ESG
Resource scarcity: cake baking
Background
Eggs are an essential component of cake baking, providing structure, moisture, emulsification, air incorporation and flavour – and helping to create a stable cake batter which enhances the product’s mouthfeel.
But the ESG benefits of reducing egg usage in industrial cake baking are numerous.
Environmental benefits range from reduced carbon footprint and lower water usage to waste reduction, while the social benefits include improved food safety, and governance benefits span risk mitigation and regulatory compliance.
On top of this, baking as an industry is widely considered a major contributor to food waste globally, with an estimated 50% of all bread produced ending up as waste.
This places an even greater responsibility on industrial baking companies to address the ESG impact of their practices.
Insight
For more egg shortage insights, see this article from January 2025
Customer pain
Cake manufacturers exploring ways to reduce the ESG impact of their production practices by lowering their egg usage face several challenges, from functionality issues like emulsification, texture and consistency, to increased R&D costs and product shelf-life.
In short, they understandably want to avoid producing inferior tasting products, incurring high R&D costs and creating additional food waste.
Customer gain
Palsgaard makes it possible for cake manufacturers to cut their egg usage by up to 15% without making any compromise on taste, texture, consistency, appearance or shelf-life.
This is due to a combination of the highly functional properties of Palsgaard bakery emulsifiers and our application expertise, which can ensure full recipe optimisation through close collaboration with our customers.
Feature
All-in-one recipe with stable batch-to-batch quality control and long shelf-life
Benefit
Up to 15% egg savings without any compromise on taste or appearance and extended shelf-life
Value
Approximately 4 million eggs saved for every 100 MT of Palsgaard bakery emulsifiers used
Value
Reasons to believe
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Up to 15% egg reduction while retaining structure, moisture, emulsification, leavening and flavour of original recipe
Value
Reduced production wastage
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Stable batch-to-batch quality control ensures production efficiency
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Long emulsifier shelf-life increases production security
Value
Improved ESG profile and brand image
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4 million eggs is equivalent to the annual consumption of more than 20,000 people
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Extended cake shelf-life means less food waste
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Significantly reduced production carbon footprint
HEADLINE HEADLINE
FEATURE
Twice as effective as lecithin in substituting the rheology effect of cocoa butter
BENEFIT
Up to 8% cocoa butter savings compared to chocolate not using lecithin
(up to 4% savings compared with lecithin)
Objection handling
OBJECTION 1
“Environmental and sustainability initiatives are usually costly. This sounds expensive.”
SUGGESTED ANSWER
The functional stability and long shelf-life of Palsgaard bakery emulsifiers means you will most likely make production cost savings, in addition to raising your ESG profile.
Objection handling
OBJECTION 2
"Surely if we use fewer eggs then the quality of our cakes will change”
SUGGESTED ANSWER
Our application experts will collaborate closely with you to ensure there are no noticeable changes in structure, moisture, mouthfeel or flavour. We have never experienced a single customer compromising the quality of their products.
Objection handling
OBJECTION 3
"I’m not aware of the specific areas of focus in our ESG strategy, so this might be irrelevant”
SUGGESTED ANSWER
By cutting the eggs used in your sweet goods, you will lower the carbon footprint of every cake you produce, which is positive story to tell colleagues, investors or journalists whatever your specific strategic goals.
Downloads
ESG
Resource scarcity: cake baking
VALUE PAPER
