IBIE Preview: Puratos Showcases Commitment to Food Innovation for Good

Part of Worldbakers’ IBIE SPECIAL EDITION 2022, we interview important exhibitors about what they bring to IBIE, so readers know what to expect at the Baking Expo that takes place between September 18-21, 2022, in Las Vegas. Today we interview Jaina Wald, Vice President of Marketing at Puratos USA.

For IBIE, Puratos will have two dedicated areas, each with unique experiences designed to showcase our commitment to Food Innovation for Good: 

• The Artisan Marketplace by Puratos is an interactive marketplace with one-of-a-kind experiences including demonstrations and presentations, inspirational speakers from around the industry, and relaxing spaces to sample delicious baked goods and chocolate from Puratos. There will be remarkable learning opportunities for visitors looking for new techniques in artisan baking and attendees will leave inspired by ways they can accelerate growth and delight customers. Stop by the booth to hear Karl de Smedt, the Sourdough Librarian, talk about Puratos’ Sourdough Library while sampling a bonbon made with Puratos’ delicious and responsibly sourced Cacao-Trace chocolate. Or visit Demonstration Theater to watch a croissant being formed while enjoying a tasty clean label brownie made by our talented Technical Advisors. No matter your interest, visitors will leave with new skills, insights and passion to meet consumers’ changing needs and inspired to create a more sustainable industry.
• From the marketplace, attendees can walk across the aisle to Puratos’ feature booth, where visitors can discover the company’s innovative bakery, patisserie and chocolate products including Sapore Sourdoughs, Softgrains, Plant-based Cake Mixes and responsibly sourced Belgian chocolate through our Cacao-Trace sustainability program. The booth will also showcase Puratos’ commitment to future generations, including its Mission to Mars program wherein Puratos is replicating the harsh conditions found on Mars to gather learnings that will shape the future of farming. The booth is designed to be engaging and interactive, with Virtual Reality experiences, videos, and two custom-built “Trendwheels” where visitors can spin to connect consumer trends with inspiring finished goods. For manufacturers and brands looking to tap into consumer demand with better-for-you products, they can also try out the Puratos Nutri-App, an interactive platform that helps companies learn new ways to make their products healthier. 

Puratos US is always focused on how to best support our customers to be successful. In this environment, that means helping to connect them with the latest in innovative ingredients that meet consumer needs for delicious, better-for-you and more sustainable products. To that end, we are focused on expanding our Sourdough & Grains range, and addressing plant-based trends through items like Sunset Glaze and Carat Coverlux compound made without dairy. We also believe that the future of food depends on remaining at the forefront of FoodTech. That’s why we are actively investing in new technologies at our manufacturing facilities to deliver more automation and capacity. We are also leading the way on digital solutions, from Virtual Reality experiences that bring our cocoa and fruit farms to life to our MyPuratos e-commerce webshop where we connect customers to Puratos ingredients and recipes with the click of a button. Finally, we are focused on supporting future generations and the communities we’re a part of. We do this through our Puratos for Purpose Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program and the opening of our first USA Bakery School in Pennsauken, NJ in September 2022.

We are facing a period of incredible disruption. Between supply chain challenges, political and social upheaval, and a global pandemic, manufacturers and suppliers have had to adjust to a new normal where the only constant is uncertainty. This has presented a huge challenge for product development as ingredient availability is no longer guaranteed. Likewise, many companies pulled back on innovation as they shifted their focus to supply security and SKU rationalization to reduce disruption.  This, coupled with intense demand as people emerged from the pandemic, created a lot of frustration for consumers trying to get their favorite bread, cupcake or chocolate bar. But these dynamics are beginning to shift in recent months. Companies are beginning to realize they can’t outrun today’s inflationary environment with pricing and consumers are hungry for new options.

At Puratos, we believe the only path to growth is through innovation, and are investing actively in new technologies and ingredients to help customers meet consumers’ changing needs. Our proprietary Taste Tomorrow consumer research program shows that taste, texture and freshness are still paramount when it comes to baked goods, and consumers are also increasingly focused on Holistic Health, Craft, Ultimate Convenience, Phygital Disruption, Transparency and Conscious Consumption. By addressing these needs, customers can position themselves to win in this new operating environment.