19 Jul Convention 2024 – Baking Industry Association Landscape

On Saturday, June 29, BEMA Convention 2024 brought together an industry panel for a Q&A session discussing association strategic initiatives and opportunities for collaboration. The industry panel included representatives from the American Society of Baking (ASB), the American Bakers Association (ABA), the Grain Foods Foundation (GFF), the Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies (PMMI), and BEMA.

The Breakdown

Cultivating Partnerships – Since the pandemic, the benefits of collaboration have taken center stage. The panel of industry leadership representatives shared their primary strategic initiatives and what they hope to achieve moving forward.

For BEMA, 2024 marks the second year of the NEXUS initiative and partnership with ABA. NEXUS will take place Oct. 1-3 at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill. The primary pillars of NEXUS focus on connecting bakers and suppliers, educating attendees and creating opportunities for future-focused industry conversations. NEXUS is about providing solutions to business and professional development needs.

The American Bakers Association is paving the way to make the industry a destination workplace. This includes bringing together partner stakeholders from industry, human resources, legislative bodies and schools to create workforce development training and certified courses for the front line. These initiatives will help address the need for continuing education and retention in the industry.

The American Society of Baking is focused on workforce development and retention. Developing training and certified courses focused on today’s fast-paced environment. ASB is creating bite-size education opportunities both online and “hands-in-dough” while also focusing on the importance of mentorship and volunteer opportunities for retention with a lofty goal to serve 10,000+ industry professionals by 2030.

The Grain Foods Foundation has embarked on an initiative to develop a 501(c)(3) to create funding for grant approval for research that will promote the grain-based foods industry. The initiative received donations from AB Mauri, Puratos and Corbion to fast-track the project.

PMMI has created a drive to improve collaboration and communication with other likeminded associations and its members. This includes the provision of back-office support and is designed to improve cooperation between memberships and associations.

Improving Collaboration – Time and money are often limited resources and associations want to provide their members with the best bang for their membership dollars. To do this, associations are working closely with their members to define value and enhance opportunities. More associations are taking a closer look at what others are doing inside and outside of the baking industry. Learning where one group excels can allow others to partner in that experience and avoid duplicating efforts.

For example, ASB and ABA board are very collaborative in training efforts. This year, ABA and ASB training is now accessible via a shared education platform, extending reach beyond each association. ABA is also bringing bakers together on legislative issues and co-hosting meetings to save members of multiple associations time and money.

BEMA and PMMI began collaborating several years ago through the opportunity for associations to attend PACK EXPO. PMMI also works to widely share customer solutions with the industry by way of presenting technical papers at industry events like NEXUS. Similarly, GFF presents scientific studies and findings across the industry.

Future Outlooks

ABA – NextGenBaker Leadership Forum and ABA Convention 2025

BEMA – Regional Dinners and NEXUS 2024, BEMA Intel.

GFF – Study: Refined grain intake and cardiovascular disease and Analysis: No correlation between intake of refined grains and Type 2 diabetes

PMMI – Pack Expo International and September Annual Meeting

ASB — Developing a formal mentoring match program and offering BEAG certifications