In September 2018, the international baking industry dominated by iba. As a premier platform, it offered an unparalleled market overview in 12 halls with all the latest innovations and products of the industry. 

‘’The interest shown by national and international companies was huge,’’ said Dieter Dohr, CEO and President of GHM Gesellschaft für Handwerksmessen mbH. 1.375 exhibitors from 50 countries covered the entire spectrum of baking goods with their range. ‘’As the leading trade fair, iba has eye on all the trends in the indutry worldwide, as well as the relevant requirements for bakers and confectioners, restaurateurs and industry decision-makers of the food relaiting sector,’’ so Dohr. ’’At iba 2018, innovations and concepts played a central role for all sized companies in the areas of manufacturing processes, the out-of-house market, energy efficiency, automation, hygiene, digitalisation at the point of sale, in production, shop fitting, packaging and logistics.

New iba speaker’s corner:

The baking industry is facing big challenges. In addition to the iba.FORUM in Hall B3, the new iba speaker’s corner in Hall A1 offered comprehensive orientation. There, visitors could exchange ideas with leading experts on interesting topics from science to applying it in practice and get a prospect on upcoming trends.

New visitor service: The digital iba marketplace:

Through the online marketplace, visitors could prepare themselves better for their specific needs before the fair and have a better overview and thus orientation in site. Thanks to the new search option for ‘’solution approaches’’, visitors of the fair could quickly find, for example, innovative snack solutions, digitisation, energy efficiency or raw materials that were exhibited at iba. Additionally, visitors had the opportunity to contact the exhibitors directly and arrange appointments with them.

iba.TO GO! Snack and beverage concepts on a central area:

Also new was the topic area ‘’iba.TO GO!’’ in Hall B3. For the first time, iba was combining innovations and solutions for snack and beverage concepts for baking trades at a central contact point. There, the entire process chain of snacks was presented - from ingredients and preparation, through to sustainable packaging solutions to logistics and shop design, rounded off with workshops and displays. The trend topic coffee was also discussed, starting with the coffee bean, roasting and grinding, to machines and serving coffee in china or to-go cups with a deposit system.

iba.OPERATE! The entire packaging market in one hall:

With ‘’iba.OPERATE!’’, packaging solutions and processes were shown in Hall B1. ‘’Medium-sized companies, large bakeries, manufacturers of dough and the food retail industry, iba offered a market overview in this area, which has never been seen before at this fair’, so Claudia Weidner, project manager of iba. intelligent and environmentally-friendly packing, food safety and process optimisation solutions were presented and live in action.

The most influential protagonists of the baking industry in one place:

From Munich, Hall B3, visitors could have a look at the top bakeries on a national and international level. With the help of virtual reality glasses and 360-degree videos, they were be able to see right into renowned master bakeries from Germany, Greece, Iceland, Austria or the USA directly at the fair. Here, trade visitors experienced first-hand what makes their colleagues across the border successful. The experiential programme in Hall B3 was complemented by the appearance of renowned industry stars at the ‘’iba.FORUM’’. Highlights included also the world-renowned iba-UIBC-CUP of Bakers, an international championsship in which bakers from 12 countries competed against each other.

In 2018, for the first time, the best young confectioners in the world competed in the UIBC Junior World Championship of Confectioners in Munich.

iba.Academy. 

Directly at the exhibition in Hall B3, iba was offering international visitors new backing workshops in English. Under expert guidance, visitors could learn how to make German classics hands-on. Furthermore, the visitors had the opportunity to take part in free tours of bakeries in and around Munich and exclusive courses at AKADEMIE LOCHHAM. Here, international visitors could learn more about the preparation of wholemeal and mixed bread, the two favourite bread types of the Germans.

The world’s leading trade fair iba 2018 provides bakers, confectioners and industry representatives with unique inspiration for their everyday professional lives.

Daiva I. Petrosiene