Derby-based Salador Company has launched what its claims is the first cutting machine designed to portion baked products at point of sale rather than in a factory.

Targeted at the bakery, wholesale and retail sectors, the Salador Cake Cutter is priced at £5,000 and is intended to bring an added service to consumers. It can cut a product into between two and 20 portions.

The machine uses a 0.4mm wire to use on soft products such as cream cakes and a blade for items such as a carrot or walnut cake.

“It enables any food service outlet, where they serve cakes, to have it portioned right in front of the customer,” Brian Smith, joint managing director at Salador, told British Baker.

“It is the only one that does fresh cakes,” he added. “Most industrial cutters are ultrasonic, and waterjet cutters need chilled or frozen cakes to operate efficiently.”

The Salador cake cutter has already entered the US market and has received a positive reaction, said Smith, with supermarkets in New York using the machine.

“Their feedback was that this was an added service to the customer,” he added. “If a customer walks up to a counter and wants a cake cut up into 12 slices, they can have it done right in front of them.”

Here is a demonstration of how the new Salador model will operate: