Bud's Best Cookies produces a line of bite-size cookies that it sells in the Northeastern and Southeastern United States.

With the cookie and cracker category suffering through declining volumes, a premium has been placed on innovation. Daryl Brewster, Kraft Foods' group vice president and president, U.S. Snacks Sector, reinforced this message during a speech at Biscuit and Cracker Manufacturers' Association's 79th Annual Technical Conference in Raleigh, N.C. "For the first time in decades, sales of cookies and crackers have declined," Brewster said. "To restore growth, top bakers must get cooking."

Throughout his speech, Brewster urged cookie and cracker manufacturers to launch innovative new products. Kraft Foods, and many other cookie and cracker bakers, are relying on bite-size cookies to generate consumer excitement.

Bite-size cookies provide bakers with two competitive advantages. First, they allow bakers to attract consumers seeking more healthful snacking options. Kraft Foods recently launched a new line of 100 Calorie Packs under its Nabisco brand. These products contain bite-size versions of its most popular snacks, including Chips Ahoy! and Oreo.

Bite-size cookies also provide bakers with an on-the-go snack that appeals to consumers' need for convenience. Since 1991, Bud's Best Cookies, Birmingham, Ala., has carved a niche in the Northeastern and Southeastern United States by selling a line of bite-size branded cookies.

To produce bite-size cookies, simple modifications are required at the front end of the production line. However, packaging these morsels requires innovative technology often used in the salted snack industry. Instead of tray and carton packaging systems, bite-size cookies are mainly packaged using horizontal-motion conveyors and vertical form/fill/seal machines.

One equipment manufacturer's horizontal motion conveyor uses servo drives to give manufacturers more control over the motion of their products. Programmable logic controllers allow bakers to set specific transfer speeds and eliminate product damage caused by excess movement.

Horizontal motion conveyors transfer bite-size cookies to vertical form/fill/seal machines. When installing this type of packaging system, bakers must purchase a system that maintains production speeds and is flexible enough to accommodate changing consumer trends. One equipment manufacturer's bagger uses a rotary double jaw to attain speeds as fast as 220 bags per minute. The system also accommodates an assortment of packages, including pillow, gusseted, quattropak, block bottom, string, satchet, Euroslot/round hole and multi-packs.