The virtual tours provided an exclusive insider’s look into Klosterman’s and MTAB's newest operations as well as renowned retail bakeries from all over the world that were featured at iba, the international baking exposition held in Germany last year. The tours include insights from the leaders and key production personnel at both companies.

 

“It was important for us to feature a couple of diverse North American industrial bakeries,” said Joe Turano, IBIE chairman and president of Turano Baking Co. “Our show caters to both retail and wholesale bakers, so it was important for us to have representation in both segments.”

 

Robb MacKie, president and chief executive officer of the American Bakers Association, noted that the two bakeries are newer facilities “with great stories.” Klosterman’s Boone County (Kentucky) bakery just opened in January and MTAB (Kentucky) only a few years ago.

 

“We’re fortunate that some of the most cutting-edge bakeries are also valued ABA members,” MacKie said. “It was important for us to showcase a variety of production lines within state-of-the-art facilities, and both Klosterman and More Than a Bakery were more than gracious to open their bakeries to us. We used the same production team out of Germany for consistency and the filming took about two days at each site.”

 

The virtual tours featured 10 viewing stations. Attendees could explore two new facilities focused on layout, sanitation, workplace culture, and best of baking. Each tour was approximately six minutes long, but attendees could pause and explore throughout the experience.

 

“We want attendees to feel like they are physically immersed in a bakery experience across a few diverse wholesale and retail facilities,” Turano said. “A traditional video can be limiting. The VR tours allow viewers to experience the bakery from several vantage points; they can literally experience the facility as if they were within the various areas of the production and packaging lines.”

 

Other bakeries included Apollonion Bakery in Athens, Greece; Baier Bakery in Stuttgart-Herrenberg, Germany; Sandholt Bakery in Reykjavik, Iceland; Tartine Bakery in San Francisco; Joseph Brot in Vienna, Austria; and Hinkel Bakery in Dusseldorf, Germany.