Promoting young talent: IREKS supports further training to become a bakery technician (m/f/d) at LEMITEC
It is an open secret that there has been a noticeable shortage of junior staff in the bakery sector in recent years. But noting this is not enough. We want to become active and show young people in particular that a profession in the bakery sector can be exciting, diverse and above all modern, flexible and creative!
Within the context of a sustainable further development of our industry, the topic of promoting young talent is therefore particularly close to our hearts. We thus specifically support initiatives that make their contribution, such as the further training in baking technology at the Staatliche Fachschule für Lebensmitteltechnik (State College for Food Technology) in Kulmbach, or LEMITEC for short. In cooperation, we have been training students to become state-certified bakery technicians, since the school year 2020/21. In terms of content, the focus is on work in medium-sized bakeries, the number of which is constantly increasing, and which have special requirements. The primary learning objective of the further training is to combine theory and practice in central subjects such as baking and confectionery baking technology or food quality control.
A large part of the practical training takes place at IREKS in Kulmbach, for which we make our training bakeries and laboratory areas available. The Head of our Training Department Bakery, Heike Geringer, acts as instructor.
Two students from the first year give a résumé and report on their experiences at IREKS, in this context:
» What struck me as particularly positive was how committed the teachers are and I also find the scope of the specialist knowledge imparted very impressive. What I appreciate about working with IREKS is the comprehensive and modern equipment in the bakery and laboratory. In our practical units, theoretical content, such as the effects of different flours on doughs, is vividly put into practice. There are also regular opportunities to get to know the daily work in a large company. During the lockdown, when meetings in the IREKS bakery were not possible, tasks were prepared for us, which we could then discuss in a telephone conference. For example, we finished baking prebaked rolls from the supermarket and did a fault analysis, grew our own sourdough and carried out a sensorial evaluation of bread with different salt contents. All in all, I can say that I already feel well prepared for my future professional life! «
» I find Heike Geringer and our other teachers very competent; they have great expertise and a lot of practical experience and always respond to the problems of their students. For me, this makes the further education challenging and I am constantly learning something new – little by little, the contents become more understandable, the knowledge networks in my head, so to speak, resulting in helpful contexts. The technical possibilities that IREKS provides us with are highly modern and correspond to the state of the art. That is why I would like to encourage other young people to take this path: have the courage, you too can do it! «
In addition to the specialist practical training for bakery technicians, IREKS also offers training to become a baker. You can find more information about this in the training section.