IDDBA's Dairy-Deli-Bake 2014 had 8,712 registered attendees, representing 40 countries. The attendees included top-ranked retail buyers, merchandisers, executives, food manufacturers, brokers, distributors, and other top industry professionals. The sold-out expo consisted of 1,864 booths, representing 758 exhibiting companies. The show floor was crowded and busy as exhibitors and retailers cultivated new business, new marketing ideas, and new relationships. The exhibitors displayed their best products with many new item introductions.
Once again, the seminars consisted of top-level presentations offering key insight into our business, the economy, the consumer, and current trends. The notable speaker line-up included Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Captain Richard Phillips, Peyton Manning, Bobby Flay, Steve Forbes, Harry Balzer, Gary Vaynerchuk, Harold Lloyd, Peter Diamandis, Laurie Demeritt, IDDBA Chairman of the Board Bill Klump, and IDDBA VP, Education Mary Kay O’Connor.
IDDBA unveiled a redesigned New Product Showcase. Exhibitors had the opportunity to display all of their new items in this special area, giving their products increased presence on the show floor. With participation from nearly a third of exhibiting companies, the Showcase was overflowing with new items. Using scanners available at the entrance of the display, attendees were able to scan the QR codes and receive company contact info and booth numbers.
The IDDBA booth was the show floor resource for all of the association’s training and education materials. New this year were the charging stations, which provided attendees a convenient spot to recharge their phones. The IDDBA booth was also the location of book signings by two of the show’s speakers: Steve Forbes and Captain Richard Phillips.
Conveniently located next to the New Product Showcase and the IDDBA booth was this year’s Show & Sell Center. Continuing to be a highlight and must see for show attendees, Show & Sell’s take aways once again proved valuable
for retailers. Demonstrated concepts included new flavor profiles for hot and fresh bakery donuts, including crème brulee and pb&j; examples for increasing profits using “day old” foods in a new, repurposed salad or crostini; and even an interactive mozzarella pulling demonstration. These, and many other merchandising opportunities, were on display in the 10,000 sq ft center. Teams of dedicated volunteers from the industry donated months of their time and talent to create these amazing, executable demonstrations of merchandising concepts, all done with the retailer and consumer in mind.
Inside the Show & Sell Center, three talented supermarket cake decorators competed in IDDBA’s 19th annual Cake Decorating Challenge. After months of planning they arrived in Denver ready for three days of competitive decorating. This year’s winner is Sarah Watts, Publix Super Markets Inc., Gainesville, FL. Second place went to Stephanie Murphree, Harp's Food Stores Inc., West Fork, AR. The third place winner was Amanda Hansen, Coborn's, Inc., Sauk Rapids, MN.
Bill Klump, Chairman of the Board of IDDBA and Chief Marketing Officer, Butterball, LLC, presented the IDDBA Chairman’s Award to Mike Rudy, Vice President of Sales, Hubert Company at the Awards Banquet. Rudy was honored for his dedication to the industry. The banquet was held at the close of the show on Tuesday, June 3.
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. IDDBA celebrates 50 years of service in 2014. For more information, contact IDDBA at 608.310.5000 or visit our website, www.iddba.org.
Source: The International Dairy•Deli•Bakery Association™
