Atlantic Bakery Expo 2010

March 22, 2010, ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – Bakers Journal is at the Atlantic Bakery Expo 2010 in Atlantic City, N.J. It's been a well-attended show with large crowds streaming into the Atlantic City Convention Center, which is just minutes away from the city's famed Boardwalk. In addition to a large hall full of exhibitors, the show organizers have also set up an excellent program of educational sessions and hands-on workshops. This morning, I attended a session hosted by Modern Baking editor Katie Martin (pictured here), on the topic of consumer trends in baking.

March
22, 2010, ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – Bakers Journal is at the Atlantic Bakery Expo 2010 in
Atlantic City, N.J. It's been a well-attended show with large crowds
streaming into the Atlantic City Convention Center, which is just
minutes away from the city's famed Boardwalk. In addition to a large
hall full of exhibitors, the show organizers have also set up an
excellent program of educational sessions and hands-on workshops. This
morning, I attended a session hosted by Modern Baking editor Katie
Martin (pictured here), on the topic of consumer trends in baking.

Katie revealed some interesting nuggets of data based on U.S. consumer research. Among these were the strong growth in the cupcake and mini-dessert categories, which expanded by 12 per cent from 2007 to 2009. Macaroons, Katie said, look poised to be the next big mini-dessert.

She also said that 2010 is all about "simple." Clean labels, slimmer packaging and locally sourced ingredients are key elements of the shift to simple as a selling point. "Natural" and "organic" aren't really going anywhere, she reported, which is good for our industry as these buzzwords play to retail bakeries' strengths.

For more on ABE 2010, see our Facebook photo gallery.