Puratos opens flour center to help sourdough bakers handle variability
Puratos opened a flour lab in Groot-Bijgaarden to track the hidden shifts that change sourdough from bag to bag. Its new center ties analysis to predictive models and practical fixes.
Puratos opened its Flour Competence Center at headquarters in Groot-Bijgaarden, Belgium, on June 16, 2026, giving the ingredient maker a dedicated site for flour analysis, variation interpretation and application guidance. The center combines advanced analytical equipment with research and development expertise to study flour variation.
The center will study how crop evolution affects bakery and patisserie products, identify ingredients that can stabilize flour quality and evaluate regenerative flour in finished products. Climate conditions, agricultural practices and global supply dynamics drive flour variation. Even small changes in protein content, enzyme activity, water absorption and moisture can alter dough behavior, fermentation and final product quality, and in sourdough that volatility can show up quickly in starter activity, hydration, dough strength and timing.
The center is digitally connected to flour laboratories around the world in a glocal model that blends global data with local expertise. Paul Baisier, Puratos’s chief R&D officer, said the company will use global data, advanced analytics and GenAI-driven predictive modeling to anticipate variability and turn it into practical solutions. The insights will also support bakery improvers, sourdough and patisserie mixes. The project is tied to Puratos’s regenerative agriculture policy and will examine how regenerative flour performs in finished products while balancing sustainability goals with operational reliability.
In 2013, the company launched the Puratos Sourdough Library in Saint-Vith, Belgium, starting with 43 sourdoughs; it now contains 84, with more than 700 strains of wild yeast and 1,500 lactic bacteria recorded so far. North Carolina State University found that different flours foster distinct bacterial communities in sourdough, affecting aroma and flavor.
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