Baking & Snack - July 2016 - 23

Jorge Zárate: What is happening in the US is spreading all over the world and all markets - including the
bread market and the entire grain-based industry. We
have been talking about sustainability and green labeling
for a long period of time, but now it's getting to a point
where these issues mix with food safety, with allergens,
with GMOs and everything else. I think the global perspective is closer to the US now. It definitely changes the
way we used to do things, and it's adding complexity to
our formulas, processes and even the equipment of our
facilities. In addition to networking, IBIE presents a lot
of opportunities for everyone to learn about what is going on in different countries, not just in the US.
Michael Cornelis: I'm still very concerned about consumption of bread and other grain-based foods, and I'm
hoping IBIE can provide bakers with idea generation
for healthy breads and healthy alternatives for buns. At
our company, we track how many pans are cycled, so we
know production is down across America. We also track
number of plants in North America - they're decreasing. For every new plant that opens, three close. As a result, we know that consumption is not where it should
be, and it's still a big concern for our baker customers
from a sales perspective.

But how much is bread and bun
consumption decreasing and how much is
shifting to foodservice, in-store bakery and
other channels?
Robin Alton: It's both. Commercial bread aisles are
shrinking in most grocery stores that we see, and we
have shifted our production more to foodservice and
fully prepared meals. But to Michael's point, a component of every weight-loss diet these days seems to be
fewer carbs, and it's our difficulty in trying to educate
that consumer that there are good carbs and bad carbs.
You can step away from bad carbs, and there are still the
good carbs in breads - and they're healthy and filling
and won't cause weight gain. If you can change your
business model today to the changing business environment, you can continue to drive sales. But if you don't
change, you're going to wake up in the future and find
you have a lot less business out there.

Over the past few years, how has the IBIE
committee advanced the show to make it
much more relevant?
Rich Hoskins: We have become a show that is much
more diverse, and yet we have been very inclusive. We're
focusing on the needs of all of us in our businesses, and
the show floor reflects a much broader spectrum of the
baking industry. In 2013, there were a heck of a lot more

Dennis Gunnell notes that this year's IBIE will be interactive and
engaging while focusing heavily on innovation.
American Bakers Association

ingredient people attending and exhibiting at IBIE, and
it looks like that trend is continuing. This year, the IBIE
Idea LAB is also a great example of what we're doing to
make this show a very big success for a long, long time.

How has the IBIE Committee made this show
more interactive?
Mr. Turano: It's been a matter of continuous improvement over the years. We've been focused on how we can
make each show even more engaging and each subsequent show more exciting. We've bounced ideas off one
another on the committee and with our partners at ABA
and BEMA. This year, the TED Talks-style gatherings
called "Fresh Take Talks" will open a whole new dynamic to engage attendees. Along with the IBIE Idea LAB, it
will be our first time doing these two programs, so I'm
sure we'll learn from this experience as well and then
further adapt them for the next show cycle.

How and why is the IBIE experience evolving?
Mr. Cornelis: As the attendee base continues to diversify, it's growing to also include more age groups
- particularly within the millennials. We find they
need a networking experience. They need to interact

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