Jorge Zarate, chief supply chain officer and chief sustainability officer at Grupo Bimbo SAB de CV, Mexico City, and chair of the 2025 International Baking Industry Exposition (IBIE), believes the industrial baking industry has seen more ups than it has downs in the past few years. While he doesn’t deny the challenges the global industry faces, overall the category is performing well.

“The industry has been through a lot of changes,” he said. “The whole industry has been growing in the past few years. Even the IBIE show itself has been growing expo after expo. We’ve seen the transformation of the industry moving away from a traditional grain-based industry to digital automation and more sophisticated operations.”

Much of this move comes from the demands of the marketplace itself. Consumers around the world are looking for nutritious, high-quality baked goods but at a reasonable price.

That price point doesn’t come without an assist from operations. Across the globe, baking companies are struggling with post-pandemic economic challenges: high costs of raw materials and labor while inflation softens sales. This is leading to more companies looking into automation, digital tools and the best solutions around the world.

“Globalization isn’t just on the product side, but it’s also important in terms of industry knowledge,” Zarate explained. “Baking industry professionals must be aware of what is going on in other countries. It’s a matter of improving their processes by bringing the best equipment and ingredients that can be found, and sometimes that means sourcing from other countries.”

This globalization has been reflected in IBIE itself. Zarate noted that, during his 10-year tenure on the planning committee, the exhibitor and attendees have become even more representative of a global industry. IBIE aims to provide a forum for different ideas from markets all over the world.

With this landscape in mind, Zarate expects to see automation solutions on the show floor, of course, but also for the industry to go further on its digital transformation journey.

“Automation has been a topic for some time, but now it is even more crucial in some countries not only for cost control but also because it makes the process more uniform and improves food safety,” he said. “Digitalization is also important because it allows us to monitor our processes and equipment in a predictive or preventative way, not just corrective.”

IBIE brings the international baking industry together every three years and will take place in Las Vegas, Sept. 13-17. Zarate pointed out that it is not just a show for business leaders but also technical professionals. As companies bring more people to IBIE 2025, Zarate encouraged them to have a plan and to take advantage of IBIE’s corporate meeting program to debrief at the end of the day.

“IBIE is the best way to learn and experience the trends and shifts taking place in the global baking industry,” he said. “Having everyone under the same roof sharing their ideas and challenges is a great way to see what is happening in the industry.”