Milling & Baking News - April 12, 2016 - 21

X
construction, but the push goes con- introduced a number of seasonal vasiderably further, Mr. Penny said. rieties. In basically any part of our
The company has strong programs portfolio, whether it's mainstream
at all its plants around recycling, bread, premium bread, breakfast, or
high-efficiency lighting, water use, sweet baked goods, we have been
utilities and more, he said.
"Sustainability is a great
'(Grupo Bimbo's)
example of an initiative
that all associates, irrespeclong-term view of the
tive of what legacy baking
business has allowed
company they come from,
us to make the kind
can really get behind," he
said.
of investments we
New product develophave made over the
ment and marketing also
years.'
have been areas in which
- Fred Penny,
the company has worked
Bimbo Bakeries USA
to come together as one.
"As the Sara Lee integration and related heavy
lifting are behind us, we've become active with new products and new
a lot more focused on building our varieties to try and fuel growth.
"We need to have all the categostrongest brands and being more
aggressive in bringing new prod- ries working - whether it's breakuct innovation to the market," Mr. fast, sweet goods, mainstream bread
Penny said. "This is not easy to or premium bread. To that extent,
do because the failure rate of new we're focused on innovation across
products is pretty high, and find- all the categories. "
At the time B.B.U. acquired the
ing winners isn't necessarily easy,
but we've put more focus on that as Sara Lee fresh business, its execuwe've moved through the restruc- tives said up to $1 billion in capituring. We've been able to put more tal outlays could be forthcoming to
focus on brand building, brand in- update the company's production
and distribution assets. Over the
vestment and innovation."
Elaborating on new B.B.U. prod- past three years, new plants have
uct introductions, Mr. Penny high- been built in Rockwell, Texas, and
lighted Artesano bread sold under Lehigh, Pa., and many of the comthe Sara Lee brand and Little Bites, pany's 57 other plants have received
portion-controlled mini muffin investment, Mr. Penny said.
"We have also been very active in
snacks, as both doing well.
"We're also in organic with a consolidating distribution centers
brand called Eureka! that has been and building newer, larger distribuexpanding," he said. "To tap into tion centers that are more efficient," he
consumers' desire for whole grain said. "We are very fortunate to be part
premium products, we launched of Grupo Bimbo because it is a baking
a line of breads called 'Healthful' company at its core and one that is comas well as a few wide pan prod- pletely committed to the industry. Their
ucts called Extra Grainy under the long-term view of the business has alArnold, Brownberry and Oroweat lowed us to make the kind of investbrands. In breakfast, primarily ments we have made over the years."
The IBIE represents an "important
under the Thomas' brand, we have
piece" of the company's plant modernization efforts.
"Grupo Bimbo will be well represented at this year 's IBIE," he said.
"Over the years when our B.B.U.
teams have attended, we inevitably
come back with many great ideas
for the business, particularly for
our bakeries. While IBIE isn't until October, the initial attendance
information already indicates an
extremely strong showing. I'm excited about the educational curriculum, Baking Expo and Innovation Showcase and expect IBIE to be
bakingbusiness.com / world-grain.com

Industry Activities

very successful this year."
For companies large and small,
the A.B.A. represents an important
resource for the baking industry,
Mr. Penny said.
"It would be extremely
difficult if not impossible and certainly very
expensive for individual
bakers or individual companies to tackle the kinds
of issues that the industry
faces without the A.B.A.,"
he said. "There is strength
in numbers and certainly
a very strong team under
Robb's leadership (MacKie, president and chief executive officer of A.B.A).
They understand the issues, know how to navigate Washington, and represent the industry
well. We're much better served to
have the A.B.A. represent us on difficult issues than to try and tackle
them on our own."
Among topics of greatest concern
for the baking industry highlighted
by Mr. Penny, labeling of food products containing bioengineered ingredients headlined the list.
"State-by-state labeling requirements, beginning with the Vermont
law effective July 1, will have huge
financial implications not only to
our industry, but consumers everywhere," he said. "As importantly, a
state-by-state regulatory framework
will not add to transparency or understanding for consumers. We will
continue to support a solution that
is most beneficial to the consumer in
terms of information and cost while
balancing business efficiency concerns."
From a more internal point of
view, a prospective skills gap facing
baking companies as baby boomers
retire represents a major challenge
requiring immediate attention, Mr.
Penny said.
"We need a comprehensive talent
management plan across the baking
industry to attract and retain critical
talent," he said. "A.B.A. is leading
the way in addressing skills gap concerns and working to find solutions
to fill the critical void in the number
of skilled employees to work in our
industry. Additionally, we know we
live in a world where millennials
want different things from their employers and their work experience.
We need to figure out how to show
emerging talent the exciting opportunities in this industry." MBN
Milling & Baking News XApril 12, 2016 / 21

http://www.bakingbusiness.com http://www.world-grain.com

Milling & Baking News - April 12, 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Milling & Baking News - April 12, 2016