The International Baking Industry Exposition (IBIE), the Western Hemisphere’s largest baking event, gathered thousands of professionals, suppliers, and artisans from September 13 to 17 in Las Vegas.

More than 1,000 exhibiting companies from around the world showcased the latest advances in technology, ingredients, equipment, and packaging solutions. And the sold-out exhibit space reached a record 451,100 square feet, the largest in IBIE’s 105-year history, a 9% increase over the previous edition.

The show also hosted its largest educational program to date, with more than 250 IBIEducate sessions and demonstrations free to all registrants. The programming ranged from AI and automation to formulation innovation and scaling SMBs, empowering companies to thrive in an ever-evolving market.

“While baker attendance at IBIE was slightly lower—largely reflecting today’s economic pressures and complexities in international travel—we saw strong performance in the number of baking companies participating, many of which chose to send leaner teams to manage costs. Even so, the energy on the show floor and the level of engagement were remarkable, underscoring that IBIE remains an essential event driving progress and continuity for our industry,” says IBIE Chair Jorge Zarate.

IBIE has also hosted numerous competitions such as the Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie — Americas Selection, in which only Canada and the United States made it to the finals in Paris; the World Bread Awards USA, known as the “Oscars of Bread,” with Guy Frenkel (Céor Bakery) as the overall winner; and the Panettone World Cup — Americas Selection, where the chefs who will participate in the world finals in Italy were selected: Jaime Martínez (USA) and Emmidio Isernia (Canada) in the traditional panettone category, and Wilson Flores (Ecuador) and Ammary Vielma (USA) in the chocolate panettone category.