Selling belgian waffles in a foreign country: produce or import?
The waffle is a belgian speciality that travels easily. Thanks to his international well-known you can develop a lucrative and flourishing business in many countries. Before to make the big step it’s necessary to think about some points:
Will you realize homemade waffles or will you import waffles from Belgium to have the original taste? Let’s you explain…
1. Doing a homemade waffle in a foreign country
The first possibility is making your own waffle that will be tasting for your customers.
Above all be sure to find out about the availability of each ingredient in the country. First, you can already consult a reseller in pastry & bakery and if there’re some missing ingredients check if you can import them from Belgium.
First here’s an explanatory list of essentials ingredients of the Liege waffle:
Pearl sugar
This type of sugar is a typical belgian product. There are several belgian producers such as the belgian company Couplet Sugars who’s the producer and world leader of pearl sugars. We can find his quality sugar in the majority of Liege waffles (around 3 waffles out of 4 in the world). Discover all explanation about the pearl sugar with our article : “Pearl Sugar: the traditional ingredient of the Liege waffle”
We are an official reseller of Couplet Sugars for pearl sugar C40. For any order or quotation, please contact us to info@ampi.be, or in contact page.
Yeast
In Belgium the baker’s yeast is generally used for waffles. It’s not so easy to get it so do not hesitate to contact or to go to the nearest specialized reseller in pastry & bakery who’ll help you.
Or the further possibility is the “Active Dry East” but be careful with his dosage which is 2 or 3 times less important than baker’s yeast. Moreover the yeast and the salt must not be incorporated together, at the risk of canceling his rising power.
Flour
The kind of flour may vary depending on the country.
The flour’s bakery (non-fermenting) is particularly advisable for waffles. Its gluten concentration allows to obtain a soft dough which is very good for the baking. So select your flour with a special attention because your waffle be impacted.
Butter
Pay attention to select a good butter too. And if you want a tasty Liege waffle do not hesitate to be generous with the amount of butter.
The margarine can also be used for a lower cost but the result is also different.
Eggs & Milk
Other solution: the Liege waffle powder-mix
If you encounter problems to find ingredients, powder-premix can also be an alternative. The powder looks like the flour but it subsitutes at once several ingredients: flour, eggs and milk. For example – for the Liege waffle powder-premix, you need to add water, yeast, butter and pearl sugars. The powder-premix is also avaible for the Brussels waffle. For further information do not hesitate to contact us.
So now that you have all ingredients at your disposal… It’s time to test your waffle in your (foreign) country. At the beginning a testing period will be really useful to adapt your recipe according to local taste and eating habits of your customers. The most representative example is the amount of sugar in your recipe that change from one country to another. Change and test your recipe in various ways in order to have the suitable recipe that will match with your clients.
Discover the complete recipe of the Liege Waffle : it is a good starting point to learn the stages of Liege waffle’s preparation. As previously specified, the amount of ingredients depends on everyone’s taste.
2. Importing frozen dough or waffle from Belgium
This solution may be interesting for those who want to bring back the original taste of the Liege waffle “Made in Belgium”. Many belgian producers of dough and Liege waffles are exporting their frozen waffles around the world : Gofrino, Belgaufra, So Good, …
Waffles are shipping frozen at a freezing temperature of min. -18° celsius. At this freezing temperature the benefit is the shelf life of 1 year. Due to high shipping cost the most producers need a minimum quantity of order (MOQ). You can also contact us if you need more information.
Frozen dough
As you probably know the piece of dough need to be baked in order to have the waffle. Frozen dough are packaged in cardboard box either in bulk or in plastic containers in cells. The dough requires a little extra work because you have to take into account the defrosting time. After thawing you have to let the dough rise until it doubles in volume. Then using your Ampi commercial waffle maker cook the dough at a temperature of 180°C during 3 or 4 minutes.
And thanks to a freshly defrosting dough, its cooking produces an enticing and sweet vanilla scent for your customers (especially in open space).
Frozen waffle
It’s packaged in bulk or in frozen cardboard box at a temperature of -18°C min. and it is almost ready for the tasting. Let it defrost and then heat +/- 30 seconds at 90 ° C in your Ampi waffle maker. It can be also served cold.
Contact Ampi – Your waffle maker specialist
If you need additional advice(s) for your activity, it would be a good idea to contact your commercial waffle maker specialist. We would be glad to listen and help you.