Bakery Showcase 2022 the setting for long-overdue connections

Bakery Showcase 2022 was the place to be for Canadian baking professionals. Between the well-attended education sessions, the busy trade show floor and the main stage, attendees had no shortage of ways to connect, learn and be inspired.

Education sessions kicked off with a well-attended Baking Association of Canada annual general meeting in which the board executive outlined ambitious plans for membership expansion and government advocacy. An equally full and lively panel of experts in the fields of government grants, human resources and automation shared information with bakery owners and operators eager for ideas on how to attract and retain staff. Both sessions were interactive and great forums for follow-up networking.

Keynote speaker Justine Martin, owner of Guilty Pleasures Bakeshop in Sudbury, Ont., shared practical advice on how to improve and make the most of communication skills including leveraging earned media to promote your bakery. Martin, who had considerable professional experience in communications prior to opening her baking career, described why these skills are crucial to a bakery’s success. Attendees were treated to an in-depth conversation with Mahathi Mundluru, finalist on the Great Canadian Baking Show, where she described what it was like to bake competitively under pressure and delved into the thought process behind some of her innovative flavour profiles.

On the show floor, attendees enjoyed demonstrations at the main stage. Baking professionals learned edible image techniques they could use to create impressive designs on cakes and cookies for corporate clients (with award-winning cake artist Justine Martin), professional techniques for shaping and scoring your artisan bread (by Master Baker Marcus Mariathas) and how to bake sweet profiteroles or savoury gougères while better understanding the relationship of fats to cannabinoids (by Chef Patrick Newton of the Food Network).

Fans of Anna Olson had the perfect chance to meet well-respected baker, author and television star Anna Olson at the BAC’s booth where Olson signed copies of her newest book.

The industry received recognition on a national scale when Francis Drouin, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Food and Agriculture and a member of the standing committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food, opened the show on Day 2 and met with BAC Executive Director Martin Barnett to issues of importance to the industry.

“The event was fabulous!” said Dinah Hamed, who wears many hats in the industry as bread baker, pastry chef, master of education student and Red Seal Baker-Patissier certification candidate. “So well organized and delightful. I had a wonderful time and thank you again for inviting me to join the education session!”

Attendee Susan Cavanaugh, who recently started her own business, Bake and Create, in Windsor, Ont., said, “It is so helpful to find all the products I learned about at school in one place. I need the full two days to take it all in.”

Westside Bakery of Edmonton was revealed as our new Inspirational Bakery of the Year! Bakers Journal and founding sponsor Ardent Mills together congratulate Leeanne Tucker, president of the wholesale commercial bakery that grew out of a desire to chase a dream and snowballed when Tucker and husband and business development and marketing manager Travis Blake, put their focus on the community. Read more about Westside here and in our next issue.

You’ll find more Bakery Showcase highlights in the next issue of Bakers Journal.