The International Baking Industry Exposition (IBIE) today announced that applications are officially open for the BEST in Baking Industry Awards. This prestigious program, presented in partnership with Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery (SF&WB), recognizes the baking industry’s most innovative companies driving excellence in key areas like sustainability, automation, workforce development and more.
“The BEST in Baking awards are a powerful platform to showcase incredible innovations and recognize outstanding work across the baking industry,” said Jorge Zarate, IBIE Chair. “These awards allow remarkable companies to set themselves apart from competitors.”
Award Categories
Suppliers and baking companies of all sizes are encouraged to apply for recognition in the following categories:
- Sustainability: Honoring advancements in equipment, ingredients, packaging, technology, and processes that improve efficiency, reduce environmental impact, and promote sustainability within the baking industry.
- Automation & Robotics: Recognizing equipment and technologies that automate manual processes, enhance throughput, and reduce labor needs.
- Plant Efficiency: Showcasing innovations in equipment, ingredients, packaging, technology, and processes that improve operational efficiency.
- Sanitation: Celebrating advancements in equipment, technology, and processes that significantly improve equipment and facility sanitation within the baking industry.
- Workplace Development: Acknowledging supplier and bakery programs that foster sustainable development and ongoing growth of the baking workforce.
- Sustainable Packaging Innovation: New for 2025! Recognizing bakery companies that have implemented sustainable primary or secondary packaging solutions.
The big news for 2025 is the focus of the Product Innovation awards on producers of packaging—one of the hottest areas of sustainability innovation today—and an area we cover in great detail at Packaging Strategies here at BNP Media, a publication that helps support the 2025 IBIE BEST in Baking Program. Companies across the industry continue to make great strides in “greener” packaging, and we will honor these commercialized exemplars of sustainability.
Benefits of Winning
BEST in Baking award winners will receive significant recognition, including an awards ceremony presentation at IBIE 2025 in Las Vegas with the opportunity to deliver an acceptance speech. Winners will also benefit from extensive multimedia coverage in Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery magazine, IBIE pre-show promotions, the IBIE mobile app and directory, and press releases, as well as exposure through post-show content such as podcast interviews, video profiles, and feature articles.
Baking industry professionals are encouraged to apply no later than April 30, 2025. For more information on key dates, criteria, and application forms, visit www.bakingexpo.com/BEST.
