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February 21 - 24, 2027

Hyatt Regency Atlanta
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Call for Content

Overview

INFORMATION

Your Ideas, Our Industry’s Future – Call for Content Now Open!

The baking industry is operating in an era where consumer demand can emerge, peak, and shift almost overnight. Social and digital platforms, evolving consumer expectations, and generational change are compressing innovation timelines and reshaping how bakeries must plan, produce, and lead.

BakingTECH 2027 invites content that helps bakers make disciplined, technically sound decisions in this faster-moving environment. We are seeking practical insights, case studies, and forward-looking perspectives that address agility, flexibility, and leadership—without sacrificing food safety, quality, or operational excellence.

Submission Deadline: April 21, 2026

Join us in shaping an event that educates, inspires, and propels the baking industry forward – submit your proposal today!

BakingTECH 2027 Planning Committee welcomes content submissions in the following presentation formats and topics:

PRESENTATION FORMAT

  • Technical Sessions are presenter-led sessions designed to share technical insights, case studies, and practical applications. These sessions feature structured presentations supported by slides and focus on delivering clear takeaways, lessons learned, and actionable knowledge. Submissions for Technical Breakout Sessions should emphasize well-defined topics, technical depth, and practical relevance, with time reserved for audience questions and discussion.
  • Ideation Labs are facilitated, interactive discussions designed to build on technical breakout sessions. These sessions emphasize shared experience, lessons learned, and practical problem-solving. Submissions for Ideation Labs should focus on framing challenges and guiding discussion rather than delivering formal presentations.

Participants may submit proposals in the categories listed above. However, the planning committee reserves the right to assign submissions to a different presentation format if they determine it better aligns with the program.

Technical Session Themes

Workforce, Leadership & Generational Dynamics

  • Recruiting, training, and retaining maintenance, engineering, and operations talent in a multi-generational workforce
    • Industry awareness
  • Bridging generational differences in communication, decision-making, and change management
  • Developing leaders who can manage speed, uncertainty, and risk
    • Industry or position specific training programs
  • Skills and training models needed for faster innovation cycles and flexible operations
  • Knowledge transfer between experienced operators and emerging leaders
  • Managing high turnover, shorter tenure, and knowledge retention
  • Workforce training, skilled trades development, and education investment
  • Recruiting in a competitive talent landscape
  • Applying AI in training and recruitment processes

Food Safety, Regulatory Readiness & Risk Management

  • Maintaining food safety and regulatory compliance while accelerating speed to market
    • Navigating ingredient bans across multi-state commerce
    • Managing evolving regulations during formulation and reformulation
    • Addressing state-by-state EPR requirements
    • Responding to non-UPF positioning and labeling considerations
  • Prioritizing issues, resources, and action items in high-variability production environments
  • Designing food safety systems that support frequent changeovers and shorter runs
  • FSMA readiness and audit strategies in agile manufacturing settings
  • Managing risk when demand spikes or product lifecycles are compressed

Product Innovation, Ingredients & Speed to Market

  • Formulation strategies for rapid innovation and scalable production
  • Ingredient sourcing challenges when demand changes quickly
  • Shelf-life management for trend-driven or limited-run products
  • Enzymes, gluten-free, reduced sugar, and functional ingredients in fast-cycle development
  • Deciding when a trend is viable for scale versus experimentation
  • Innovation led by trending demands
    • Impacts of dietary guideline changes and consumer education

Research, Development & Innovation Cycles

  • R&D models designed for shorter development timelines
  • Balancing experimentation with operational discipline
  • Translating consumer and digital signals into actionable R&D priorities
  • Managing failed launches and lessons learned from rapid innovation
  • Tools and technologies that support faster validation and scale-up
    • Forecasting & Use of AI

Demand Signals, Marketing & Consumer Influence

  • R&D models designed for shorter development timelines
  • Balancing experimentation with operational discipline
  • Translating consumer and digital signals into actionable R&D priorities
  • Managing failed launches and lessons learned from rapid innovation
  • Tools and technologies that support faster validation and scale-up
    • Forecasting & Use of AI

Operational Flexibility & Manufacturing Design

  • Designing production systems for faster changeovers and smaller runs
  • Automation and line design for agility—not just efficiency
  • Retrofitting existing plants for flexibility
  • Labor models that support variable production demands
  • CapEx decision-making in an uncertain demand environment

Supply Chain, Co-Manufacturing & Collaboration

  • Forecasting and demand planning when volume can spike overnight
  • Managing ingredient and packaging availability under volatile demand
  • How co-manufacturers can support rapid scale-up and de-risk launches
  • Early collaboration between bakers, suppliers, and partners
  • Case studies in successful—and unsuccessful—responses to demand surges

Sustainability in a Fast-Moving Industry

  • Reducing waste when product lifecycles are shorter
  • Sustainable sourcing strategies under volatile demand
  • Balancing sustainability goals with speed and flexibility
  • Designing resilient systems that support long-term efficiency
  • Responsible AI use
    • Understanding its effects/risks

Ideation Lab Themes

Scaling from Trend to Production Reality

  • Lessons learned when scaling products rapidly
  • Unexpected challenges in formulation, equipment, labor, or suppliers
  • What bakers would do differently on their next scale-up

Speed to Market Without Compromising Food Safety

  • Identifying real demand signals versus short-term hype
  • Balancing accelerated innovation with FSMA and food safety requirements
  • Guardrails that support speed without increasing risk
  • Real-world examples of success and failure

Designing for Flexibility: CapEx, Automation & Line Design

  • CapEx decisions that supported agility—and those that limited it
  • Retrofitting existing plants for future uncertainty
  • Justifying flexibility-focused investments to leadership

AI in Bakeries

  • Real-world applications of AI in operations, quality, forecasting, and workforce development
  • Lessons learned from implementation—successes and setbacks
  • Where AI delivered measurable value—and where it didn’t
  • Organizational readiness and change management considerations

All submissions will be subject to stringent peer review by the BakingTECH Program Chair & Planning Committee. Submissions will be carefully evaluated based on originality, significance, technical soundness, and clarity of exposition.

Please make sure you read all submission guidelines and requirements before your submission.

Submission Guidelines

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

  1. All proposals must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. EDT, Monday, April 21, 2026.  At 12:00 a.m. on April 21, 2026, the content submission form will be closed.
  2. Proposals must be submitted online through the submission form.  No fax copies, disks or email submissions will be accepted.
  3. Each presenter may submit multiple submissions.
  4. Duplicate proposals (reporting the same data) that are submitted under a different title or author will be vetted and will not be considered.
  5. Please note that during the submission process, you will not have an opportunity to save and edit your work.  We recommend you complete your information in Word (or another text format) so that you can edit, spell check and save for your records.  Once you have all the information compiled, you can simply cut and paste to the online form to submit your completed proposal.
  6. Proof your submission carefully for spelling and grammatical errors.  Double-check all sections of your submission.  Your submission will be used in promotional materials and will be printed as is and will not be edited by ASB staff.
  7. All submissions are final. Once you’ve submitted your proposal, you will not have the opportunity to make changes or edits to the submission.
  8. Do not include industry, trade, or product names in your title or content.  Generic terms should be used instead of trade names.  Any trade names will be changed to their generic or component name.  The use of company or product names as a means for promotion/advertising is strictly prohibited.  Please review ASB’s commercialism policy by clicking here.
  9. Submitting a proposal does not guarantee acceptance for a presentation at BakingTECH 2027.
  10.  Due to the size and time demands of BakingTECH, it is not possible to guarantee time for all submissions.  Priority will be given to work which is original, level of audience interaction and engagement, and has not been presented or submitted elsewhere.  Final disposition of your submission, should it be accepted, is at the discretion of the ASB BakingTECH 2027 Planning Committee.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Questions? Contact Tawnee Brydebell at tbrydebell@asbe.org

Submission Requirements

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS - WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW BEFORE YOU SUBMIT

1.  All content submissions will require the following in order to be considered and reviewed by the Planning Committee.

  • Contact information for author/presenter (ie. address, phone, email, social media handles, etc).
  • Professional Biography (under 150 words or 750 characters)
  • Format of Presentation (Technical Session, Ideation lab)
  • Theme of proposal
  • Title (maximum 10 words) should convey without excessive detail the content subject matter.
  • Content (should be between 200 to 250 words).  Provide enough details so that the Planning Committee can evaluate the potential quality and interest of your presentation at BakingTECH 2027. Click here to see samples.
  • What three questions your content idea will answer?
  • Identify the skill and knowledge level of your audience – beginner, intermediate or advanced
  • What’s the key message you want to share with the audience?  (Try limiting to 25 words)
  • What would you like to achieve by speaking at BakingTECH 2027?
  • References (if appropriate)

2.  Submissions cannot contain illustrations, images or graphs.  If the submission is accepted, presenter can include these items in their final presentations.

3.  Author/Presenter will be required to acknowledge that they have reviewed and understand ASB’s commercialism policy.  The submission process is not complete until this has been done.  Paper submissions received without the acknowledgement of ASB’s commercialism policy will not be considered.

4.  Author/Presenter will be required to acknowledge that they have reviewed and agree with the terms on the ASB’s speaker agreement.  The submission is not complete until this has been done.

5.  Author/Presenter will be required to acknowledge they have reviewed and agree with the Society’s Code of Conduct.  This submission is not complete until this has been done.

6.  Authors selected for a presentation will be required to submit additional materials for review by the Planning Committee.  Additional materials will be a draft PowerPoint (due in November 14, 2026) and final PowerPoint (due January 14, 2027).  Complete instructions for speaker and presentations will be provided upon notification of proposal’s acceptance.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Questions? Contact Tawnee Brydebell at tbrydebell@asbe.org

Selection Process

SELECTION PROCESS

  1. The deadline to submit a proposal is Tuesday, April 21, 2026.
  2. Upon submitting a proposal, you will receive a confirmation for your records.
  3. The BakingTECH 2026 Planning Committee and staff will review each submission and make presentation selections, and you will be notified via email of the disposition of your proposal by  June 2026.
  4. Acceptance of your submission by the Planning Committee obligates the author to present and pay the meeting registration fee and all other related meeting and travel expenses.  BakingTECH 2027 registration will open in August 2026 with early registration discounts ending in November.
  5. If you wish to withdraw your submission after having confirmed your acceptance, inform ASB in writing immediately to tbrydebell@asbe.org

CONTACT INFORMATION

Questions? Contact Tawnee Brydebell at tbrydebell@asbe.org

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