MANHATTAN, KAS. — WP Kemper and Zeppelin Systems introduced the companies’ new partnership in North America with an educational workshop at AIB International, held May 8-9.

The two workshop included baking companies, such as Grupo Bimbo and the Schwan Food Co., to AIB to introduce them to the KROMix system, a combination of Zeppelin’s Dymomix prehydration system and WP’s Kronos mixer. The partnership was announced in 2018 at iba in Munich.

“It’s a perfect combination of prehydration and batch mixing and the combination gives you a really quality dough,” said Stephen Marquardt, director of food processing plants, Zeppelin.

To demonstrate the capabilities of both machines, KROMix produced croissant, artisan and whole wheat doughs at the workshop. Attendees examined traditionally mixed doughs and compared them to the prehydrated versions.

“The interaction with the bakers was absolutely great,” said Patricia Kennedy, president of WP Bakery Group USA. “They could see each of the different products being produced the standard way, and then immediately compare it to the KROMix way.”

WP Kemper discussed the advantages combining the prehydration technology with the Kronos 240 digital mixer that features an entirely digitized system. It mixes dough automatically without the need for manual adjustments in the batch mixing process. That amount of control creates consistent and reliable results for bakers ranging in size from artisan to industrial wholesalers, Ms. Kennedy said.

By combining the prehydration technology of the Dymomix with the mixing technology offered in the Kronos, the companies claim bakers can reduce mixing times up to 50%.

WP and Zeppelin will showcase their technologies and the new partnership at the International Baking Industry Exposition, to be held Sept. 7-11 in Las Vegas. Both company booths will provide information on the partnership and its benefits.

They also will host a Dough Tech Technology Days 2019 event in Rodermark, Germany, home to Zeppelin Systems, where they will provide a workshop on producing Mediterranean doughs using the same processes. For more information, visit www.zeppelin.com or www.wp-kemper.de.