Christine Prociv is senior vice president of marketing, innovation and R&D for Aspire Bakeries, Los Angeles.

In this second installment of IBIE Point of View, Baking & Snack checks in on how the International Baking Exposition (IBIE) is meeting Ms. Prociv’s expectations.

What have you seen at IBIE that has surprised you? 

I was delighted to see the whole industry in one place — meeting, talking, planning for the future. One thing that is so interesting to me is that during the NextGenBaker panel, the chief executive officers of leading companies seem to get along so well, from a business as well as a personal perspective. A surprising element continues to be how many years people are in baking: It is not an industry where people come and go. They stay for 30 years. That’s a good sign.

What has been the most exciting thing you’ve seen at IBIE so far? 

I am very excited about the Steam and Steam Fry donuts from S&S Baking Solutions. I truly could not tell a difference in a blind side by side between a regular donut and one with 50% less fat.

The Society of Bakery Women’s Donuts with Dawn event was tremendous. To see the leadership, the passion and the strength when women come together is inspiring for all women in business, not just for ourselves but for our daughters and our daughters’ daughters.

What were your goals, and how do you feel about the progress you’ve made in reaching them? 

My goals were to find unique ingredients and processes (equipment) to help our business, but my experience went well beyond that. We had business meetings set up with multiple vendors, at their booths, at dinners and even impromptu at breakfast. I feel that the momentum will continue now that we are all back together and moving forward.

How has your experience been meeting with exhibitors? Are you finding the information you were looking for?  

Yes, the materials, the conversations and the samples were very helpful in displaying the ingredients or benefits of the processes.

What is the most interesting thing you’ve learned either in an education session or at an exhibitor meeting? 

The session on inflation by Category Partners was terrific. The stats relating to consumers believing that inflation will continue for 1-2 years were staggering, and the use of data from the past to be able to predict the future, while obvious, really hit me at that presentation .

How does IBIE 2022 compare to previous IBIEs you’ve attended? 

This one did not seem as large, and I preferred the last one where ingredients were on one side and equipment on the other, just for ease. I do wish there were more examples of applications/samples to experience the benefit of the exhibitors’ products. There didn’t seem to be as many as last time, to me at least.

How will you be spending your remaining days at the show? 

One more follow-up meeting with a colleague from a partner company, and then I’m off!