After a successful inaugural edition last year, Johnson & Wales University in Charlotte, North Carolina will host the International Symposium on Bread for a second year starting Thursday, April 26.

Last year's program, titled On the Rise: The Future of Bread, featured two days of discussion, touching on current industry and consumer trends, advances in technology and technique, and the socioeconomic and cultural factors that are shaping the business of bread.

On April 26-28, Johnson & Wales University’s Charlotte campus will follow that up with On the Rise II, presented by Puratos. Once again, Peter Reinhart will curate the event. Some of the biggest names in the industry will share their knowledge on the industry.

The Symposium's keynote speaker will be Nathan Myhrvold, author behind the massive book Modernist Bread. Other presenters and topics featured at the event include:

  • Marcus Mariathas (Ace Baking, Toronto): From Craft to Scale: Replicating Artisan Quality While Baking for the Masses
  • Stanley Ginsberg (author, The Rye Baker): Overcoming Rye’s Challenges
  • Eric Pallant (Allegheny College): Why 6000 Years of Sourdough History Matters 
  • Karl de Smedt (Puratos): Sourdough: The Future of Bread Lies in Its Past
  • Peggy Sutton (To Your Health Sprouted Flour) and Joe & Caroline Lindley (Lindley Mills): A New Bread Has Sprouted: Baking with Sprouted Grains, the Next Hundred Years
  • Darrell Varga (documentary filmmaker): Fields of Wheat to the Screen of Dreams: Bread in Art and Cinema (including a sneak preview of his new film)
  • E.A. McKenney (The Rob Dunn Lab, NC State Univ.):  Citizen Science Leavens Sourdough Research
  • Alexandra Zeitz (Drexel Univ.): Applying Traditional Baking to Gluten-Free
  • Jennifer Lapidus (Carolina Ground Mill): Baker at the Helm: The Farmer, Miller, Baker Coalition

“Last year, some of the biggest names in the industry gathered to initiate an important conversation about the issues and opportunities we’re facing. This year we plan to take it to the next level,” says Reinhart.

In addition to two days of presentations, a third day of hands-on workshops are available to attendees. Tickets for On the Rise II can be purchased here.