The Questions Shaping the Baking Industry Now
The bakery industry is not short of change. What is more difficult is understanding which changes matter most, how they interact and what they mean for the decisions companies are making now.
That is the idea behind the first World Bakers Summit, taking place in Bucharest from September 15 to 17. Rather than approaching the industry through a single theme, the programme brings together perspectives from business, consumer research, manufacturing, ingredients, technology, retail and hospitality to examine some of the questions that are increasingly shaping bakery businesses across Europe.
The wider business environment provides one important part of that picture. Investment decisions are being made against a background of economic uncertainty, changing labor dynamics, regulatory pressure and rapid technological development. Ruxandra Târlescu of PwC Romania will contribute the broader business perspective, examining the forces influencing confidence, growth and investment across Romania and the wider region.
Consumer behavior provides another. Iulia Pencea of NielsenIQ Romania will examine developments in bread, snacking and frozen bakery consumption within the wider FMCG context. Beyond individual category performance, her contribution will look at how purchasing power, value-seeking, health expectations, convenience and premiumization are influencing the choices consumers make.
Bakery producers and investors will bring the perspective of businesses making growth decisions in this changing environment. Ionuț Ilie of Bimbo Romania will contribute the viewpoint of a global bakery group operating across multiple markets, while Viorel Ognean of Lantmännen Unibake will look at how local operations can develop into wider regional growth platforms. Their contributions will address questions around expansion, investment, market development and the decisions involved in building sustainable bakery businesses across borders.
Technology will provide another important perspective. René van Ass of Verhoeven Family of Companies will examine how production efficiency and sustainability can be addressed together, including the role of technology in reducing waste and improving resource use. Norbert Hübler of König will focus on automation and modern production technologies as responses to labor scarcity, looking at how bakeries can maintain efficiency and consistent product quality with increasingly constrained workforces.
On the ingredients side, Gabriela Bereș of Puratos will examine why innovation progresses at different speeds across markets and how local capabilities and collaboration influence adoption. Cristina Hanganu of Pakmaya Romania will explore how producers can improve consistency and scale while preserving the flavor, texture, freshness and identity consumers expect from bakery products, while Dr Isabel Trogh of BENEO will bring a product-development perspective centered on plant-based and high-protein concepts.
Growth, however, depends on more than what happens within a bakery or production facility. The Summit will also bring the buyer perspective directly into the discussion.
Miroslava Vopatová of Rohlik Group and Barbara Furmańczuk of Froo România / Żabka Group will represent modern retail, contributing insight into assortment development, supplier relationships and changing consumer expectations. Their perspective adds an important commercial dimension to the discussion: how bakery products are evaluated once they leave the factory and compete for space, relevance and consumer attention in increasingly demanding retail environments.
Hospitality brings its own set of requirements. Federico Aldorino of Apex Alliance Hotel Management, Martyna Dmoch, Strategic Sourcing Manager CESEE at GPP, the procurement organization supporting Radisson Hotel Group and Louvre Hotels Group, and Marcin Lis, Director F&B Eastern Europe at Accor, will contribute perspectives from food and beverage operations and regional sourcing. Their involvement opens the discussion to questions around product selection, consistency across hotel networks, supplier partnerships and what hospitality groups increasingly expect from bakery suppliers.
The Summit will also create space to move beyond presentations and into more practical discussion through two masterclasses.
Lucian Marin of Marco Polo CEE will lead a session on value creation, examining how bakery businesses can think more strategically about products, customers, operations and growth opportunities. Lara Schütz, Master Baker and Bread Sommelière, will focus on sensory analysis as a professional tool, exploring how a more precise shared language around aroma, taste, texture and mouthfeel can support product development, quality control and communication between technical and commercial teams.
Taken individually, none of these questions is entirely new. Bakeries have always had to manage costs, people, customers, technology and changing tastes. What has changed is the speed at which these pressures now interact and the number of different decisions they influence at the same time.
The purpose of the World Bakers Summit is therefore not to provide a single answer to the future of baking. It is to put people approaching that future from different parts of the value chain into the same conversation — and to make the connections between the decisions happening in the boardroom, the market, the bakery and the customer’s hands.
More info about the Summit HERE.
