilson Spolidoro recounts: "Carlo Bauducco came to São Paulo from Turin, a city in Italy. He set up residence and established a small bakery shop, making high-quality products. Based on the immediate success of this small bakery, he quickly realised that the country was not only growing, but that his products were much appreciated by his customers. Perceiving a big opportunity, he decided to start an industrial plant at Guarulhos City in the 1960s.
"Carlo Bauducco was surprised to find that his beloved Panettone didn’t exist in Brazil. Choosing the best ingredients and the most modern production technology available at that time, he delivered the best Panettone ever to Brazil. He wanted to offer the best to a country that had received him and his family with open arms".
Taking the next step, progressing to wafers
After the first challenge had been overcome, new products could be introduced to the company’s portfolio. In Guarulhos, Bauducco achieved acceptance for differentiated and high-quality products. By the 1980s, Carlo Bauducco’s son Luigi and Luigi’s older son Massimo had introduced a new spirit and other types of products.
The relationship with Haas began with the introduction of the first Haas wafer line.
Adilson Spolidoro said: "At the time, a great partnership was established between Mr Luigi, his son Massimo and Haas. Haas had just set up its subsidiary in Brazil, which was of great importance. The Haas commitment to serve customers was the key to create this partnership which will continue helping us with our innovations in bakery products for a long time.
"Bauducco is a family company and this spirit of family is now inside the whole company. Since the founding of Haas do Brasil, Bauducco was attended to by the Haas family. They have given Bauducco support for new products, new machines and new processes.
"The partnership between the Bauducco and the Haas families has been fundamental for the success of our biscuit and wafer business in Brazil and other countries".
Today, Bauducco is the biggest wafer brand in Brazil, the main wafer producer in the Americas, and one of the main wafer producers in the world.
Marcia Corasolla says: "The Haas claim is to serve our customers with best-in-class services, even before the project starts."
Adilson Spolidoro adds: "Actually, all the projects that we have with Haas are based on a partnership. There is a communication process and a strong relationship, from the project definition, first technical requests, Haas suggestions, up to ideas and requirements. This cycle, new projects or new products by Bauducco, and the fact that Haas accepts all the challenges to help us achieve our aims is fundamental."
Close partnership, service for added value
Adilson Spolidoro says: "We have an advanced technology and we study the biscuit and wafer process. And every time we have an innovation, a new product or a new recipe, we can count on the Haas technologists and technicians to overcome all the surprises which are so common in the development process.
"For example, some years ago we developed a new product with a new texture in a project with Haas-Mondomix. For our extruded products, we received support from Haas-Meincke right from the beginning. We are now one of the pioneers to make this kind of product in Brazil.
"I am convinced that Haas, with its great knowledge in technology, coupled with its will to help us, will be our partner in many more projects."
Caring for customers at Haas do Brasil
Marcia Corasolla says: "When I started to work for Haas six years ago, one of my first assignments was with Bauducco. What surprised me was the open relationship between the two companies."
In the Haas ‘Recipes for Efficiency’ mission, the first pillar is tailor-made solutions for products and processes.
Marcia adds: "We have been selling to Bauducco for such a long time that I believe we have a big mixture of situations. I think we have basic lines on one hand and totally tailored lines, designed in accordance with their specific needs, on the other.
"Bauducco is an open door for Haas, where we can offer our services both in technology and engineering as well as optimizing solutions for existing lines. At our Test Center in Curitiba we have further services at our customers’ disposal. We also work at our customers’ lines such as the Haas technologist evaluates the process on-site, suggests recipe, process or technology improvements".
Yet more service – and the FAT
Marcia Corasolla says: "Our customers are looking for answers to help them minimise their problems and wastage. This is a trend that is becoming stronger and stronger. The customers want to know in advance if the machine they bought will really perform as per their expectations and will really bring the results that they have planned.
"The FAT is our tool to give these answers. In this case, the long FAT was a customer request. Considering our ‘Recipes for Efficiency’ promise it is our job to attend to these concerns.
"Haas do Brasil offers all kinds of services. We are looking to increase our revenue in services, so we have new offers such as new alternatives for machine refurbishments. Brazil is experiencing a complicated economic phase. We want to help our customers overcome this phase, so we are responding with diversification in our services options.
"Both our sales and service departments have been educated on energy saving, efficiency improvement, industrial performance improvement and technology training, both for wafer and biscuit production. In Brazil these are new products, so we always take the opportunity to introduce and offer such solutions".
