Baking & Snack - June 2019 - 12

A rising tide floats all boats
I'm not a southerner, and I was never really a football fan.
I married into both.
I was reminded of both these cultures (yes, football in
the South is a culture) that I've come to know and love
when I recently visited Bud's Best Cookies in Hoover, AL.
The Cason family - Al, president, and his father, Bud,
CEO - are two southern gentlemen who operate on the
old-school mentality that a person's word is a bond, and
good business can still begin with a simple handshake.
They have welcomed countless visitors, from kiddos to
colleagues to family and friends into their facility. Neither
has ever met a stranger, and they do what they do for the
love of their business and the industry they serve. I listened
to Al speak so reverently of his father, a 2017 inductee
into the Baking Hall of Fame, and how Bud fell in
love with the cookie business as a kid working in
his aunt's bakery. You might say that Bud's always
been happiest when he's out selling cookies, and
Al is following in his father's footsteps.
Then, there's the southern football culture.
You see, you can't visit Alabama (or any southern state for that matter) without talking college football. I've watched my husband's beloved
Arkansas Razorbacks fall victim to the Alabama
Crimson Tide juggernaut more times than I care
to mention. Still, Bud and Al insisted that one day
soon, the Razorbacks would have their time. "We all go

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12 Baking & Snack June 2019 / www.bakingandsnack.com

through low points, and we all come out of it," Al assured
me. Those words might be true in the SEC, but I bet they
resonate for us all.
Al asked me what my husband thought of Alabama
Head Coach Nick Saban. Does he love him? Hate him?
Or respect him? I answered with my best guess, and he
sent me home with a gift: an autographed photo of Saban,
who happens to be a close friend of the Cason family.
My husband appreciated that gesture on a level I can't
connect with. All I know is, I answered correctly. You see
in the south, mutual respect and love of the game run far
deeper than team spirit.
That could be said for our industry, as well. We
come together through associations such as BEMA, the
American Bakers Association and the American Society
of Baking. We gather at events like IBIE every three years,
all for the love of our industry and the customers and
consumers we serve. The loyalty runs deeper than the
competition ... but it also feeds it. We learn from one another so we can bring our best to market. And we even
help one another out of the low points at times, because
that, too, strengthens the industry.
I can't wait to see that passion come to life in a few
months at IBIE. After all, that's how a rising tide - of any
color - truly floats all boats.
- Joanie Spencer, editor
jspencer@sosland.com

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Joanie Spencer
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Baking & Snack - June 2019

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