40% lower energy consumption compared to conventional ovens of the same capacity

It is not something that Bakkerij van Vessem regularly advertises, but sustainability is kind of second nature to the bakery from Haarlem. For example, director Jos Huybregts’ company was named the ‘most sustainable company in the Netherlands’ last year. A year earlier he already received the prize for ‘greenest company in Haarlem’. And that’s not all. Bakkerij van Vessem wants to bake completely co2 neutral. That is why he largely uses gas with his ovens. “It requires a significant investment, but thanks to the collaboration with the EverBake Group and HEUFT, we will soon be able to heat the ovens fully electrically,” says Huybregts.

40% lower energy consumption

A few years ago, Huybregts deliberately opted for the HEUFT thermal oil furnaces, partly because of the approximately 40% lower energy consumption, in combination with heat recovery, compared to conventional furnaces with the same capacity. “HEUFT is the Rolls-Royce of ovens. It does require a higher investment and you don’t just have them. But once they are in place, then there is really something there,” continues Huybregts, who is aware that the choice that has been made will not automatically lead to more customers. “Ultimately, this way you make a distinctive product. You create a bit of added value, but customers just want a good and tasty piece of bread or cake. Nevertheless, I think it is important as a company to take future generations into account. If I ever look back on my life, I want to do it with a smile,” he says with a wink.

Tandem gas-elektrisch

“But it is not the cheapest solution,” he admits. “Because we want to get rid of gas, we are actually the pioneers for the sector. HEUFT also had to switch gears to develop the solution we were looking for. Electric baking with a thermal oil oven is still special for the Netherlands anyway. However, electric baking is very common in Scandinavia, so I knew that Heuft already had the expertise in-house. In the end, we ended up with a gas-electric tandem, in which we bake electrically as standard, but with undercapacity additional gas is used,” explains Huybregts.

Bakker Van Vessem has five Vulkan Thermo Roll® ovens from HEUFT installed in the bakery. In these ovens, Van Vessem achieves a constant and superior quality for the entire range of products. To bake dough products directly on stone floors, two so-called stone cars have also been supplied that can be driven into the ovens. “After about twenty minutes, these floors are up to temperature and they are loaded and unloaded with a loading/unloading truck. The dough pieces to be baked lie on peelboard carriages and are nibbled off by the loading/unloading carriage. A fantastic multifunctional application of these ovens”, says Huybregts. The Vulkan Thermo Roll® is therefore a complete modular unit, consisting of a baking chamber from seven to fourteen floors. The ovens have two steam generators with a considerable capacity per oven, which are heated directly by the primary oil circuit. This means no heat extraction from the oven. With the turbo fan that can be freely programmed in the baking programs, a bit of convection can be added for extra crust formation, for example. Together with the delivery of the Heuft ovens, the EverBake Group has made a major contribution to the design of Bakker Van Vessem’s bakery. For example, all oven trolleys, plates and couples were delivered in accordance with Huybregts’ wishes and, of course, perfectly matched to the design of the HEUFT ovens. This guarantees optimum product quality.