Baking & Snack - May 2022 - 15

SPECIAL REPORT
Meet the IBIE Committee
Meet
Joe Turano
The former IBIE chairman is thrilled about the value of IBIEducate.
by Alex Greenwood
J
Joe Turano is president of Turano Baking Co. in Berwyn,
Ill, and serves on the International Baking Industry
Exposition (IBIE) 2022 committee. He has worked in
the baking industry for more than 25 years and has been
involved with seven Expos, serving as chairman in 2019.
You served as IBIE chairman in 2019. What
will be different this year?
This is going to be a different show coming out of the
pandemic, and Dennis Gunnell has done a fabulous job
of leading the committee and planning efforts of the
show. The Expo is going to be just as great as it always
has been because of the leadership we have in place, and
all the support from the American Bakers Association
(ABA) and BEMA. I think people are anxious and excited
to get back together to network and view anything
new or different when it comes to equipment, supplies
and services. We're expecting a very good show overall.
What new features should people check out
at this year's event?
Most people will be talking about the new West Hall, which
is extremely modern and very interactive. Having a new
hall is a joy because the meeting rooms, classrooms and
concourses are that much better.
What's your favorite part of the show?
The education sessions have been around for many
years, but we really ramped it up with the previous show
and branded it IBIEducate. That's my favorite part of
the show because it is so important training our future
people as well as current management. I take a personal
interest in making sure that we're covering the range of
topics that are important to wholesale and retail bakers.
I'm very excited to see how our education portion is
implemented this year, and I'm expecting almost every
session to be sold out. There really haven't been in-person
education seminars in more than two years anywhere in
the industry, so this alone is a great reason to attend IBIE.
What themes will IBIEducate
explore, and how has that
evolved from 2019?
In addition to classes on the most relevant
topics of today, it also provides courses with
increasing levels of difficulty. For example, if
someone took a decorating basics class in 2019,
they'd be ready to continue their development into
more detailed instruction and advance their learning.
The program allows attendees to dive deeper into professional
development in areas of interest from one IBIE
to the next.
How will education sessions help bakers
meet today's challenges of supply chain
labor issues and a changing marketplace?
We have relevant classes and topics on each of those categories.
We have classes around raw material procurement,
educating attendees on how to creatively procure
ingredients or raw materials, and classes on robotic
learning and automation within the bakery.
Are you seeing any trends in investment
in automation?
I think automation will continue to improve. Any type
of automatic guided vehicles or robotic automation,
sensory data that is automated - those are the types
of exciting exhibits that people are looking forward to
seeing.
How can the baking industry attract more
workers, and how can IBIE provide more
tools to help with recruitment?
We have been a big proponent of bringing students
into IBIE from different universities and trade schools,
and we will continue to do that this year. So certainly,
that does help spread the word around the university
population about relevant strong career tracks in
our industry.
www.bakingbusiness.com / May 2022 Baking & Snack 15
http://www.bakingbusiness.com
Baking & Snack - May 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Baking & Snack - May 2022
