Retail bakery owners Paul Bendinskas of ABC Cake Shop in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Julie Pinho of Pinho’s Bakery in Roselle, New Jersey, helped Dawn Foods introduce the three winning Baker’s Request cake flavors (coffee, coconut and honey) developed as part of Dawn’s Inspired by You program, appearing at the Dawn Foods booth during the International Baking Industry Exposition (IBIE) in Las Vegas.

Earlier this year, Dawn launched the innovative Cake Co-Creation Project, working with four leading retail bakery customers located in four major geographic areas of the country. The project kicked off on April 30 at the Dawn Innovation Studio in Jackson, Michigan. The culmination of the project took place with the unveiling of new cake flavors from Dawn at IBIE.

Back in April at the Dawn Innovation Studio, Dawn’s senior bakery application chef Melissa Trimmer addressed the retail bakery owners with an inspirational message: “Today is the day we get to dream and be creative.” Attendees smelled flavor samples, learned the latest consumer research and tasted unique flavor combinations of sweets prepared by Trimmer and her culinary team.

Their goal is to work in partnership with Dawn to select the next on-trend flavors for hi-ratio cakes. According to Dawn, 89% of artisan bakeries would like new cake flavors, and 74% are seeking trend and recipe ideas.

“It’s been a long time since red velvet was introduced,” Trimmer says. “We think it’s time to bring innovative cake flavors to market. And regionally, there are taste differences, so it’s important that everyone have a spot at the table.”