The baking industry met up once again in the virtual space from 25-28 October 2021: in the area of innovations, two world premières[1] were even presented. Questions, discussions and impulses: the participants made full use of the extended 28 live Q&A sessions and the live presentation by the Akademie Weinheim to communicate with the experts in real time. The presentations which received the most interest were “How to increase the water absorption of your baked goods”, “Soft Roll and Bun Production” and “Baking Manufacturing Trends—Examining the U.S. Market”. Participants were able to specify several focal topics when they logged in as part of the interest-based recommendations. 55% were especially interested in the topic of crafts. This was followed by over 43% in raw materials and ingredients, automation, dough preparation, ovens and production equipment, as well as 40% in trending topics. On top of this, the participants also had the opportunity to speak to prize winner Heinrich Beck (Baker of the Year 2021) and track other awards online. The world’s best baker and confectioner in 2021 were announced in the course of the UIBC[2] Award Gala at iba.Connecting Experts. Domi Velez from Spain was selected as the UIBC World Baker of the Year and David Schmid from Switzerland was chosen as the UIBC World Confectioner of the Year 2021. In addition, Günther Koerffer was elected as the new UIBC President as part of the UIBC Congress Meeting.
Focus: iba in 2023
Susann Seidemann, Director of iba, summarised: “We had the courage to take a new path and initiate a virtual network event. The industry’s longing for international exchange is what motivated us the most. World premières were presented, future-oriented lectures were held and the course was set for the new business year at iba.Connecting Experts. We are very grateful for the support and the professional cooperation with everyone who helped make iba.Connecting Experts such a valuable and successful meeting place for the industry.” The iba team is now concentrating on the global trade fair, which will be taking place again live in October 2023 at the Fairground Munich. “We are now looking forwards to iba 2023. We will provide the market with a strong iba in all its diversity and incorporate our experiences and ideas into the event. We are very excited to see everyone again in person!” said Seidemann. From 22 – 26 October 2023, the whole world will finally be able to meet up again for the iba in Munich. Then it shall be time to smell, taste and feel once more. Key speakers, freshly baked bread, competitions, product displays, tasting sessions and tours: the industry will finally unite again live. Interested parties can already register for iba today at the following link.
[1] PRIMUS fusion SB by Marel TREIF GmbH and the Phebus Mixer by VMI SA
[2] International Union of Bakers and Confectioners
