From 15 to 20 September, the exhibition centre in Munich was all about the world’s leading trade fair for bakery and confectionery. As part of the iba, and as one of the largest among more than 1,300 exhibitors from 57 countries, backaldrin also presented its new products. These included innovations with the power berry aronia, durum wheat and ancient grain across the range of bread, rolls, confectionery and snacks. Special guest appearances by a number of sports stars ensured an exciting supporting programme.

Every three years, the global baking industry meets in Munich and presents the most important market news: at backaldrin, an international producer of raw baking materials, with Austrian roots, this year the focus was on the power berry aronia, durum wheat and a variety of ancient grains. On the six days of the fair, around 30,000 visitors who stopped by the backaldrin stand had the opportunity to taste the new products. “We are entirely satisfied not only with the number of visitors, but also the quality of the discussions. We were able to welcome a great many international guests, as well as numerous customers from the Austrian and German craft bakery sector,” says backaldrin Managing Director Harald Deller. Overall, there was a noticeably positive mood in the industry. The interest in innovations is encouraging and speaks for a good spirit of optimism.

Product innovations under trade fair highlights

For iba 2018, backaldrin product development worked on a number of innovations. One highlight of the fair was the aronia berry, which lends bread, pastries and cakes a naturally purple colour, thanks to the high proportion of red and blue plant dyes. The berry, originally from North America, has also been cultivated in Austria for around ten years, so backaldrin is able to obtain the raw material locally. The new AroniaMix is flexible and versatile, and can be used in everything from baguettes and ciabatta to brioche, muffins and cakes. In addition, “My Urkorn”, the wholegrain multigrain bread with emmer, einkorn and khorasan combined with smoked sourdough, was presented. The smoked wheat sourdough introduces new taste nuances to the nutty undertones of the ancient grain. Third in the group, the leading Austrian baking ingredients manufacturer developed Durum 100, a new clean label mix made with hard wheat. This lends bread and pastries a soft yellow colour, thanks to the high carotene content of durum wheat. In addition, light and trendy snacks were created using six different products and were displayed at the snack counter. There, customers could get suggestions for their own businesses as well as enjoy a power boost for a successful day at the fair.

Sport stars provide excitement

Besides the product innovations, backaldrin also thought out an attractive supporting programme: a number of international athletes and sports legends accepted the invitation to the iba and drew attention to the importance of bread and pastries in a balanced diet. Customers and other trade fair visitors, therefore, had the unique opportunity to experience their idols up close. From Sunday to Wednesday, between 16:00 and 18:00, a meet-and-greet with the guests took place in the sports zone of the exhibition stand.   German biathlon stars Laura Dahlmeier, Arnd Peiffer and Erik Lesser, their Austrian colleagues Simon Eder and Julian Eberhard, as well as the most successful female biathlete of all time, the German Magdalena Neuner, and the also extremely successful Martina Beck were there.  Gymnast Tabea Alt and former gymnast and Olympic champion Fabian Hambüchen were also on site, as well as the Russian ice hockey legend Vyacheslav Bykov and Paralympic champion Günther Matzinger. “The sports stars provided excitement for customers and trade fair visitors. This makes us very happy because we have been involved in professional and amateur sports for many years, and it is a topic that lies very close to our hearts,” says Deller of the great success.

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