Sweet baked goods are a bright spot in our mature industry. Manufacturers like the growth they deliver in a stagnant market while consumers are on board with the indulgence and versatility these items bring throughout the day. So, how important is pricing and promotions when shoppers are deciding between something new or standing behind a lifelong favorite? What role does packaging and product placement play with consumers during the decision-making process? Equally relevant is the ability to understand what’s important once these items make it home and are consumed. Tapping into a robust research methodology that incorporates input directly from your customers themselves, we will reveal the key purchase drivers and opportunities that exist based on consumer experiences with your products. This session will reveal unique and impactful insights that can help brand owners and bakery manufacturers appreciate and respond to the evolving dynamics that shape our industry. 

Learning Objectives

1. Identify consumer purchase, consumption, and loyalty behaviors
2. Recognize unmet needs and opportunities within the category
3. Apply insights within their own teams, fostering ideas and innovation to drive growth

Presenter
Nick Ferraro, DuPont Nutrition & Health

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This year marks unemployment hitting a 50 year record low, and voluntary turnover is reaching record highs across most industries. More often, it is not the low performing staff that quits, it is the top talent. Finding skilled labor like those in the manufacturing industry isn’t becoming any easier. With demand for labor high, retaining top talent is back on the forefront at most organizations. Are you finding it harder to keep your top performing workers?

No matter what is ahead for your company, it is never a good time to lose great people. How do you know who will stay and who will go? This workshop will give you the tools needed to identify employee commitment and develop a personalized employee retention strategy.

Learning Objectives:

1. Attraction and retention tactics that can be implemented immediately
2. How to identify employees with “one foot out the door”
3. What motivates high performers from the rest of the pack
4. How to create action plans and retention tools tailored to your workplace

Retensa Retention Experts will present an informative, interactive seminar to help participants apply real-world strategies and tactics to motivate and retain current employees.

Presenter
Chason Hecht, Retensa Retention

This presentation is brought to you by :

Session Chair:  Dr. Rebecca Miller-Regan, Kansas State University

Session Schedule

• 1:00 pm:  A Safe, Label Friendly Way to Reduce pH in Baked Goods, Kathy Sargent, Corbion
• 1:40 pm:  The Evolution of Alternative Protein Ingredients in Baking From the Past to the Future, Naggie T. Jeradechachai, Bay State Milling Co.
• 2:20 pm:  Fibers to Improve the Quality of Traditional & Health Baked Goods: Post-FDA’s 2016 Regulation; Rajen Mehta, Grain Millers

Lactic acid, which is naturally present in the human body and a product of natural fermentation, has been extensively studied and used to inhibit the growth of pathogenic and spoilage bacteria. Researchers continue to further explore the benefits of using lactic acid in food applications, which go beyond promoting food safety and preservation. 

Learning Objectives

1. Learn about the effectiveness of Lactic Acid as a pH reducer in baked goods versus traditional solutions
2. Compare the effects on flavor and smell traditional pH regulators have versus lactic
3. Explore the deep versatility and history of lactic acid and its use in food applications and beyond

Presenter
Kathy Sargent, Corbion

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Session Chair: Kayla Dinkel, Hostess Brands

Session Schedule

• 1:00 pm: IoT, Automation, and the Future of Food Safety; Robert Burgh, Nexcor Technologies
• 1:40 pm: Block Chain: The Facts & Fiction Surrounding an Emerging Technology, Julie McGill, FoodLogiQ
• 2:20 pm: Bridging the Gap Between Administration and Manufacturing in the Baking Industry; Josh Lamkins, Shick Esteve

1:00 PM: Retaining Your Skilled Workforce: Predicting Who Will Quit; Chason Hecht, Retensa Retention

1:40 PM: A Recipe for Commitment: Unlocking Staff Loyalty and Performance, Chason Hecht, Retensa Retention

2:20 PM: Communicating for Results: Ingredients to Connect & Collaborate; Chason Hecht, Retensa Retention

Brought to you by

Sustainability from raw materials to packaging is the focus of many industries and should be the focus for your company. Consumer groups focused on sustainability are one of the key marketing potentials for millennials who will be the top consumers in the next decade. Sustainability is most often defined as meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs. It has three main pillars: economic, environmental, and social. These three pillars are informally referred to as people, planet and profits. How can I (or my company) help with sustainability? This is the question that the Sustainable Engineering Panel will discuss during ASB Convention in 2020.

Moderator: Rowdy Brixey, Brixey Engineering, Inc.

Panelists:

• Water: Karl Thorson, General Mills
• Solar: Mark Richardson, US Light Energy
• Wind: Irene Espinola Campos, Grupo Bimbo

We’re in the age of disruption. Today’s business climate is changing at an unprecedented rate.  Every week, it seems there is a new strategy, social media site or technology that is a “must use” or a “game-changer”.  What we lose in this endless quest for the next bright shiny business object is that at the core of business while everything has changed, nothing is different.  Trust, connection, consistency, and service will always trump any new app to hit the market.

In this keynote, Scott will walk the audience through what is real and what are only smoke screens in the business world today.  Audiences will walk away understanding the following:

The Millennial Myth:  The younger generation may create new challenges for business, but not in the way people are saying.
UnBranding: How everyone in the company creates the brand on a daily basis.
The Disruptors: Disruption simply means change without time to resist it. Learning how to anticipate and deal with it as it comes.

Keynote Speaker
Scott Stratten