Germany’s iba bakery and confectionery show returns with major new features
pic: iba
The global bakery sector, as well as confectionery industries will be making a beeline for Düsseldorf in Germany next Spring for the next edition of iba, writes Neill Barston.
Taking place between 18-22 May 2025, organisers have confirmed that 95 per cent of the available space has already been booked and over 700 exhibitors from 43 countries have registered.
Exhibitor registration for the event, which covers a wealth of new products, ingredients and concepts, remains open, and ticket sales for visitors will open next month.
There will be significant new additions being included within the show, including the freshly-devised food trends area, where the concept is even spread across the entire Hall 15.
Exhibitors will present their food trends at various stands and contact points, from raw materials and snack innovations to machines for production.
Visitors will discover the latest developments in food culture and suitable products, ingredients and concepts. The new highlight is rounded off by the iba stage.
This forms part of the iba. Food trends area, where attendees can experience presentations on food trends in the mornings; in the afternoons, experts will give talks on all other focus topics. Networking areas and a coffee bar are available for socialising.
Significantly, this year’s event covers 98,000 square metres, showcasing the global diversity of the industry. The product range is spread over seven halls, with a different size and layout than in Munich.
This means that the product portfolio will be as varied as usual: production technology in Halls 9-13, packaging technology in Hall 9, artisan bakery in Halls 13 and 14 and raw materials and ingredients in Hall 15. The site plan can be downloaded online.
Another fresh feature for the event comes in addition to the popular world-class competitions such as ‘The iba.UIBC.Cup of Bakers’ and ‘The iba.UIBC.Cup of Confectioners’, the ‘World Championship of Bread Sommeliers’ will now be held at iba for the first time.
The background to this is the cooperation with the Akademie Deutsches Bäckerhandwerk Weinheim (German National Bakers Academy in Weinheim) and its advanced training programme for bread sommeliers. Not only national courses were offered there, but also an international course for ‘Certified Bread Sommeliers’ for the first time in autumn 2023.
Participants from countries including the USA, Norway, Brazil, Ireland, Aruba (Caribbean) and New Zealand completed the course in September 2024. A total of 267 bread sommeliers from 14 countries have already been trained in Weinheim. The graduates can compete in the preliminary round, with the grand finale awaiting them all at the ‘World Championship of bread sommeliers’ at iba in May 2025.
Programme highlights: Innovations, bakery tours, baking pretzels
At the iba academy, visitors can take part in seminars and learn how to make the traditional German pretzel. There will be a certificate at the end, tickets will be available at the beginning of 2025 on the iba website.
The iba forum is all about artisan bakery: lectures, award ceremonies and competitions will take place here. It’s also show time in the action areas: national and international start-ups will present their pitches and innovative products in the iba.
Notably, its digitalisation area shows the bakery of the future: here visitors can touch digitalisation and test new possibilities. In cooperation with the Zentralfachschule der Deutschen Süßwarenwirtschaft e.V. (College of the German Confectionery Industry) the iba confectionery tec area will showcase new technical solutions that make it possible to enhance products for sale, e.g. toppings for baked goods. In addition, guided bakery tours will be offered, this time in Düsseldorf. Registration is online.
The countdown is on: Network today on the new iba platform
Notably, the organising team has brought together its web content under the banner of the Iba platform. This aims to bring all industry participants together before, during and after the trade fair and to maximise the benefits for all. The new platform serves as an extension of the face-to-face event and thus enables dialogue with the baking industry 365 days a year. It offers i.e. registered users personalised content and facilitates both the preparation for the trade fair visit and the evaluation afterwards.
