KANSAS CITY, MO — Raise your hand if you returned from the International Baking Industry Exposition (IBIE) thoroughly exhausted and completely content. I know I did.
The energy that had been building for the past two years culminated in what may have been the most joyous Baking Expo on record — joy of not only reconnecting with those we’ve waited so long to see but also of making new connections face-to-face.
But something else happened at IBIE. It was something almost … magical.
Remember the moment in The Wizard of Oz when Dorothy wakes up to discover the world had turned from grey to Technicolor? That’s how it felt when the show floor doors opened.
Just like that, no one was talking about the past two years anymore. The focus was on the road ahead, and it felt like one paved with yellow bricks.
Big lessons were learned through the pandemic, not the least of which being to expect the unexpected. It’s time to look forward, even if we have no idea what the future holds.
If you’re only making decisions based on current needs, you’re already behind. That’s a pretty scary proposition. But the truth is, those who can at least anticipate the future — whether it’s how the war in Ukraine will end or what will be named tenth major allergen — will be the ones poised at the top when the next crisis hits.
This story has been adapted from the October | Q4 2022 issue of Commercial Baking. Read the full story in the digital edition here.
