IBIE 2022 09 18 - 3

IBIE SUNDAY
bakers is likely to be up 15% to 20%.
Reflecting underlying change in the industry
over the past three years, the profile of bakers
attending the show will be different this year.
" Something new and unique to this show are
companies that are bringing newly hired people,
many of whom have no experience in baking,
to IBIE. They are using IBIE as part of their onboarding
process, to help them understand the
industry, " Mr. MacKie said. " I talked to one major
baking company bringing 40 people, and almost
half have never been to IBIE. This is a wonderful
learning opportunity. "
He said supplier consolidation is taking a
toll on the number of suppliers at IBIE 2022 but
would be down " not dramatically from 2019. "
Attendance will be lower from China and
Robb MacKie, president and chief executive officer, ABA
continued from page 1
throes of the pandemic. I think beyond that, what
makes this really special is that the industry is
eager to reconnect. "
During the summer Mr. MacKie traveled internationally
to promote IBIE, and he said excitement
about the show was " palpable. "
" This is an industry that shares knowledge,
experience, and, frankly, they like each other, "
he said. " This is at a time we're still feeling the effects
of the pandemic. "
The vacuum of major baking industry meetings
since 2019 (iba 2021 was canceled) gives this
year's IBIE heightened importance, Mr. MacKie
said.
" This will be the first international baking
show, and to be honest, one of the first international
food shows of any kind since IBIE 2019, "
he said. " With the last three years without any
of these shows and all we've been through, if
you miss IBIE until 2025, that feels like two lifetimes. "
Coming
amid a morass of economic, supply
chain and other challenges, Mr. MacKie said IBIE
2022 will highlight these issues. In addition to automation
solutions, he said certain equipment exhibitors
at their booths will be taking advantage
of IBIE as an opportunity to recruit employees.
While figures on registration will not be finalized
until after the show, Mr. MacKie said the
numbers as of the eve of IBIE point to several interesting
and mostly positive trends.
While overall attendance may fall slightly
shy of 2019, consistent with still recovering
travel trends as COVID-19 recedes, attendance by
September 18, 2022 | 3
other parts of Asia that had been large sources
of registration in the past, but Mr. MacKie said
a strategic focus on recruiting from Europe and
Latin America has paid off and that the response
from bakers in the Middle East and Canada has
been unexpectedly strong.
Overall attendance by international bakers
is likely to be up about 30%.
Commenting on a recent announcement
that the ABA will partner with BEMA on Nexus,
Mr. MacKie had high praise for the concept. The
event is conceived to take place between IBIE
years and will be owned by the ABA and BEMA,
the two associations that own IBIE.
" BEMA has done the lion's share of the work
on this: the creative, the concept, " he said. " And I
think it's a really strong concept. Coming out of
the pandemic creating an opportunity for bakers
and suppliers to meet had been severely diminished. "
First
announced by BEMA in June at the
group's annual meeting, Mr. MacKie said the
ABA was brought into discussions about Nexus
a month earlier.
" Tim Cook (past BEMA chairman and president
and CEO of Linxis Group) deserves a lot of
the credit along with the BEMA staff, " Mr. MacKie
said. " He, Kerwin Brown and Emily Bowers
provided a conceptual outline to the ABA staff in
May in Washington.
" There was no specific proposal; they wanted
ABA at the table in any way our members
were comfortable, " Mr. MacKie said. " We shared
the discussion with the ABA leadership. "
While at the BEMA annual meeting Cordia
Harrington, ABA chair and CEO of Crown Bakeries
Cos., met with BEMA leadership to discuss
Nexus more deeply. In August, the BEMA leadership
met with the ABA leadership, which agreed
to join the Nexus event as a full partner.
Mr. MacKie cited an oft heard plea from the
baking industry for fewer but more valuable industry
events. He said Nexus is expected to be
the forum for a joint fall meeting between the
ABA and the Allied Trades of the Baking Industry
boards.
It's expected that a joint steering committee
will be established to oversee the event with representation
both from the ABA and BEMA.
" We still have a lot of work to do to finalize
details, " Mr. MacKie said. " But it is an exciting opportunity. "
*
-Josh Sosland, Milling & Baking News
Photos by: Steven Dewberrya
IBIE 2022 09 18

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