Welcome to new board member, happy retirement to Valley Bakery owners: A Message from the Baking Association of Canada”

Happy summer, everyone, and here’s to a successful upcoming fall season!

My usual seasonal message of course, encourages you and your staff to stay cool and keep hydrated. The bakery is always hot! And on a technical note, for the yeasted baker, keep a control on your fermentation!

The Baking Association has been very busy. There were a few days to catch our breath after the successful Bakery Showcase in Vancouver, before we were planning for the next edition in Toronto May 5-6, 2024, and signing a contract for Montreal in May of 2025!

On a regional level, a full slate of networking events, both social and educational, have been keeping us busy. 2023 is the first full year since the pandemic and one thing is certain, bakers want to gather. We have more town halls planned for Sept. 11 (register here) in Barrie and Sept. 19 in Moncton (register here). Please check out our events page on baking.ca to see what events are planned in your area.

It’s not all fun and games at BAC! We take our advocacy and government relations work very seriously and are engaged on several files with our ministerial partners. We are currently running a survey on labour market, staffing and training issues to advise the government on challenges facing our baking industry. Please take a few minutes to complete this at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/3QM23ML. The more information we can share with the policy makers, the more they push our concerns to the top of the list. 

We are also continuing our work on these other important issues: Grocery Code of Conduct, Single Use Plastics, FOP Labelling, as well as Allergen Management and Flour Categorization and Fortification as well as other important issues pertaining to our industry, especially relating to sustainability and supply-chain concerns. We collaborate with other Canadian food producer/supplier associations to add a strong voice to this huge sector. If you have any concerns, large or small, about regulatory issues, please do not hesitate to reach out to us directly (info@baking.ca Office: 905-405-0288).

We would like to welcome our newest member of the BAC board, representing Atlantic Canada, Rosalyn Hyslop. Rosalyn comes from a solid governance background as well as being co-owner of Mrs. Dunster’s Bakery in the Maritimes. At the same time, we say farewell and thank-you to her husband Blair Hyslop, who served energetically and enthusiastically on our board for two terms from 2017 until this May.

Rosalyn Hyslop, Mrs. Dunster’s, BAC board of directors

Jack Kuyer, Valley Bakery

One more important farewell is to Jack and Dianna Kuyer of Valley Bakery, Burnaby, B.C. Jack started in his parents’ bakery when he was just a kid. The bakery has served the local area for 60 years and is a wonderful example of the stand-alone, full-service Canadian bakeries that were on every high street in towns across Canada. Jack is and has for many years been involved in the BAC BC Chapter as well as holding high-level positions with BAC National and its predecessor, Bakery Production Club, in the 1980s and ’90s. We wish Jack and Dianna a healthy and happy retirement. They will be sorely missed! There is a nice piece on CBC news about Jack’s retirement here: https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2255698499926

Update: Valley Bakery will continue under new ownership! | READ MORE

Martin Barnett, Executive Director
Baking Association of Canada
mbarnett@baking.ca