WASHINGTON — While ambitious in scope, the new strategic plan of the American Bakers Association identifies key objectives the group must pursue in coming years, according to members of the ABA board of directors.

In interviews conducted March 5 in Washington in connection with the plan’s official launch, ABA leaders said the plan was put together through a robust, thorough and well-conceived process and that progress against its objectives will be tracked carefully in the years ahead.

Improving baking’s labor picture, boosting demand for baked foods and strengthening the ABA and what it does for its members form the three pillars of the strategic plan, publicly unveiled at a festive event at Washington’s Waldorf Astoria hotel.

In the interviews, members of the ABA board voiced optimism and strong views about the need for progress against the plan’s objectives, particularly around labor issues and product sales.

The importance of these two pillars are heightened by changes that have transpired over the last several years, said Trina J. Bediako, chief executive officer, New Horizons Baking Co., Norwalk, Ohio.

Trina J. Bediako, chief executive officer of New Horizons Baking Co.
Source: Sosland Publishing Co. 
“I believe the baking industry is a different industry today,” Bediako said. “It’s different in that the palates of our consumers have changed. It’s different in that our doughheads and senior bakers have retired and moved on to different things. It’s a bit of a rebuilding time as far as talent is concerned. We have to find ways to let the world know working in the baking industry is a good thing.”

Bediako said recruitment relates to positions dealing directly with baked foods production, like bakers and food scientists, but the industry needs much more.

“There are accountants and maintenance folk and quality and engineers,” she said. “We all know all that. There are more jobs out there. If we don’t identify and attract and train a workforce for the future, we won’t have one. The future is now.”

While confident that the most important issues facing baking are addressed in the plan, members of the committee offered sober assessments of the challenges that lie ahead. Of the labor crisis that has bedeviled baking for years, Brian Dwyer, Aunt Millie’s, Fort Wayne, Ind., said, “We’re all struggling with that.”

“How do we as a baking industry, get over that hump?” he continued. “How do we attract and retain great talent. That vision we have out there, that’s pretty aspirational.”

The baking industry has a talented cadre of human resources professionals he believes has the capacity to help.

“We have some great leaders in the member community,” he said. “We’re not looking for their secret sauce, but best practices we can share so that we can raise the whole industry and make the industry a lot more appealing.”

Under the umbrella of the labor issue, finding a way for certain immigrants without legal standing at present to gain work permits represents a challenging but important objective for the ABA and others in the US business community, said Brian LeComte, president and chief operating officer, Gold Medal Bakery, Fall River, Mass. LeComte emphasized the importance of achieving progress on the issue of labor broadly and immigration reform in particular.

Brian LeComte, president and chief operating officer of Gold Medal Bakery. 
Source: Sosland Publishing Co. 

“Immigration for us is issue No. 1,” he said. “We need some movement on that. We on a weekly basis get people knocking on our doors, and we can’t hire them. We want to hire them. They want to work. We can’t hire them. That’s the issue. It’s the crux of the issue. To everyone I talk to, it’s an important issue.”

While recruitment, including immigration reform, ranks high for bakers, several committee members also discussed the importance of retention and ABA’s role.

Lilliana Economakis, division vice president, customer development non-commercial, Aspire Bakeries, San Leandro, Calif., characterized the focus on the workforce issue as “definitely key.”

She highlighted work the ABA has done and needs to continue doing around leadership training to help baking companies retain experienced managers.

“The more years you have in that industry, you become a valuable asset, whether you stay with that one company or another in the baking industry,” she said. “But the goal of any company is to maintain employee loyalty and see them progress.”

Brian Perry, a senior vice president of TreeHouse Foods, Oak Brook, Ill., also emphasized the importance of retention.

“We can leverage the educational benefits that come from this and continue to grow and engage our team members to make baking an attractive long-term opportunity and to raise awareness for individuals making career choices that the baking industry is a great place to be,” Perry said.

One non-board member present at the event was Ron Cardey, vice president of business development for St. Johns Packaging. Cardey, who has extensive industry experience both in baking and as an allied supplier, has been actively involved in ABA’s membership committee.

Ron Cardey, vice president of business development for St. Johns Packaging. 
Source: Sosland Publishing Co.

“The membership committee is going to play an important role going forward,” he said. “As the industry changes, and it has been a very dynamic industry in the 40 years I’ve been in it, the membership 10 years from now will be very different than it is today. In constant innovation, you always will have new people starting baking related companies. It’s important for those companies to get involved in associations because there is so much that goes on in places like Washington, DC, that requires their participation.”

Bediako also focused on the importance of membership change for the ABA, looking at the term diversity from multiple perspectives.

“Diversity is gender, baking category and race,” she said. “If we’re pulling from all these components intentionally, I think that’s a goal that can be reached. There isn’t just one group of people eating every day.

“We need to be open minded to change. We can say nothing has changed, it is what it is and stand our ground, but I think COVID showed us the world is a different place — as it relates to workforce and pulling those resources.”

That the strategic objectives’ appeal beyond the bread, roll and cake sphere of ABA membership was emphasized by Perry of TreeHouse Foods.

“TreeHouse has many of the same priorities in the snacking world as the traditional bakers of desserts and breads,” he said. “We all share the same labor concerns around attracting and retaining top talent, and have the same commitment to food quality and keeping our people safe. The same food safety and people safety concerns.”

Aligning the interests of bakers and allied suppliers to the baking industry is a strength of the strategic plan, said Bill Gross, executive vice president for PPC Flexible Packaging, Philadelphia. In particular, he focused on the potential benefits to allied suppliers of efforts to boost consumption of baked foods.

Bill Gross, executive vice president for PPC Flexible Packaging.
Source: Sosland Publishing Co. “What’s good for the bakers is good for us,” Gross said. “From an allied’s perspective, the plan is very good for bakers and very positive for the overall allied community.”

It is because the ABAmactively considers the needs of allied members that the ABA is strong today, Cardey said.

“I believe the ABA has more relevance today than say 20 years ago,” he said. “I think there has been concerted efforts to actually represent the interests of all the members. I think that’s important. As a supplier to the bakery trade, I need to meet my customers where they are at today. I can’t say to them, ‘This is what you need, how many do you want to buy?’ I have to work with them to solve their challenges.

“I’m encouraged that Eric (Dell, ABA president and CEO) is going on this ‘Charting the Course Tour.’ He’s trying to get out in front of CEOs, owners and ask what else can we be doing?”

The strategic plan and its focus turned out very differently than Dell expected in the first months after he joined the group early in 2023.

“When I came in, I thought we’ve got to push the industry on nutrition,” he said. “We’ve got to push the industry on sustainability and maybe make commitments. Maybe we aren’t doing enough. Then I was in these board meetings, listening sessions and I realized, ‘My gosh, these guys are doing a lot already. They just aren’t telling the story.’ What really stuck out to me is that we are doing a lot of good things, and we need to tell that story, to help with the image. Not that the industry has a bad image, we need to keep enhancing it.”

In addition to offering good nutrition and pursuing sustainable production, Dell said the help bakers offer to their local communities is remarkable.

“This is probably one of the most giving industries I’ve ever seen in terms of giving back,” he said. “It goes to the culture of the industry.”

Telling that story is one of two key approaches to be taken by the ABA under the plan to boost demand for baked foods, Dell said.

“The second thing is research on consumer trends,” he said. “If we can provide the industry with cutting edge, consumer trends research on what consumers are looking for as they are going through the grocery store, the in-store bakery, e-commerce. We are looking for ways to educate bakers as well as allies on what consumers are looking for and how we can help meet consumers where they are.”

Enhancing the image of baked foods has proven to be a heavy lift over time, Cardey said.

“It has been a struggle since I got into the industry, trying to convince the general public that bakery plays a key role and that the products that we manufacture are an important staple in many diets,” he said. “There is so much misinformation in the marketplace, it’s important that we fight for what’s good for folks.”

To boost consumption of grain-based foods, the ABA will need to work with others, Dwyer said.

Brian Dwyer of Aunt Millie's.
Source: Sosland Publishing Co. 

“We still need a strong partnership with the other associations, and to utilize some of the research and the scientific advisory board the Grain Foods Foundation has,” Dwyer said. “We need to work through that partnership to get that message out to the American people.”

Eating habits are dynamic, and shifts in eating create opportunity, LeComte said. While only a small percentage of Americans currently have GLP-1 prescriptions for weight loss or diabetes control, he said the fact patients on medications alter their eating patterns and that the drugs are becoming more popular rapidly represent opportunity.

“Anytime people change their eating habits, that creates opportunities,” LeComte said. “What that will look like, I don’t know, but the ABA role in this is getting us the data. They have to help with insights to give us the information so we can figure out as an industry where the paths of innovation lie. The ABA has to be there as an advocate to support whatever innovations we come up with as an industry.”

Instant fixes should not be expected, Dell said, but over time progress should become evident.

“It’s a very mature industry and association,” he said when asked about prospective progress in the future. “Five years out, I hope people would say we helped move the industry from being in a lot of ways in a defensive posture to a more proactive one. It takes time, especially with an industry that’s mature.”

While key performance indicators (KPIs) have been incorporated into the plan, precisely measuring progress may not always be possible, Dell said. Emphasizing the importance of making headway on the labor issue, he said the ABA’s ultimate contribution to progress may be difficult to gauge.

“There are so many factors outside of our control on that front,” he said. “But we’re determined to make a difference.”

Even as the plan emphasizes the need for the association to remain focused, LeComte said a priority in the last plan to address issues of interest to bakers at the state level will not be neglected. Since then a working group has been established within the ABA responsible for addressing regulatory and legislative concerns outside of Washington. He said the stated strategy and the need for focus, if managed properly, are not in conflict with one another.

“What we’ve said is we’re going to have this working group that looks at the top issues in all the regions of the country and narrow it down to the top three to five issues at any particular time, using the state affairs working group,” LeComte said. “The proof is in the pudding. The most recent hire they made was a state affairs working group.”

He was referencing William Dumais III, who joined the ABA as state affairs manager in January.

LeComte cited the perennial challenge bakers face with tray theft as a prime example. While bakers all across the country face the problem of losses because of bread tray theft, enforcement in many instances, including in Massachusetts, is required at the state level.

Dell affirmed the ABA’s continued commitment to work at the state level.

“We are doubling down on the state work,” he said. “It’s so important on the advocacy front as it relates to ingredient bans, packaging, so many things bubbling up through the states. We need a full-time person. What we’re planning is an increase in our footprints in those states.”

William Quigg, vice chairman of the ABA and president of Richmond Baking Co., Richmond, Ind., said the current strategic plan is the second one he has worked on with the ABA. He gave the current plan high marks for focus on the process in drafting the plan. He also emphasized the importance of the plan’s performance measures.

“Eric is driving KPIs from the strategic plan,” he said. “It’s not something we intend to put on a shelf and let gather dust.”

Gross said the high quality of the strategic plan will ripple across the industry beyond the ABA. He credited Dell for his effectiveness at reaching out to associations with similar objectives to the bakers.

“I think other people will see the benefit of the focus the ABA leaders have chosen to pursue here,” he said. “This kind of a focused strategic plan … there are a lot of strategic plans, and this one was done particularly well in my opinion. This was very specific, very well thought out and plotted. They talked to a lot of people including a lot of allieds, including us. I think it will yield benefits. I think others will see that.”  MBN