RBA's Marketplace finds home in Chicago next month

This year's Creative Decorating Competition is one of the events that will be open to the public to help promote the baking industry.

The Bakery Arts & Cake Display, shown here from RBA in 2004, will offer ideas from some of Chicago's best bakers.

"With more than 10,000 bakeries located within a relatively short drive, Chicago is a wonderful, centralized location for Marketplace 2005," says Bernard Reynolds, RBA's executive director. This year's Marketplace will feature some new elements, including events that will be open to the public, the return of morning sessions before the show floor opens and a Mexican pavilion.

The 5th Annual Creative Decorating Competition, the Bakery Arts & Cake Display and the Iron Baker competition will be open to the public. "The idea is to promote the industry and remind people that retail bakeries are out there," says Dennis Stanton, co-owner of Swedish Bakery in Chicago and a member of the planning committee of Chicago Area Retail Bakers Association (CARBA), co-sponsor of Marketplace 2005. "It also gives bakeries an opportunity to market themselves, something we all need to do."

The Creative Decorating Competition will feature 14 decorators chosen by the regional bakery associations. They are competing over two days for prize money and a chance to win the Pillsbury Grand Champion trophy. The decorators will have eight hours to produce cakes in each of the five categories: wedding cake, rolled fondant, sculpted cake, custom designs and flowers & sprays.

The Iron Baker competition will be held off-site this year at Kendall College in downtown Chicago. This year's competition will feature three-member teams from four area bakery associations: CARBA, Wisconsin Baker's Association, Minnesota Baker's Association and Cincinnati Bakers Association. The teams are required to prepare six items from a list of 18 they were given before the competition.

The morning sessions and industry-chats, held on the show floor, will focus on the "how-tos" of bakery business. Two sessions will focus on how to successfully transition from one generation to the next.

Sunday's Surviving and Enjoying: Working in a Family Business session features Donna Gray, who will be discussing how to focus the whole family on the same business vision, as well as knowing how and when to get outside help, establishing and maintaining fair guidelines for non-family employees, forming a business advisory board and maintaining each member's importance within the family and within the business.

On Monday, Dean Fowler, a marriage and family therapist, will share Successful Habits of Family Business Successors. He will walk attendees through developing a business plan with both the senior and succeeding generations to provide a successful transition for the future of the business.

New to this year's Marketplace is the Mexican Pavilion, sponsored by CARBA and ANPROPAN, Mexico's National Association of Baking Industry Professionals. Members of the Mexican association will be available to answer question about the products they are exhibiting and demonstrating.

The Tips & Trends Demonstration Theatre and Industry Chats, both on the show floor during exhibit hours, also are returning. At the Tips & Trends demonstrations, attendees will be able to watch the production of some of the most unique bakery products demonstrated by the professionals who made them famous, including Blown & Pulled Sugar by Julie Bashore, Alternatives to Rolled Fondant by Chris Ketchum and Rolled Fondant by Kerry Vincent.

Attendees also can participate in Industry Chats at the RBA Academy-Solutions Cafe. The chats will be moderated by industry professionals and will focus on a range of topics from employee policies and motivation to merchandising, marketing and profitability.

The exhibit hall, which is open from 1-5 p.m. on Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. on Sunday and 10 a.m.-3 p.m. on Monday, also will feature several hundred companies showcasing the latest in product innovations.

For more information about attending Marketplace 2005, visit www.rbanet.com or call 800/638-0924.