René van Ass to Explore Waste Reduction and Production Efficiency at World Bakers Summit 2026
René van Ass, Business Development Officer at Verhoeven Family of Companies, will join the Future-proof Innovation session at World Bakers Summit 2026, bringing the perspective of an industrial bakery technology supplier on waste reduction, resource efficiency and the role of innovation in building more sustainable production operations.
World Bakers Summit will take place on September 15–17, 2026, at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Bucharest, bringing together bakery manufacturers, retailers, hospitality operators, ingredient suppliers and technology providers from across Central and Eastern Europe.
Van Ass is responsible for strategy, innovation and business development at the Dutch Verhoeven Family of Companies. After more than 30 years as an entrepreneur and consultant, his current role focuses on identifying new opportunities and helping translate ideas into technologies and business concepts for the markets in which the group operates.
For industrial bakeries, one of those areas is the relationship between production efficiency and waste. Reducing losses is increasingly connected not only with sustainability objectives, but also with the way production lines are designed, operated and integrated. Ingredients, energy and processing capacity have already been invested in a product by the time it becomes waste, making the ability to prevent losses or recover value from them an operational consideration as well as an environmental one.
One of the technologies Verhoeven has developed around this challenge is Repeatloaf, an automated system designed to upcycle returned bread. According to the company, the process converts return bread into a fermented powder in less than 24 hours. The resulting material can be used as an alternative to flour in certain applications, as a decoration or to add flavour to baked products.
The concept reflects a broader approach in which waste streams are considered as part of the production system rather than simply an output to be managed once production is complete. Verhoeven describes Repeatloaf as a circular solution intended to return value from bread that would otherwise be discarded.
This approach sits alongside the wider activities of the Verhoeven Bakery Equipment Family, which brings together expertise in dough processing, industrial handling, vacuum cooling and baking, and end-of-line systems. The group positions these technologies as elements of integrated bakery production, with efficiency, process optimisation and more effective use of resources increasingly influencing investment decisions.
At World Bakers Summit, van Ass will bring this technological and business development perspective into the discussion around future-proof bakery production. Waste reduction and solutions including Repeatloaf are expected to form part of his contribution, alongside the wider question of how technology can help manufacturers improve efficiency while pursuing more sustainable production models.
The session will form part of the Summit’s Future-proof Innovation programme, which brings together ingredient and technology specialists to examine how bakery businesses can respond to changing product, production and operational requirements.
Further details of van Ass’ presentation will be announced as the final programme is completed.
World Bakers Summit takes place on September 15–17, 2026, at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Bucharest. Registration, the latest agenda and information about confirmed speakers are available at worldbakerssummit.com.
Organized by World Bakers, powered by European Baker & Biscuit and World Bakers Digital, and supported by Progresiv, Trends HRB and Frozen Food Europe, the event is also backed by an expanding group of industry partners, including Grupo Bimbo as Main Partner; Pakmaya, Lantmännen Unibake and Puratos as Platinum Partners; Nutella as Gold Partner; 5 to go as Coffee Partner; AD Production as Solutions Partner; the Polish Investment and Trade Agency, the Hellenic Romanian Bilateral Chamber of Commerce and the Council of Slovak Exporters as Community Partners; and Arta Albă and All Retail as Media Partners.
