Waste is common challenge on pizza and flatbread lines, whether it’s inconsistent weights, thicknesses or the trim dough from cutting out the finished product. Reducing waste starts with an accurate dough sheet. 

“The better you can roll out a sheet to a very even thickness across the width and length, the more accurate the dough weight of the pizza base will be,” said Nick Magistrelli, vice president of sales, Rademaker USA. 

With greater weight accuracy, bakers can avoid giving away dough and save money. Rademaker helps bakers achieve this through an in-line weighing system that weighs the dough sheet continuously as it’s actively being sheeted. The dough sheet is automatically adjusted to the exact volume before being cut. 

John Giacoio, Rheon USA, pointed out that putting too much stress on the dough sheet will result in more snap-back after the cutting process. This will create a distorted pizza crust or flatbread and also change the dough thickness. 

“To reduce the stress of the dough sheet, you want to take the same volume of reduction across the dough sheet as you do in the linear direction,” he said. “At Rheon we take linear reduction using a stretcher. This is a stress-free reduction and preserves the structure of the dough sheet.”

Royal Kaak’s sheeting lines apply minimal tension and shrinkage on the dough sheet due to minimal height differences.

On the dough ball process side, Jerry Murphy, vice president of sales, Gemini Bakery Solutions, said that Gemini Bakery Solutions’ pizza crust and flatbread dough ball systems allow bakers to reach a high level of weight accuracy. This, in turn, improves efficiency and reduces waste. 

With a sheeting process, once the dough is sheeted, it must be cut into the appropriately sized shape for the finished product. This leads to trim dough. While most equipment manufacturers have a solution for this “waste,” Fritsch, a Multivac Group company, offers a solution to minimize the trim dough bakers need to work with. The company’s Flex Divider allows operators to adjust the width of the initial dough sheet with the push of a button.

Royal Kaak uses optimal scoring patterns to minimize the amount of trim dough. That trim dough can, however, be automatically returned to the mixer, a common feature on pizza and flatbread lines.

Automatically returning trim dough to the mixer is a common feature on most automated sheeting lines. 

“There is no dough waste as the excess dough is returned to the mixer or pre-sheeter via the in-line rework system after product cutting,” Magistrelli explained.

By setting up parameters in the equipment’s PLC, Rondo’s system will automatically incorporate trim dough back into the continuous process. 

Fritsch’s Impressa line also accommodates scrap dough, which Praller said not only reduces waste but also improves the taste of the final product. 

Lowering waste also applies to toppings. Magistrelli noted that Rademaker’s advanced algorithms constantly optimize ingredient flow to the applicator, ensuring precise topping and cost savings. Furthermore, full recycling results in no waste of topping materials.

Vision systems on AMF Tromp’s Smart Topping Applicator can assist with that. By using this technology, the applicator can be more accurate in depositing cheese and proteins with less variance, saving the manufacturer on ingredients. 

With flexible production lines and strategies in place, pizza manufacturers can offer consumers any pizza their hearts’ desire. 

This article is an excerpt from the March 2025 issue of Baking & Snack. To read the entire feature on Flatbread & Pizza Processing, click here.