Milling & Baking News - April 4, 2023 - 27

a supply issue that is being fixed as supply
chains come back into normalization. "
There are other tails from the embrace
of pasta in the pandemic era, he said.
Far less product was being sold on promotion.
It was an area where necessary
budget cuts could be made, and consumer
demand indicated they weren't needed
since COVID. Promotions likely aren't
gone for good, he said, since supermarket
demand for them never really went
away. Also, pasta products in foodservice
channels have seen a similar resurgence
to consumer-packaged goods, he said, and
both owe a debt of gratitude to a market
segment that has been called the future of
specialty foods: Millennials, consumers
born in the 1980s and who now blow out
between 34 and 44 birthday candles
annually.
That demographic of 80 million
people - compared with 76 million
baby boomers - comprises the
highest percentage of purchases,
and is on track to surpass the baby
boomers in spending potential
by 2033, Mr. Zuanelli said, noting
the group spends $72 billion on
consumer packaged goods every
year, are foodies who love cooking,
use food to express themselves and
connect with peers, and are driven in food
purchasing by buzzwords such as organic,
artisanal, local, grass-fed and handmade.
Millennials travel more, are open to
a wide variety of cuisines and are more
conscious of authenticity than preceding
generations, he said. Pre-pandemic, this
was seen in the group's love of dining out,
but when the world shut down and the
economy contracted, they were keen to
recreate restaurant experiences at home.
" This is perfect for pasta and our
industry, and this is not where we were
four years ago, " Mr. Zuanelli said. " We're
not facing this hyper, carbo-phobic consumer
any longer. I hope all of us get over
that and move on to the consumer really
embracing our industry. "
In a recount of the successful NPA initiatives
of the past year, Mr. Zuanelli cited
the recent durum roundtable that united
domestic and international researchers, a
standards of identity project undertaken
by the government affairs committee that
bakingbusiness.com
engaged the Food and Drug Administration
in pasta standards for the first time
since 1940, and a reconfigured communications
plan shifting away from broad
special media promotion of the product. He
praised Kellen Co. for a " tremendous " job
with public relations and promotion of the
industry through periodicals, television
and " the great work of our chef spokesman,
Rosario Del Nero, one of the most
passionate individuals that I've ever met. "
THE FUTURE
NPA membership increased in 2023,
from 54 manufacturing, milling and
associate members to 58, he said, " and
in the coming years we're going to try to
get to triple digits. " Mr. Zuanelli said the
what's impacting pasta abroad.
Finally, the outgoing chairman thanked
the members and praised the incoming
board of directors leadership: chairwoman
Nora Staebert, executive vice
president of the Philadelphia Macaroni
Co., Philadelphia, and vice chairman
Jeffrey Schryver, vice president of pasta
operations with 8th Avenue Food and Provisions,
Fenton, Mo.
" I am completely and unbelievably
" The more engaged
a membership, the
greater future we
will have. "
- Carl Zuanelli,
Nuovo Pasta Productions Ltd.
NPA was able to achieve nearly all past
objectives and was moving forward with
a new strategic plan set forth by its board
of directors. The association seeks to:
* Retain 90% of members and attract
two targeted members annually;
* Ensure stakeholders are aware,
engaged and educated on the activity and
benefits of the NPA via advocacy, networking,
industry intelligence and other
services;
* Develop a philanthropic strategy
and program to highlight the charitable
efforts with a focus on food security;
* And engage a Member Education
Committee to study the structure, activities
and location of the annual meeting to
ensure continued sustained relevance of
the membership.
The NPA this year also will hash out the
possibility of combining the NPA annual
meeting and the celebration of World
Pasta Day in 2024, he said, in order to
learn from the international community
grateful for the four years that I have
spent as chairman, " he said. " It's been my
personal and professional greatest honor
of my life and I want to thank you and the
board for electing me to that position, and
I am equally honored to be passing that
baton to a fantastic leadership team that is
a big deal for the industry and
represents a brilliant future
for the industry. Our own Nora
Staebert is sure to be a fantastic
chairperson, one for whom I
have deep respect and admiration
for her talents. She is a
home run hitter.
" I believe in the deep tradition
of the NPA. It has a deep-rooted
tradition, family members, and
I think you should never lose
sight of that, that you should
have one hand reaching back, one hand
reaching forward, that we should never be
tethered by that tradition, but we should
always be respectful of it. And true to that
tradition, we have Jeffrey Schryver as
the vice chairman of the board, who represents
35 years in the industry working
with some of those family members and a
fountain of information and knowledge.
He knows so much about this industry and
all its nooks and crannies and corners.
" If you have an opportunity to engage
with both these individuals, you're going
to see a dynamic duo. The more engaged
a membership, the greater future we will
have. Today, NPA is more than manufacturers,
which remain the root of the organization,
but today we are durum farmers,
equipment suppliers, those that represent
packaging machines and scales, and everything
needed to produce our product.
" The state of the union is bright; the
horizon is magnificent. " MBN
- Matt Noltemeyer
MILLING & BAKING NEWS
27
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Milling & Baking News - April 4, 2023

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