Interview
with Laura Horstmann, CEO, COO
Precibake
Ovens
By
Kathryn Gordon of Food Startup Help
Kathryn: Hi Laura! I met you with your Precibake crew from the US and Germany
at a bread baking event at ICE (Institute of Culinary Education). Tell me more about your exciting new
project!
Laura: We’re about to launch a new intelligent
oven at IBIE (International Baking Industry Exposition) in Las Vegas in
October. The
intelligence will support the baker, and is available in a variety of oven
models.
Kathryn: And how did this type oven evolve?
Laura: My parents own Kemper and WP Bakery
Group, a large commercial equipment company in Europe. We’ve been in the US since 1990 as
Kemper Bakery Systems.
For
this project, I am leading the marketing side. My partner in this joint venture with Precibake, Ingo Stork,
did his electrical engineering research in Munich and PhD at M.I.T., developing
algorithms for helping cars drive themselves using camera technology.
That
product is also useable for other industries. So now we are working together to use that intelligent
camera software in ovens and revolutionize the baking world.
Kathryn: Can you explain more about the concept?
Laura: The ovens use the algorithm to detect
whatever has been put inside it to bake.
They are completely programmable very easily by the chef. If you’re an artisan bakery like Balthazar and you like
your product to bake more dark to appeal to your customer base, the oven can
learn your preferences (from your last bread bake) and adjust the heat for optimal
success. Or, if you own a
supermarket or franchise chain and you do not want your employees adjusting
anything, it can be set to do that as well. You as the baker can basically give the oven feedback each
time you bake, ultimately making the oven more responsible for success than
your staff.
Kathryn: Why did you decide to launch this new
type of oven in the US?
Laura: A lot of food industry trends come from
the US. I think change is driven
by America. And we wanted to
launch at IBIE because it’s the most innovation-friendly industry trade show in
the country. Come try out the
ovens! IBIE2013.org
Kathryn: I am meeting you at 175 Varick Street
at WeWork. There’s quite a trend
for shared workspace – do you like it?
Laura: We needed to rent office space in NJ
(where engineers take apart ovens for the R&D) and NY with flexible space
for various engineers and interns.
Several others on our team are working in Germany -- I’ve been
travelling back and forth from Germany weekly. The WeWork space is versatile and allows expansion as we add staff without having to relocate and remodel continuously.
After
the oven launch next month, we will utilize the existing service support
network for WP through Kemper Bakery Systems because they understand the
existing software in our ovens. So
now they will help customers install, program and troubleshoot the new line of
ovens regionally. http://www.wpbakerygroupusa.com
Kathryn: Should I assume all this fabulous and
innovative technology comes at a high price?
Laura: No, we believe the future costs
less. Camera technology is not
costly, so these ovens are not more expensive than other ovens.
Kathryn: Thanks Laura; it’s all very exciting,
and I can’t wait to bake some French macarons in one of the new ovens!
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