In-store bakery professionals seeking actionable ideas, new trends, targeted educational seminars and insight from professionals across various industries won’t want to miss the International Dairy-Deli-Bakery Association’s (IDDBA) 2012 Dairy-Deli-Bake expo.
More than 8,000 attendees are expected at the 48th annual seminar and expo, which takes place June 10-12 at the New Orleans Morial Convention Center. Among the highlights, Dairy-Deli-Bake will feature the latest trends in bakery products, packaging and merchandise; more than 1,600 exhibitor booths; a model store and idea center; and the 17th annual Cake Decorating Challenge™.
The show offers targeted education seminars to all attendees at no additional cost. Topics include current trends, research, marketing ideas, global issues, consumer buying behavior, and new products and services.
In addition, this year’s multiple keynote speakers will discuss topics that range from connecting with consumers to targeting the next generation to consumers’ decision-making process to how to be a trailblazer. Speakers include: Sarah Palin, Fox News contributor and former Republican vice-presidential running mate to Sen. John McCain; Paula Deen, author and Food Network host; Jeremy Gutsche, founder of TrendHunter.com; Jim Carroll, trends and innovation expert; and Steve Beekhuizen, president of IDDBA and senior vice president of sales at Dawn Food Products.
The Cake Decorating Challenge™ will be a featured event at Dairy-Deli-Bake. Three store-level decorators skilled in production cakes, theme cakes and wedding cakes will have the opportunity to create show-stopping displays that promote their artistic abilities and show off the talent and hard work that sells cakes for their companies. The first day of the challenge will consist of creating enough production cakes to fill an 8’ bakery case. Day two is devoted to the creation of a wedding cake, and on day three, each contestant will decorate three cakes of their choosing, one from each category: special occasion, theme/event and decorator’s choice.
Another show highlight is the Show & Sell Center, an idea center focusing on bakery, meals, deli and cheese. Assembled by industry volunteers, the center will showcase new merchandising ideas and products in a visual format that makes it easy to executive and teach others while displaying products. New trends will be featured, such as repurposed packaging, quiet consumer indulgence and experiential shopping.
As part of the Show & Sell Center, the New Product Showcase will help attendees navigate the constant flow of new product introductions in supermarkets with an intense, comprehensive look at hundreds of new products. Attendees will get a list for targeting specific exhibits, a display that previews selected products and the chance to do aisle-by-aisle taste testing.
For attendees looking to network, IDDBA will have an online trade show tracker available so they can find specific products and plan out their expo experience.
A full schedule of events is available on the IDDBA website, www.iddba.org.