The 2025 edition of the International Baking Industry Exposition (IBIE) was one for the record books. Already held up as the biggest event for bakers across the Western Hemisphere, the triennial event topped all previous iterations in its 105-year history.

According to show organizers, the sold-out show floor stretched out over an all-time high of 451,100 square feet, featured innovations from more than 1,000 exhibitors, and attracted attendees from more baking companies than ever. The attendees who checked out the show hailed from nearly 100 different countries, with 28% of buyers on hand coming from outside the U.S. What’s more, the people who registered and showed up at the Las Vegas Convention Center were impactful members of the industry—91% identified as leading or impacting purchasing decisions at their firms.

“IBIE 2025 is a powerful reflection of our industry’s energy and strength,” notes IBIE Chair Jorge Zarate, global senior vice president of operations and engineering at Grupo Bimbo. “The sense of innovation is unmistakable—seeing professionals from across the industry come together to share ideas, confront challenges, and set new standards for excellence makes this event truly special. I couldn’t be more proud of how our community shows up.”

Awards and honors
The prestigious BEST in Baking Awards program honors innovations by bakers and supplier partners in a range of areas, each demonstrating ingenuity and innovation in ways that further the industry. Winners were announced prior to the show, and companies receiving Top Honors as well as qualifiers were recognized during IBIE 2025, with special awards presented by SF&WB Group Publisher Doug Peckenpaugh (see his musings on the program in the sidebar below).

In addition to picking up new skills at the IBIEducate sessions throughout the show, bakers and suppliers from around the globe showed off their formidable talents in a wide range of competitions.

Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie: Americas Selection

IBIE hosted international bakers teams competing in Bakery, Viennoiserie, and Artistic Bread Showpiece categories. Teams from Brazil, Canada, Ecuador, Mexico, and the U.S. entered, with the two top teams chosen to advance to the world finals in Paris:

• First place: Team Canada
• Second place: Team USA

World Bread Awards USA

The competition known as the “Oscars of Bread” returned to IBIE, with 12 categories showcasing bread styles from sourdough to bagels. Expert judges evaluated the entries onsite in front of rapt onlookers, then awarded the standout loaves with trophies and a cash grand prize. The overall winner was Guy Frenkel, Céor Bakery. Learn more about the individual category winners on the show site.

Panettone World Cup: Americas Selection

Making its debut at IBIE 2025, this competition showcased top pastry chefs from across the Western Hemisphere in a contest displaying the artistry of panettone baking. Winners selected by the judges will advance to the global finals in Milan, Italy.

• Traditional category winners:
  • Martinez Jaime, U.S.
  • Emmidio Isernia of Canada
• Chocolate category winners:
  • Flores Torres Wilson, Ecuador
  • Vielma Ammary Coromoto, U.S.

Creative Cake Decorating Competition

The Pillsbury Creative Cake Decorating Competition featured six teams competing across four categories. The contest’s 20th edition put decorators head to head to demonstrate their creativity and craftsmanship:

• Overall winners: Sabrina Sigouin (La Belle Patissiere) and Sandra Major (Le Sucre au Fou)
• Wedding category: Aaron McInnis and Juanita Tobin (Happy Belly Cakery)
• Fondant category: Jean Schapowal (Cakes w Character) and Jesse Lesser (Jesse Lesser Cakes)
• Sculpted Category: Sabrina Sigouin (La Belle Patissiere) and Sandra Major (Le Sucre au Fou)
• Buttercream Category: Carlos Mendez and Agnieszka (Agnes) Mendez (Cakes by Carlos)

Education and events
The schedule over the course of the IBIE event featured educational sessions on a broad range of topics of interest to bakers of all sizes and functions. These addressed key concerns, including business management, formulation challenges, health concerns, consumer trends, and more. During the “Sweet Craveability & the Consumer” session, Carrie Rock (product manager at McCormick) shared findings from the company’s recent dive into what people prefer in their bakery buys.

“The results showed a strong preference for sweet items, particularly ice cream, which suggests a market for baked goods with similar flavors like strawberry or chocolate milkshake,” she shared. “The data also indicated seasonal preferences, with summer-themed products such as watermelon candy, chocolate mint, and s'mores being popular. This insight can guide product development and marketing strategies to cater to these cravings.”

Like many of the sessions on the agenda, Rock’s presentation is available on demand to registered IBIE 2025 attendees by logging onto the show site.

Dawn Foods and the Society of Bakery Women joined forces to present Donuts with Dawn in the company’s booth. During the popular presentation, three leaders imparted advice based on their experience in the field:

• Carrie Jones-Barber, Dawn’s CEO
• Trina Bediako, CEO of New Horizons Co.
• Sarah Tsocanos, manager of bakery R&D with the Campbell’s Co.

During the event, Tsocanos advised, “For those of you who are seasoned leaders in your organization and in the industry, make sure you are vulnerable with your team and your people. We're all human at the end of the day, and we don't have it figured out, and we need that reassurance that our leaders are people just like us, and you're all in it together.” SF&WB

Douglas J. Peckenpaugh, Group Publisher

The triennial IBIE is the largest gathering of bakery professionals in the Western Hemisphere, attracting over 20,000 global attendees. IBIE 2025 just concluded, and as expected, it was a whirlwind of information, education, demonstrations, making new connections, and catching up with old industry friends and colleagues.

And doughnuts. You cannot forget those amazing doughnuts.

There really isn’t anything quite like IBIE. Suppliers across the global baking industry exhibit at IBIE to showcase their recent innovations. I’m always amazed at the advancements brought to life by the great minds across our industry, improving efficiency and maximizing resources while elevating finished-product quality.

IBIE has always served as a platform to celebrate innovation. Flashing back a decade and a half, for the 2010 IBIE, the event organizers sought to create an award program that would highlight innovations specifically related to sustainability across baking. They dubbed the new program “BEST in Baking,” with “BEST” serving as an acronym for Becoming Environmentally Sustainable Together. SF&WB joined forces with IBIE to run the program, and an enduring partnership was born.

One of the best aspects of our work at SF&WB is shining a spotlight on the positive impact companies bring to the industry—and our world. Therefore, the BEST in Baking Program offers a wonderful opportunity to celebrate this good work.

In 2016, as my predecessor Chris Luke and I geared up for our first IBIE, we gave BEST in Baking an overhaul, improving program logistics and expanding it to include individual award categories for key areas of the supply chain, like Ingredients and Equipment, and new baker categories to celebrate sustainability advancements made by bakery companies attending IBIE.

We didn’t stop there. As devotees of continuous improvement, we’ve fine-tuned and continued our expansion of the BEST in Baking Program for ensuing IBIE shows, recognizing the importance of operational sustainability with a category for Workforce Development, as well as specific BEST in Baking categories for Plant Efficiency, Sanitation, and Automation & Robotics, complementing the existing categories for Sustainable Ingredients and Equipment. For 2025, we added a category for Sustainable Packaging Innovation, honoring both suppliers and bakers. We received nearly 100 submissions from IBIE exhibitors and baker attendees, with nearly 70 qualifying for the program.

Our awards ceremony during IBIE 2025 show was a celebration of global innovations from suppliers and bakers, embodying the great spirit of innovation across our industry. The companies and products featured showcase advancements in ingredient sourcing, processing efficiencies, automation and robotics, lean manufacturing, “greener” packaging, creative staffing, and much more. Take a few minutes to review the amazing range of innovations across the 2025 BEST in Baking Program. It’s a cross-section of some of the best and brightest our industry has to offer, all worthy of celebration.

In the coming months, SF&WB will seek to highlight many of our 2025 BEST in Baking innovations, continuing the IBIE celebration long after the doors closed on yet another successful show. After all, good work, driving the industry toward an efficient, responsible, and better future, always deserves an enduring focus.

Sunday, February 16

• Society of Bakery Women Professionals’ Networking Annual Brunch
• Spouse/Guest Welcome Reception
• Young Professionals’ Event
• Group Dinners

Monday, February 17

• Kansas State University/Florida State University Alumni Breakfast
• Future Forward Luncheon
• Interactive Group Activity: People Bingo

Tuesday, February 18

• Hall of Fame Luncheon
• Carnival Extravaganza
• VIP Reception