While sustainability remains a major initiative for consumers and retailers, and therefore the bakers who serve them, it doesn’t have as big of an impact on capital and equipment investment. In Baking & Snack’s 2025 Capital Spending Study, conducted by Cypress Research and sponsored by BEMA, representatives from baking companies were asked how sustainability plays into their purchasing decisions. Just over half of respondents indicated sustainability is not an important investment goal.  

When baking companies are making a sustainability-driven investment, only 19% of survey respondents reported that the sustainability element of the equipment or technology is the primary motivation for the investment. Like most capital and equipment investments, efficiency and functionality take precedent with 33% driven by efficiency of the equipment and 23% looking at its functionality. 

“The primary drivers when making these kinds of investments is efficiency just like it is when they invest outside of sustainability,” said Marjorie Hellmer, president of Cypress Research. “It’s efficiency and functionality.”

This article is an excerpt from the February 2025 issue of Baking & Snack. To read the entire feature on Capital Spending Study, click here.