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 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.