Editor’s Note: December 2012

The quest for novelty is among the most complex of all human endeavours.
It is no simple matter to continually freshen the human experience.

The quest for novelty is among the most complex of all human endeavours. It is no simple matter to continually freshen the human experience.

In fact, it could easily be argued that the need for new steers the whole capitalist ship we free-market folks cruise around in. Invention is intelligence’s immaculate conception and innovation is the next generation that continues to create something novel from the seeds of something known. It is from the trough of innovation that we novelty bingers most often imbibe.

Cynthia Pacheco, owner of Curbside Bliss Cupcakes, is our Innovator of the Year for the 2012 Bakers Journal Business Awards, lead sponsored by Fuller Landau Chartered Accountants and Business Advisors and co-sponsored by Puratos and Hallmark Insurance. Pacheco, who is based in the Greater Toronto Area, took the idea of a food truck and reinvented it to create Canada’s first mobile cupcake kitchen. From the generator running the oven to the custom trays that keep the travelling treats upright, the whole operation is a testament to innovation.

Good innovations often lead to growth, so we introduced a second category to this year’s Business Awards called Growing for Success. Mandy Kan, owner of Dessert Lady in Toronto, is this year’s Growing for Success winner. Kan exemplifies consistent growth based on consistent innovation. Look for cover stories on Pacheco and Kan in 2013 editions of Bakers Journal. Congratulations to both winners, as well as our short-listed bakeries: Kinnikinnick Foods (Edmonton), The Cake Box (Kitchener, Ont.) and Red Square Bakery (Burnaby, B.C.). I must say, Canada has no shortage of movers and shakers.

I had further opportunity to explore innovation this fall at Taste/Tomorrow, a conference hosted by Puratos at the Drake Hotel in Chicago in October. Here, Puratos released the results of a global study it conducted on consumer preferences, including some interesting results from Canada that portray us as the skeptic of the bunch. Coverage of the study, as well as ideas gleaned from top businesspeople, chefs and one very unforgettable chocolate experience will also be popping up in the pages of your 2013 editions of Bakers Journal.

Mario Fortin, a master of innovation in business and baking who also writes our Tricks of the Trade column, is now working on contract in Japan and will be ceasing his duties as contributor to Bakers Journal while he is abroad. I am sure his tips and insights will be missed and I wish him the best of luck on his international adventure. You’ll find Mario’s final column on page 24.

I hope your year was an adventure too, one filled with heady scents, nailed recipes, smiling customers, a dash of lessons learnt and a brilliant splash of innovation. I hope you are sharing the stories of your bakery, and I will be talking more about “story selling” in the new year too.

It’s an exciting time to be in the bakery, patisserie and chocolate industry, for customers want nothing more than an imagination run wild. Bakers Journal wishes you and yours a safe, fun and prosperous holiday season. Best wishes and a Happy New Year!