Bakery Showcase hits Toronto

May 17, 2012, Toronto – Bakery Showcase is over, but attendees won’t
soon forget the sights, smells, and creative displays of talent they
experienced at the Baking Association of Canada’s (BAC) Toronto show.

May 17, 2012, Toronto – Bakery Showcase is over, but attendees won’t soon forget the sights, smells, and creative displays of talent they experienced at the Baking Association of Canada’s (BAC) Toronto show.

This year’s Bakery Showcase, held May 6-8 at Mississauga’s International Centre, was a tremendous success. Over three days, more than 4,400 attendees were treated to equipment and technology demonstrations, delectable products and networking galore on the trade show floor, courtesy of the more than 370 companies present showcasing their ingredients, equipment and technology. The BAC held their annual general meeting on the morning of May 6, and an evening welcome reception, and exhibitors showcased their products during daytime seminars on May 7 and 8.

A highlight of the show was the inaugural Canada’s Landmark School Challenge. Student teams from the baking programs at Niagara College and George Brown College faced off on the Bakery Showcase exhibit floor in front of attendees over two days of competition. The challenge: create a showpiece of a Canadian landmark, built entirely of baked goods.

The team from George Brown selected the Hudson’s Bay Company as their landmark, creating a timeline of the company that consisted of 30 kilograms of raspberry jam, 37 18×24 vanilla slab cakes, 22 pails of rum balls, 21 bags of breakfast cereal, nine buckets of buttercream icing, 90 pounds of chocolate, 10 kilograms of gingerbread, and six kilograms of pastillage. “We wanted to be different and so we chose a non-traditional landmark,” said Chef Laura Bryan of the George Brown Chef School. “It shows a lot of depth and creativity and the students went with it.”

Niagara College’s team chose to honour the Inukshuk in their showpiece, and highlighted elements of each Canadian province and territory. “Nunavut is the newest territory and we wanted to include key attributes from across Canada,” said team member Chelsey Hooker. The extensive ingredient list for Niagara College’s work included more than 4,000 eggs, approximately 100 kilograms of fondant, 240 pounds of butter cream, 20 kilograms of white chocolate, eight kilograms of dark chocolate, 18 kilograms of marshmallows and a 25-kilogram bag of Rice Krispies.

The teams began Sunday, preparing the main elements of their pieces. The stunning works of art came together on Monday, and finishing touches were added Tuesday. Delegates of the show voted on their favourite piece before voting closed on Tuesday afternoon.

Paul Hetherington, president of the BAC, announced the winning team on Tuesday afternoon, thanking both colleges for their participation, and acknowledging the support of Bunge Canada as sponsor of the contest and G. Cinelli-Esperia Corp. for donating equipment. Hetherington presented each school with a $5,000 honorarium to recognize the efforts of the teams, and announced Cinelli-Esperia would donate a sheeter to the winning school and a mixer to the runner up. After much anticipation, George Brown was declared the winner, and both teams should be very proud of their accomplishments.

With the contest over, it was time to say goodbye the Bakery Showcase, but not without thanks to the BAC staff for their hard work in executing another successful event.

“The entire team has done just a fantastic job,” Hetherington said. “It’s great to see the industry turn out the way it does. It’s a tough environment for bakers, and this is an opportunity for them to learn about new services, things that can help them be more efficient in their own businesses,” he said.

Watch for more coverage from the show in an upcoming issue of Bakers Journal.