According to Cargill, bakery producers know that finding a single shortening that meets the range of challenges they face can be difficult. Cargill’s newest palm shortening line, PalmAgility is designed to fill that gap.

“Bakery customers face a variety of challenges with standard palm shortenings from transportation to storage to performance. PalmAgility’s virtue is that it is a single solution that helps address these multiple bakery performance needs,” says John Satumba, R&D director for Cargill’s global edible oils business in North America. .

Cargill’s team, which includes more than 1500 food scientists, developed the proprietary PalmAgility formulation, which was then tested for performance in pies, donuts, cookies and crème fillings at the company’s Food Innovation Center. .

PalmAgility is said to help to reduce brittleness across a wider temperature range, allowing customers to store it easily without sacrificing workability or texture. This also helps address issues that can develop in transportation due to fluctuations in outdoor temperatures, a variable outside of customer’s control. .

Cargill says that PalmAgility’s smoother and creamier texture than standard palm oil shortenings aids in faster mixing time and better incorporation of ingredients, both of which are easier on baking equipment. A faster crystallization rate also helps to increase control, and reduce the spread, of fillings. .

Palm oil shortening has become one of the preferred replacement products for bakery producers given U.S. regulatory restrictions on the use of partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs) in food. Bakery producers have, says Cargill, been searching for shortening solutions without PHOs that can mimic previously provided performance aspects. .

“Increasingly, bakery producers want customized solutions that address their specific challenges such as temperature tolerance or melting point,” says Satumba. “We’ll continue our research and development efforts to expand our PalmAgility line to better meet those needs.” Contact Cargill for more information.