The Wheat Marketing Center hosted bakery and milling professionals from South Korea for its 2026 Korean Bakery Product Development Short Course, strengthening its partnership with U.S. Wheat Associates and advancing research on the performance of U.S. wheat in international bakery applications.
The weeklong program, held June 15-19, brought together technical specialists and industry representatives from leading Korean baking and milling companies, including CJ Foodville, Daehan Flour Mills, Bonnenouvelle Bakery and Silla Myeonggwa.
Led by Wheat Marketing Center Technical Director Dr. Jayne Bock and Food Scientist and Public Projects Manager Dr. Andrew Mense, the course focused on evaluating U.S. wheat blends in products such as pan bread, sweet buns, croissants and artisan-style loaves. Participants also worked with newly released hard purple wheat developed by Oklahoma State University wheat breeder Dr. Brett Carver.
The training was conducted in collaboration with U.S. Wheat Associates, which works with the Wheat Marketing Center to identify technical priorities and provide hands-on education designed to support export market development and strengthen relationships with international customers.
The course combined classroom instruction, laboratory testing, product development and industry tours. Participants received training on wheat classes, flour functionality and bakery product development while evaluating how different U.S. wheat classes performed in Korean-style baked goods.
Product testing included white pan bread made with eight wheat blends, croissant and laminated dough trials using five blending profiles, morning rolls and sweet buns produced with four wheat blends, and two whole wheat products incorporating blends of hard purple wheat and other U.S. wheat classes.
Participants worked with Hard Red Spring, Hard Red Winter and Soft White wheat to compare functional characteristics and determine how blending strategies could improve product performance across different bakery applications.
The program also featured a presentation from Jordan Bunting of the Oregon State University Food Innovation Center, tours of Dave's Killer Bread and Marsee Baking, and a visit to Thomas Dierickx's farm to provide participants with additional insight into the U.S. wheat supply chain.
At the conclusion of the course, the Korean delegation presented results from its product evaluations. The team found that U.S. wheat classes, particularly when blended, showed strong potential to replace or complement wheat from other origins in bakery formulations. Testing demonstrated that different blending combinations affected dough strength, texture and finished product quality, allowing formulations to be tailored for specific products.
Participants also evaluated opportunities to expand the use of U.S. whole wheat flour in Korean-style baked goods. Their findings indicated potential for broader whole grain applications while emphasizing the importance of understanding flour specifications to achieve consistent baking results.
The Korean Bakery Product Development Short Course is one of several international technical training programs organized through the partnership between the Wheat Marketing Center and U.S. Wheat Associates. Additional workshops are planned this year for technical teams from China, Korea and South Africa as part of ongoing efforts to support innovation, research and export market development for U.S. wheat.
Source: Wheat Marketing Center, "Wheat Marketing Center Hosts Korean Bakery Product Development Team to Showcase Performance and Functionality of U.S. Wheat"