04 Sep CEO Insights: Creating Spaces for Cooperation

Creating Spaces for Cooperation

Recently, a baseball player did something no one in the history of baseball has ever done. He played in the same game for two different teams. In fact, Danny Jansen caught the at-bat he started.

You see, on June 26, the Blue Jays and Red Sox started a baseball game that was suspended before the fifth inning, which meant they would need to finish it at another time. The next time they could do that was nearly two months later on Aug. 26, after Jansen had been traded from the Blue Jays to the Red Sox.

To make things even more interesting, Jansen was at bat when the game was suspended. When the game restarted, he was the Red Sox starting catcher, which meant the Blue Jays had to pinch hit for him in the same at bat that he started as a Blue Jay. He is the only player ever to appear in the box score of the same game for both teams.

Cooperating on Innovation

While a player playing for both teams in the same game is highly unusual in sports, in business, especially the baking business, we’ve found cooperation and collaboration is common and is even a key to success.

Recently, BEMA chairman Clay Miller and I went on a trip we called the Tour de BEMA where we visited several of our member companies and talked with them about the state of the industry and its future. One of the highlights was seeing how companies are using the relationships they have with each other to collaborate in new ways to best serve their customers.

We toured two innovation centers, and I was impressed with the focus on finding solutions to customer needs. Innovation centers allow customers to use both equipment and ingredients, often with their own recipes, to see exactly how it all performs together. I found the collaboration between ingredients companies and equipment manufacturers inspiring, all to show the customer possible end-to-end solutions.

Building Bridges Across the Industry

I love seeing these innovation centers because they confirm for me that what we do at BEMA is working. One of our goals at BEMA is to connect suppliers, in turn creating a community that leads to collaboration like what companies are doing with their innovation centers.

So many people have told me the baking industry is like a family, and I believe that family atmosphere makes it easier for us to overcome those competitive barriers because everyone wants what’s best for our “family members.”

BEMA is always trying to find new ways to foster collaboration between people and companies within our industry. As many of you know, Convention is a great place to get together with industry members, renew relationships, and meet new people. It’s also a way for everyone to get a feel for the status of the industry.

Our regional dinners encourage conversation between industry members based on location. This allows people with interests in all different parts of the industry to meet and exchange ideas in a smaller, informal setting.

NEXUS is our latest venture into helping industry members build relationships. In fact, the main focus of NEXUS is to create meaningful relationships between our members. Spark sessions provide the opportunity for NEXUS to create a one-to-one match between people and companies with a common interest.

We believe that the baking industry is always better when we work together, and we work hard to create environments where industry members can set aside competition to create a better baking industry for everyone.

Maybe we don’t expect quite the level of sharing that had Danny Jansen playing for two teams in the same game, but we do believe that when we find the places where industry members can work together, everyone can hit a home run.