New Leadership for iba: Florian Gmeinwieser Takes Over as Director
GHM Gesellschaft für Handwerksmessen mbH announces a change at the helm of its trade fair iba. Florian Gmeinwieser (53) is taking over as director of the renowned world’s leading trade fair for the baking and confectionery industry. In his position as Director iba, he will be responsible for the future and development of the trade fair. Gmeinwieser succeeds Susann Seidemann, who is moving to a new management position within GHM.
With Florian Gmeinwieser, GHM secures a proven B2B expert. A graduate in business administration, Florian offers more than 20 years of work experience in strategy development and consulting in the B2B environment of German and international companies. His extensive expertise in business development, digital marketing and digital strategies, as well as his understanding of the challenges facing the baking industry, make him the ideal candidate to head up iba. He has always been familiar with the matters the industry faces: originally trained as a precision mechanic and coming from a family of bakers, his ties to the craft sector and artisan bakery have always been close. Gmeinwieser gained his industry experience in various German communications agencies, including as Head of Mobile at Serviceplan, where he subsequently held the position of Head of Digital Business for several years and played a key role in developing the company’s digital strategy, among other things.
Florian Gmeinwieser will continue to develop iba with his digital expertise, his qualifications in strategic brand management and his in-depth knowledge of the industry – working closely with the German Bakers’ Confederation as the owner of iba, with the market and with the iba team.
With the transfer of leadership, the previous iba Director Susann Seidemann is taking on the new position of Chief Sales Officer (CSO) within GHM. She successfully managed the trade fair iba from April 2021 to August 2025 and contributed significantly to its further development. “I am looking forward to the new challenge at GHM. Now it’s time to say thank you. Thank you to the entire baking industry, to all market participants, to all partners and to the German Bakers’ Confederation for the wonderful cooperation,” said Seidemann. “With Florian Gmeinwieser, a proven strategy expert is taking over the leadership of iba. He has a deep understanding of the challenges facing the baking sector. I am handing over the further development of this unique trade fair for the baking industry into the best of hands.”
Roland Ermer, President of the German Bakers’ Confederation (Zentralverband des Deutschen Bäckerhandwerks e.V.), is delighted: “Susann Seidemann has contributed significantly to the success of iba in recent years. I have always been impressed by her vision, her organisational skills and her consistently good humour. The entire team at the German Bakers’ Confederation would like to thank her for her collaboration and at the same time we are looking forward to welcoming her successor, Florian Gmeinwieser. With him, GHM has gained an experienced strategist who knows how to bring national and international customers together. We look forward to working with him and to the next iba in 2027.”
Florian Gmeinwieser’s vision is clear: “Combining artisan bakery with innovative technologies and sustainable solutions is a key trend for the future, and one that I want to continue to promote at iba. I am looking forward to working with the baking industry and the German Bakers’ Confederation. iba is the stage for the entire national and international baking industry. My focus is on the continuous development of iba in order to better equip market participants for the future of baking.”