Key takeaways:
- US bakers say changing consumer expectations now pose as much of a challenge as regulation and ingredient scrutiny.
- The American Bakers Association is ramping up its ‘Baking Strong’ campaign to better control the industry narrative around nutrition, trust and reformulation.
- A new Global Baking Council aims to help commercial baking associations anticipate regulatory and consumer trends before they spread market to market.
There’s no shortage of noise surrounding the baking industry right now. From ultra-processed food (UPF) scrutiny to shifting consumer expectations and tightening regulation, the pressure points are coming thick and fast. But at this year’s ABA convention hosted in Colorado Springs, the tone wasn’t defensive – it was deliberate.
For Eric Dell, now three years into his tenure as ABA president and CEO, the industry’s defining strength isn’t scale or even innovation, it’s something far less tangible. “It would have to be the family atmosphere,” he said. “This industry, unlike any other I’ve seen, is about relationships and trust.”
That sense of cohesion is something the ABA is actively trying to harness as the sector navigates what Dell describes as a “totally unpredictable time”. Rather than reacting to headlines, the focus is on shaping the narrative: calmly, strategically and with credibility.
Alongside him, Brian LeComte, incoming ABA chair and fourth-generation leader at Gold Medal Bakery, brings a long-view perspective grounded in more than a century of baking. LeComte is less convinced the current moment is as new as it’s made out to be. “We’ve seen these changes before and we’ve always gotten through them,” he said.
A story worth telling
If there’s one recurring theme from both leaders, it’s that the baking industry hasn’t lost its value – it’s lost control of how that value is communicated.
“We think we’ve got a great story to tell – safe, affordable nutrition,” said LeComte. “It’s on every family’s kitchen table every single night. It’s part of the fabric of America.” The issue isn’t the product – it’s the positioning. “We’ve got to do a better job of emotionally connecting.”
That gap is now being addressed through a significantly scaled-up communications push under the ABA’s ‘Baked for America’ campaign, designed to reframe how baking is understood by policymakers and the wider public. Dell described it as the ‘most ambitious effort’ the association has undertaken, backed by investment of IBIE proceeds back into the industry
But the campaign sits within a broader strategic shift. The ABA is trying to bring a fragmented industry into closer alignment – pulling affiliates, partners and supply chain players into a single, coordinated voice.
“When we speak as one voice, it’s stronger,” Dell said. “We can amplify the story in a much bigger way.”
That matters more now, because the communications environment is anything but stable. From UPF narratives to ingredient debates, external scrutiny is intensifying and mixed messaging only weakens the response. The strategy now is coherence over reaction.
Regulation meets a restless consumer
Few topics loom larger than the ongoing scrutiny of UPFs and ingredients. But the ABA’s approach isn’t to counter every headline, but to stay credible and consistent.
“We’ve been involved front and centre with nutrition issues, with regulators and lawmakers, for decades,” said Dell. “This is nothing new.” What has changed is the intensity and pace of the conversation. “It’s about staying calm when there’s a headline, stepping back and asking what the real implication is.”
That approach is designed to maintain trust with regulators, whether at the USDA, FDA or state level. “If they’re right, they’re right. If we believe they’re wrong, we’ll educate to show why,” he said.
But policy pressure is only one side of the equation. The other is more volatile and harder to predict.
“It’s kind of a tie,” said LeComte. “Government regulation but also the changing consumer.”
That shift in consumer behaviour is now the defining operational challenge for many bakery businesses: not labour, not logistics, but the consumer. “It’s changing so fast,” he said. “You’re trying to figure out what those innovations are that are going to take your company forward.”
The result is a surge in development activity across categories. Protein, fibre, sourdough, keto, gluten-free – innovation is coming from multiple directions at once. But that breadth brings its own risk.
“We’re running samples every day now,” LeComte said. “But you can’t have 60 new items. You’ve got to find those one, two or three that really move the business.”
At the same time, the industry is navigating an increasingly complex balance between science and sentiment. Reformulation decisions aren’t always driven purely by evidence, but by perception.
“For example, the industry pledges we’ve led are meeting the consumer where they are.”
Innovation, global thinking and the long game
If innovation remains the industry’s primary response to disruption, global awareness is quickly becoming a strategic advantage.
That’s the thinking behind the newly formed Global Baking Council, a joint initiative between the American Bakers Association and AIB International. For Dell, it’s a practical response to a familiar pattern: what starts as a regulatory or consumer debate in one market can quickly become a policy headache in another.
“This is happening in Europe, then it comes to California, then it goes across the US,” he said. “We need to understand it earlier.”
Formally convening for the first time at the AIBI Congress in Nice, France, in late May, the Council is already engaging with associations across the UK, Canada, Australia and parts of Asia, reflecting how quickly both policy and consumer expectations move between markets. For an industry increasingly compared across borders – particularly on ingredient standards and product perception – that visibility is becoming critical.
LeComte sees it as a natural extension of how the industry already operates. “The supply chain is global,” he said. “So sharing and learning from each other just makes sense.”
Looking ahead, the ABA’s priorities remain consistent: grow the category; strengthen the workforce; and bring the industry into closer alignment. Creating a ‘destination workplace’ is central to that strategy, particularly as companies compete for talent and look to reduce turnover.
There’s also a growing recognition that new thinking won’t always come from within. Dell himself came to the role after leading national trade associations and working in Washington, including time on Capitol Hill, bringing a policy-first perspective rather than a traditional baking background. That outside lens, he suggested, has helped ABA continue to sharpen how it approaches advocacy and positioning.
LeComte’s advice to the next generation is straightforward: “Get involved.” The industry offers multiple entry points, from committees to leadership programmes, but engagement is what shapes influence.
And while the challenges are real – from regulatory pressure to shifting demand – there’s little sense of alarm among industry leaders. The tone is measured, even confident.
As Dell put it: “We have the credibility. We’re just strengthening it.”
