The bakery of the future

AIBI members will meet in England for the 36th Congress in Manchester from 30th May to 2nd June. Invitations were issued by AIBI President Joseph Street and General Secretary Susanne Döring . What else participants can expect in addition to top-class speakers, and how the Association will orient itself in the future, is explained by the two officers in an interview.

+Borchfeld: Mr. Street, the members of the International Industrial Bakeries Association (AIBI) elected you as their President in May 2017. What were your aims, and have you achieved them?

+ Street: 1. To increase membership, Switzerland have joined and there are encouraging conversations with Ireland, Sweden and Poland; Russia and Turkey are less likely, but remain as possibilities.

2. To maintain and improve relationships with other associations, I have been involved with the Bread-Initiative meetings which are a joint project with Millers, Craft Bakers, Yeast Manufacturers and Ingredient suppliers.

3. To host a purposeful AIBI Congress in Manchester.

+ Borchfeld: This year’s Congress takes place in Manchester, and you were able to obtain Jonathan Warburton, for example, as a speaker. Can you please give us a brief overview of the baking sector in Great Britain? Who are the market makers?

+ Street: Unfortunately Jonathan Warburton has had to withdraw; however, his cousin Ross Warburton will present, he was the previous company Chairman. There will be an impressive array of speakers hosted by Cyrille Fillott, Global Food Stategist, Rabobank.

Sir John Timpson, Chairman of a business with 1900 retail outlets as well as being a regular columnist in a daily newspaper will talk about staff recruitment and retention, he is famous for radical thinking. I think a must to hear especially for those bakers with retail outlets, as staffing becomes a problem.

Rob Mackie, President and CEO of the American Bakers Association representing a $102 billion industry, will tell us of trends and initiatives in the US.

Sebastian Marcu, Bake in Space, will tell us about the technical challenges providing fresh food in space. This research may well determine advantages for terrestrial bakers.

Jimmy Griffiths, a Champion Craft baker from Ireland will talk about the challenges and opportunities for his sector of the industry.

In addition, there will be a GIRA trends presentation and an EU briefing from Spain and Belgium as to how countries might achieve promotional funding. Each of the three sessions will be rounded off with Q&A panel.

The market leader in Great Britain is the Warburton brand with approx £500 million turn overall though it should be noted that two other brands, Hovis and Kingsmill appear in the top 10 food brands. Currently there is a swing albeit moderate back to own label.

+ Borchfeld: Are there any consumption figures for the trend in bread and baked products?

+ Street: I have none absolutely up to date, but in the last couple of years the market appeared to have flattened, my own thoughts are that there is currently a slight decline.

+ Borchfeld: How is the structure of baked goods providers in Great Britain changing?

+ Street: There remains consolidation in a tough market, however there are new businesses emerging and some growing, particularly with specialty products.

+ Borchfeld: What kind of role do supermarkets and discounters play in supplying baked goods to customers, and in your opinion how will the market develop?

About AIBI

The International Association of Plant Bakeries was founded in Paris in 1956. At present, 16 national member organizations are affiliated to AIBI, of which FOB (Federation of Bakers) is one. AIBI holds contacts to key Members of the European Parliament and the European Commission services. The association’s presence in Brussels also facilitates the collaboration with other chain partner associations located here. AIBI’s key task is to represent its members’ interests, especially vis-à-vis European and international institutions (EU Commission, European Council and European Parliament). Joseph Street (UK) is the current AIBI President. The Secretary General is Susanne Döring.

Website: www.aibi.eu

+ Street: The latter continue to take share albeit at a slower rate than the last few years, there remains a place for in-store bakeries in the larger stores with bake-off facilities elsewhere. Bake-off especially in treats and small items appears to be moving forward.

+ Borchfeld: What will Great Britain’s baked products market look like in 2025?

+ Street: I wish I knew, there may well be further consolidation amongst the main line suppliers, the specialty suppliers have to be careful re being aggressive otherwise their products become mainstream and attract the attention of the majors.

+ Borchfeld: Mrs. Döring, visitors from North America also already took part in the last Congress in Versailles, France, in addition to European participants. Rob MacKie, President of the American Bakers Association, will now give a presentation about the market in the USA. Does the AIBI have a strategy to enhance collaboration with other associations?

+ Döring: We are very proud to have started a fruitful cooperation and information exchange with the American Bakery Association in 2017 and we are confident that further contacts with other national associations all over the world will be established. The digital communication via e-mails etc. helps us a lot in his affair. However, AIBI’s members are mainly coming from Europe, however AIBI is open to any international contact and cooperation.

+ Borchfeld: Does the AIBI have any other objectives which you as General Secretary are pursuing?

+ Döring: AIBI’s tasks are reframed in the AIBI’s road map with the aim to strengthening the visibility and voice of AIBI and continuing a quality information management work for their members. Advocacy and monitoring of main legislative proposals are the main part of the work and supporting national large bakery associations in their questions and activities.

+ Borchfeld: The theme of the Congress is the “Bakery of the Future”. What role will the AIBI play in the future, and which challenges must members face up to?

+ Döring: I have to admit that bread and bakery products –although there are some challenges (acrylamide, wheat discussion, gluten free, salt) – are looking into a bright future. Bread from Europe is perceived in other parts of the world as an attractive lifestyle and therefore I presume that future activities will go more into bread promotion and showing the vast variety of our products.

From my personal perspective, I think AIBI and associations in general have to do more effort to attract younger bakers and CEO’s showing the advantages being part of an effective network in bakery.

+ Borchfeld: Another look back. What activities occurred in the AIBI in the past two years, and who made use of the offers?

+ Döring: AIBI was quite active in organizing together with fedima (European Association of bakery ingredients products) a bread promotion day http://www.breadpromotion.eu, which could attract around 60 experts from association, companies and bread ingredients producers on 18 April 2018 in Brussels. In 2019 there will be planned something similar and the organisation is in progress.

AIBI is strongly connected with other food and business associations to work on the topics of salt, wholegrain activities, bread promotion, iodine, food waste and enzymes.

+ Borchfeld: The AIBI’s office in Brussels is very effective, but is also small. Will you campaign in Manchester for an enlargement of the European representation?

+ Döring: The AIBI Board of Directors has to define and decide about how they will be represented and what are their visions for the future.

+ Borchfeld: Mrs. Döring, Mr. Street, thank you for the interview. +++