Baking & Snack - November 2024 - 8

editorial
It's never too early to plan
T
The International Baking Industry Exposition (IBIE) is
still 10 months away, so it may seem early to deliver to
the industry a preview of the triennial trade show. But in
my interview with Dennis Gunnell, president of Formost
Fuji and former IBIE chair, he noted that some of the official
hotel blocks in Las Vegas offering discounted rates
for IBIE participants have already filled up.
" We've been able to increase the room blocks with
some hotels, but not all of them, " he said.
IBIE is the largest baking trade show in the Western
Hemisphere, bringing tens of thousands of attendees and
suppliers from both the commercial and retail baking
industries together from Sept. 13-17, 2025, in Las Vegas.
Bakers across the industry are all facing similar challenges
- most notably managing the high costs of raw
materials and a shortage of labor. Every trade show worth
its salt offers educational programming and trade show
floors filled with production equipment and samples
showcasing the latest in ingredient technology.
But what sets IBIE apart is the incredible networking
that occurs.
According to self-reported registration data
from IBIE 2022, 88% of attendees at IBIE are
decision-makers at their companies, many
approving, specifying or recommending purchases.
Michael Cornelis, former IBIE chair and
vice president of international sales and development
for American Pan, a Bundy Baking Solution,
said that's a larger pool of qualified buyers and decision-makers
than is typical for international trade shows.
While the caliber of participants is obviously a benefit to
exhibitors, Cornelis argued that it can also be a benefit to
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Contributing Editors:
EDITORIAL
Charlotte Atchley
Dan Malovany
Keith Moore
Michelle Smith
Lucas Cuni-Mertz
Taryn Parker
Donna Berry
Allison Gibeson
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8 Baking & Snack November 2024 / www.bakingbusiness.com
attendees in the form of education and networking.
" Most bakers are in their own plants 24/7, looking at
their own equipment 24/7, " he said. " This is an opportunity
to get out for a few days, see new equipment, up-skill
employees and talk to fellow bakers who are facing similar
challenges. This is an opportunity to learn from your peers
and other industry experts, and to find new solutions. "
Talk to anyone in the baking industry who is a loyal
attendee or exhibitor at IBIE, and they will all tell you
the same thing: The key to a successful IBIE is planning.
Choose who on the team is attending and book those
hotels, of course, but it's more than logistics. A successful
IBIE for a company involves knowing its needs, its
challenges and equipping its team to discover solutions to
them. That could come in the form of meeting with exhibitors
to discuss new technology, attending education
sessions or demos, or even a new connection made at one
of IBIE's many networking events. Drilling down those
objectives and strategies for the show, however, takes time
and conversations with multiple teams in your company,
so it's worth starting those conversations now, especially
with early bird pricing available until March 5, 2025. To
do all of this, you're going to need to be in the know.
Sosland Publishing is once again the exclusive Platinum
Media Sponsor and Official Media Provider of IBIE. That
means our team will be hard at work making sure you are
armed with all the information you need to make these
critical plans and get the most out of your team's IBIE experience.
It is our honor to serve the industry in this role,
and we look forward to being a part of your IBIE journey.
- Charlotte Atchley, Editor
catchley@sosland.com
CORPORATE
Chairman and CEO
President
Chief Financial and
Administrative Officer
Chief Operating Officer and
Executive Editor
Charles S. Sosland
L. Joshua Sosland
Staci Greco
Meyer Sosland

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Baking & Snack - November 2024

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