Baking & Snack - July 2019 - 30

IBIE COMMITTEE ROUNDTABLE

Mr. Ramsey: I think the marketing part is fine, but from
a producer's standpoint, it's about scale. How do you take
all those great ideas with very small volume and make it
work in a big plant? That's where the collaboration between equipment suppliers and food companies comes
in. They've got to change the game a little bit. Those fast,
rapid changeovers - that's the future. Smaller runs -
that's the future. It's got to make sense for manufacturers
to get into new SKUs.

making products for very specific applications. Some
of the large snack food segments are making specific
packaging. Consumers can design it themselves, request the product and have it sent to their home ...
and that's coming out of the large companies. Maybe
it starts with some of the smaller bakers, but it's being
driven through some of the larger ones as well, and everybody in the chain has to realize that a segment of
our market is going to that.

Mr. Turano: IBIE will certainly spur quite a bit of creativity from our new Artisan Marketplace that we'll have
in each hall. With the layout of the marketplaces, as well
as the product displays that we'll offer, a lot of idea generation will occur.

How are better-for-you trends affecting the
baking industry, and what aspects of IBIE can
help bakers and snack producers in that space?

How is the proliferation of new companies,
brands and products affecting sectors such as
co-manufacturing, foodservice and retail?
Mr. Ramsey: It's about emphasizing the need for best
practices and standardization. The ideas are great, but
then how do you take those to market and take that new
idea and make it work efficiently?

With a committee equally
composed of bakers
and suppliers, IBIE
understands the needs of
attendees and exhibitors.

Mr. Zarate: Those small companies, small groups of students or scientists or food technologists can find in our
show a lot of information, techniques and knowledge so
they can develop new products. It's like using the show
as external R&D.
Mr. Gunnell: It's not just the small companies. Large
companies are now getting innovative when it comes to

Mr. Turano: When we say, 'better for you,' the mindset
of the consumer is transparency: knowing what they are
purchasing and going to eat. That's more of the demand
that many of us are producing for. In our Expo, the ingredient suppliers will have not only the knowledge
base and resources at their exhibitor booths but also the
products that cater to this need for transparent labeling.
Mr. Gunnell: The beauty of our exhibition is you've
got nearly 1,000 exhibitors there, and it's hands-on.
You can talk to people, see the equipment, learn about
the ingredients, and it's all real-time. You don't get that
looking at the internet; you don't get that through telephone conversations. This is something you can't get
any other way.
Mr. Zarate: The better-for-you products are a factor. They challenge the industry but in a good way.
Challenges are leading the innovation and creativity. We
are gathering all those solutions - in ingredients and
processes. Some people have the knowledge to produce
and to develop these kinds of products, so that is a great
opportunity for the industry.
Mr. Turano: Another feature that Lynn and her team
set up for the IBIEducate sessions is that we have several
sessions specifically customized for adjusting formulas
for transparent labels.
Ms. Schurman: We also have a session that's focused
specifically on what millennials are looking for when
they're shopping, so the different bakeries can use that
to develop products.

How will interactive technology change operations
and training - and the IBIE experience?
Mr. Turano: Because of what we experienced at iba
[held in Munich last fall], many exhibitors will also be
adding virtual reality features to their booths at IBIE. We
have our own IBIE virtual reality tours in partnership

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Baking & Snack - July 2019

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