Madison, WI —Dairy-Deli-Bake Seminar & Expo was held June 7-9 at the Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, GA.
Dairy-Deli-Bake hosted 9,322 registered attendees, breaking the association’s previous record of 8,727. Attendees included top-tier retail buyers, merchandisers, executives, food manufacturers, brokers, distributors, and additional leading industry professionals. The sold-out expo consisted of a record-breaking 1,902 booths, representing 740 companies. The expo floor was crowded and busy as both exhibitors and retailers cultivated relationships, new business, and fresh ideas.
This year’s seminars offered key insights into our business, the economy, the consumer, and current trends. The notable speaker line-up included Jay Leno, Martha Stewart, Arianna Huffington, Shaquille O’Neal, Walter Robb, Youngme Moon, Former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, Harold Lloyd, Phil Lempert, IDDBA Chairman of the Board, Dave Leonhardi, and IDDBA President and CEO Mike Eardley. New this year were two IDDBA ED Talks. Jeremy Johnson and Alan Hiebert from IDDBA, along with Mark Rudy, Hubert Company and Chef Chris Koch, Cooking or Whatever, presented actionable merchandising concepts from the Show & Sell Center.
IDDBA Chairman of the Board Dave Leonhardi presented the Chairman’s Award to Andrea Neu, owner of Image Maker, a marketing and corporate communications consulting practice. This award recognizes distinguished service or contribution to the industry and honors those who have led with vision and dedication.
In addition to the main stage presentations from speakers, attendees were given the opportunity to meet Martha Stewart, Arianna Huffington, and Harold Lloyd at their book signings, held right on the expo floor.
IDDBA unveiled a redesigned New Product Showcase. Exhibitors were able to display new items in this special area, giving their products increased presence on the expo floor. The Showcase was overflowing with new items, including a special Safe Food Matters! section outlining exhibitor food safety practices. Scanners were available at the display, allowing attendees to easily scan exhibitor QR codes to collect company contact information as well as booth numbers of their selected items.
Continuing to be a highlight and must see for show attendees, the Show & Sell Center was a hub of activity featuring innovative merchandising, live demonstrations, tastings, and IDDBA’s new-this-year Show & Sell Center Workshops. The popular workshops were held in a small theater in the middle of the Center and included educational presentations on dairy, deli, bakery, and food safety topics. Shaquille O’Neal even stopped by to make his favorite sandwich. Teams of dedicated volunteers from the industry donated months of their time and talent to create amazing, executable demonstrations of merchandising concepts.
Inside the Show & Sell Center, three talented supermarket cake decorators competed in the 20th annual Cake Decorating Challenge. This year’s winner was Donna Barley, Publix Super Markets Inc., Cape Coral, FL. Second place went to Katherine Dean, Dorothy Lane Market Inc., Dayton, OH. The third place winner was Stephanie Dillon, Hy-Vee Inc., Lee's Summit, MO.
Attendees can continue to use the myIDDBA App for post-show networking, attendee and exhibitor lists, accessing speaker materials, and other Dairy-Deli-Bake resources.
About IDDBA: IDDBA is a nonprofit membership organization serving the dairy, deli, bakery, cheese, and supermarket foodservice industries. Member companies enjoy many benefits and services including the annual seminar and expo, leading-edge research, training programs, management tools, and an annual trends report. For more information, contact IDDBA at 608.310.5000 or visit our website, www.iddba.org.
Source: International Dairy·Deli·Bakery Association™
