The 14th edition of Bakery Business kicked off amid much fanfare and inaugural pomp on Tuesday at Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai.
The Hospitality First organised event is the foremost national trade fair for the bakery, patisserie and chocolate industries in the country.
Over the last decade and more, the three day show has been at the forefront in incorporating the latest innovations from India and overseas in bakery technology, equipment, ingredients, chocolates, accessories and more in it's unique globally acclaimed format.
The event was inaugurated by Pradeep Gopalan, founder-director of Hospitality First, Chetan Salvi, director, Hospitality First, Ashish Kohli, director, Hospitality First, Jayen Shah, director, Fine Organics, Shrikanth Walmiki, head, operations, Galaxy Cloud Kitchen (Future Group venture), Hari Menon, director, Ace Technologies, Ajay Bhatia, VP, sales, Shine Road Foods, Sandeep Singh, executive director, Foodrite (Radiant Foodchem), Vishal Sala, director, Rainbow Plastics Industries and Tarun Talluri, senior sales manager, Tastecrafts (Doehler India).
Talking about the event, Gopalan said, "New companies and ingredients companies are participating this year. This show is a reflection of other sectors as well. The bakers can get a good exposure. We can see many home bakers and traditional people in the event. The show is growing to 20-25% in the past few years. "
He added, "We were planning for franchise pavilion for bakery companies this year. But then, we were having only 12 companies. So, we couldn't take it further. We will be coming up with the same next year. "
Seminars and conferences will be starting from the 2nd day of the event.
Among exhibitors, Rajat Sharma,national sales manager (bakery ingredients), Kerry Ingredients India Pvt Ltd, "This is our 2nd time in the show. The economic slowdown has affected us. The business is little slow, so we are expecting good business here. We are launching two products today in the event which are two premixes, one bread improver and six flavours which are for b2b people. "
Sandeep Singh, executive director of Radiant Indus Chem Pvt Ltd said, "There is growth in volumes in the business. There is problems in the margins. There are hardly any equipment companies showcased at the event. We are looking for good business for our company."
Biswadeep Bhattacharya, marketing manager - horeca, Dr.Oetkar India Pvt Ltd, said, "The experience is growing. The organisers have promoted the event very well. The crowd is huge on the first day. Although we are growing, the cost of products is going up and the volume growth is growing. We are entering in different geographic locations. We are launching ready to eat waffles with different flavours today which will be sold for b2b class mainly and then to consumers."