Erik Waterkotte, Chairman of IDDBA (International Dairy Deli Bakery Association) and Sr. Director of sales for Columbus Crafts Meats drove this year’s tradeshow with leading-edge research and technology. 10,000 attendees and many retail buyers, merchandisers, brokers, distributors, and manufacturers gathered at the New Orleans Ernest Morial Convention Center to hold one of the most important buying and educational events of 2018. In a world of evolving dynamics in the global food system, attendees and exhibitors were able to engage and exchange information on key industry insights that would drive business growth, while gaining an all-encompassing view of the newest merchandising concepts. There were also innovative products ready to be unveiled and released to the market.
Among the large crowd of attendees were several key speakers like Daymond John, CEO & Founder of FUBU; Ginger Hardage, Former SVP of Culture & Communications for Southwest Airlines, and many more decision makers who shared their understandings of the business, the economy, the consumer, and current trends. Key presenter Mike Eardley, IDDBA President and CEO, also discussed six IDDBA influencers: People, consolidation, food safety, competition, technology and community.
Waterkotte has carried the vision of the industry in a changing market to help drive the deli and bakery industry forward by offering an interactive marketplace for this year’s attendees. He also presented the 2018 Chairman’s Award to Bill Klump, Chief Marketing Officer for Butterball, who demonstrated an important leadership role during a dramatic shift in the organization.
The International Dairy Deli Bakery Association is a nonprofit membership organization serving the dairy, deli, bakery, cheese and supermarket foodservice industries. For more information about the IDDBA go to www.iddba.org
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