How Controlled Fermentation Is Changing Craft Baking in Valencia

In a small town on the Valencian coast, a craft baker demonstrates how technology can ease the pressure in a trade struggling with staff shortages.

Fresh bread in the morning remains a firm expectation for customers. Yet behind the counter, the traditional bakery model is under strain. Highly unconventional hours, difficulty recruiting staff and business owners nearing retirement are pushing the sector to find practical answers. At a bakery run by a local professional, the solution involves equipment able to handle much of the fermentation process while the team is asleep.

Nine units to prepare batches without staying up overnight

The owner of this bakery in Mareny de San Lorenzo, near Valencia, has installed nine controlled fermentation chambers. These units hold dough pieces at precisely regulated temperatures and conditions. The baker then sets each cycle according to the time at which the bread needs to go into the oven.

In this case, loaves can be ready for baking at around 5 am without an employee having to begin the process in the middle of the night. This arrangement does not remove the need for human work. Dough must still be made, recipes monitored, deliveries organised and baking carried out. However, it significantly changes the team’s working pattern.

“Controlled fermentation does not replace the baker’s expertise: it shifts some tasks and prevents the working day from starting at 11 pm.”

The change addresses an increasingly crucial challenge: finding people willing to work such unusual hours. Even shifts from 6 am to 2 pm or from 8 am to 3 pm are less attractive than they once were. Recruiting someone to start before midnight is therefore often extremely difficult.

An ageing profession facing recruitment challenges

Figures from the Valencia bakers’ and pastry chefs’ association show that the average age of professionals is now between 50 and 60. This raises concerns about the handover of craft businesses. Some owners are approaching the end of their careers and do not necessarily want their children to take over the business.

There are several reasons for this. The trade requires consistent attendance, physical stamina and technical expertise developed over time. The working day involves more than production alone: purchasing, energy costs, machine maintenance, orders, customer service and staff management also weigh heavily on business owners.

Why young people still hesitate

The lack of appeal is not solely linked to pay or the physical demands of the job. Balancing private life and work now plays a major role in career decisions. Starting the day while most friends and family are asleep remains a significant deterrent, particularly for applicants with families or those seeking more conventional social hours.

Last year, the Valencian association brought together nearly 20 young professionals to gather their needs and suggestions. One message emerged from the initiative: training needs to be better structured, while the image of the profession must change. Craft baking can provide career opportunities, provided it proves capable of adapting its methods as well.

• More targeted training in dough preparation, baking techniques and management.
• Equipment that cuts back the most demanding working hours.
• Better recognition of craft qualifications.
• Business handovers planned several years in advance.

A difficult investment for small businesses to absorb

Technology is not automatically a suitable answer for every bakery. Installing controlled fermentation chambers is expensive. The equipment must be purchased, sufficient space must be available, electrical installations may need adapting and staff require training. For a business that has used the same tools for decades, the financial commitment can seem unaffordable.

The Valencian bakery owner acknowledges that making such a transition late on, and all at once, can place a traditional business in difficulty. Many craft bakers have therefore retained their long-established organisation, with overnight production and teams starting very early. Others opt for gradual modernisation, beginning with a single chamber or a cycle-programming tool.

“Modernisation can make recruitment easier, but it requires healthy cash flow and a long-term vision.”

What controlled fermentation actually makes possible

The method relies on cold, temperature and humidity. Once dough has been mixed and shaped, the dough pieces are placed in a chamber where their development is slowed down or restarted according to the selected programme. This enables the professional to prepare dough the previous day, arrange a gradual rise and have batches ready to go into the oven in the morning.

The outcome still depends on many factors: the type of flour, the amount of yeast or sourdough starter, hydration, the dough’s initial temperature and resting time. Poor programming can produce bread that is over-fermented, less risen or unbalanced in flavour. The equipment provides consistency, rather than an automatic guarantee of quality.

More manageable hours without giving up morning bread

At this bakery, locally known for its large-format pastries sold at affordable prices, the working model reflects a wider shift. Customers want hot bread early in the day, but craft bakers no longer necessarily wish to build their entire business around waking during the night. Fermentation tools offer room for manoeuvre between those two expectations.

For employees, the advantage is immediate: less extreme start times can make the job more compatible with family life and with transport services that may be limited at dawn. For owners, the benefit can also be seen in a more stable workforce. Retaining a trained employee prevents repeated recruitment efforts in a profession where experience matters greatly.

The challenge is therefore twofold: maintaining the flavour and skills of craft baking while creating working conditions that can attract a new generation. In bakeries able to fund this change, night work could gradually stop being a daily necessity.