Atoupains divider-shaper

Craft bakery Annarosa

We had the pleasure to talk to Bill Malatesta, Manager of the ANNAROSA's Bakery, located in Salisbury (near Boston USA).

Bill started ANNAROSSA in 2001 with his wife Jane. Being a real bread lover, his aim was to produce quality breads with Italian, German, French and many other flavors, which remind him of those of his grandmother - Anna Rosa. The bat is now raised!
With an increase in demand, both in the shop and the supply part for Restaurant / Hotels / Cafes, the question arose in 2020 of renewing the old existing divider, which has become too expensive to repair. The choice fell on a driver-shaper in order to increase productivity, and thus meet the growing demand of the customers. 
Bill had the opportunity to see the MERAND Atoupains divider-shaper several times at trade fairs or at other customers' labs. Being very satisfied with the quality of breads that gives this machine, he didn't hesitate and received his divider-shaper Atoupains at the end of 2020.

"I kept some of my production in the traditional method, but I make more products than before in the slow fermentation method (overnighting). My production focuses on sourdough bread, and the slow fermentation helps me to give the bread a real flavor. With the girds purchased with the Atoupains divider-shaper, I was able to optimize my production of ciabatta bread and rolls and gain enormously in productivity. The key to success of my bakery is really my very wide bread range, and Atoupains brings me even more versatility.

In particular, I created a new baguette with Italien flavor which is very successful! I make it with the AlvéoForm system, which is unique to Atoupains. The baguette is very nice looking, with great honeycomb structure, and people love it! I had already seen the AlvéoFrom system (MERAND's note: the AlvéoForm tray + a V-shape grid for 10 baguettes) in demonstration at trade shows, and I knew what I wanted. This is mainly what made me choose the MERAND machine, and I don't regret it!
I took the Variopress option to be able to adjust the pressure on my dough pieces, and it allows me to have dough pieces with very good honeycomb structure. I result is most visible on my ciabattas, the honeycomb structure is much better than before.

What I hadn't seen before, and that surprised me very pleasantly, was how easy the machine is to clean. The machine doors that open without tools (MERAND's note : the EasyDoor option), it is very useful. Additionally, the inside of the machine is very clear, so it's easy clean. There is no cables lying around, it is very compact. Every night I blow the inside of the machine with a compressor, and it's like new inside! It used to be a nightmare, I spent a lot of time cleaning.

I clean my dividing blocks once week, I remove them all individually very easily with the pins and clean them under water.
The machine is also light, so I can move it around with the handles without effort, which is convenient for cleaning.
I really recommend the Atoupains divider-shaper to all my fellow bakers !"