A Special Season Finale: David Haaf (President & CEO, IDDBA) Talks 2025's Challenges and Opportunities We're wrapping up the third season of the What's in Store Podcast with a bang! Join Whitney Atkins, Vice President of Marketing and Membership at IDDBA, as she sits down with our very own President and CEO, David Haaf, for a lively and insightful conversation about the future of the dairy, deli, and bakery industry. With the excitement of IDDBA's 60th anniversary celebration at #IDDBA2024 in Houston still fresh, they discuss what's on the horizon for the association, its members, and the broader grocery and foodservice sectors.

From hot consumer trends to the evolving needs of buyers and sellers, David offers expert insights with a personal touch, breaking down how IDDBA is tackling challenges like turnover, professional development, and market consolidation. Plus, hear about the growing influence of convenience stores, foodservice, and international markets—and how they're redefining the industry.

Whether you're in retail, supply, or foodservice innovation, this episode has something for everyone—fun anecdotes, professional insights, and actionable takeaways to prepare you for 2025 and beyond. And here's a bonus: we're always looking to feature fresh voices and perspectives on the podcast. If you have a story, trend, or expertise to share, we'd love to hear from you! Reach out to us ([email protected]) and let's make it happen.

Tune in for an engaging finale to our third season and get ready to take on the future with a smile. See you in 2025!

For more about IDDBA and membership: https://www.iddba.org/membership/join-iddba/membership

For more about #IDDBA2025 in New Orleans, June 1-3, 2025: https://www.iddba.org/iddba-show/about/iddba-2025

For November, IDDBA's Vice President of Marketing and Membership, Whitney Atkins, is joined in conversation by IDDBA Education Coordinator Jack Ince, discussing the big trends that are going to impact our industry this holiday season, with more than a few surprise data points that could help your business find greater success as 2024 comes to a close. Learn more about What's in Store, our trends publication, here: https://www.iddba.org/trendscenter/trends-research/whats-in-store

The IDDBA Webinar Series is a free offering to anyone interested, but our archives our only available to IDDBA members; learn more here: https://www.iddba.org/trendscenter/trends-research/webinars#featured-webinar

IDDBA's annual trade show heads to New Orleans, June 1-3; learn more about #IDDBA2025 here: https://www.iddba.org/iddba-show/about/iddba-2025

Have a question or comment, or an idea for a future episode? Write to us today at [email protected].

In a fun and informative conversative, IDDBA's Whitney Atkins (Vice President of Marketing and Membership) is joined in this episode by Marco Hernandez, the Director of Technical Sales for Miller Milling, and part of the Wheat Foods Council. As Marco puts it, "Flour is magic" and with us nearly every day, and he urges us not to underestimate how a cookie might change our life. He shares a little about his 34 years in the industry and gets into the details so you can learn how not all flour is created equal, the six classes of wheat (Soft Red Winter, Hard Red Winter, Hard Red Spring, Hard White, Soft White, and Durum), the applications for each, and how choosing not just the right class of flour, but also the right specific flour is critical to success in the bakery industry, where consistent output is such a challenge. Learn more about the Wheat Foods Council, here: https://www.wheatfoods.org/about-us/

As always, feel free to email [email protected] with any comments or ideas for future episodes that you'd like us to receive!

For our September episode of the What's in Store Podcast, IDDBA's Vice President of Marketing & Membership, Whitney Atkins, is joined by Dave Gonnella from Gonnella Baking Company. They discuss the value of numerous generations of employees in the workplace, branding and rebranding, innovations and navigating trends, food service at retail, and how Gonnella has kept things fresh for 140 years! For more on trends, be sure to check out IDDBA's What's in Store publication, updated monthly! https://www.iddba.org/trendscenter/trends-research/whats-in-store You can email [email protected] for more information about the programs discussed in this episode. As always, feel free to email [email protected] with any comments or ideas for future episodes that you'd like us to receive!

In August, IDDBA's Vice President of Marketing, Whitney Atkins, is joined by Kenneth Juskowiak from NIQ, and the two share a conversation about the power of data, how smaller companies can best make use of it, and how Generative AI can be utilized to help companies succeed.

IDDBA members can head to our website to check out our Webinars on data and trends - including some from NIQ, here: https://www.iddba.org/trendscenter/trends-research/webinars/data-trends#Data/Trends

You can email [email protected] for more information about the programs discussed in this episode. As always, feel free to email [email protected] with any comments or ideas for future episodes that you'd like us to receive!

Thank you for joining us for our third season of IDDBA's What's in Store Podcast! Heather Atkins, Vice President of Education and Industry Relations, joins Whitney Atkins, Vice President of Marketing, for a free-ranging conversation about the generations in the workplace - Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millenials, and Gen Z - and their different views on working, professional development, and more! IDDBA has many opportunities for professional development, including:

Professional Development Scholarship: https://www.iddba.org/professional-resources/scholarships/professional-development-scholarship

Scholarship for Growing the Future (open from January to April): https://www.iddba.org/professional-resources/scholarships/scholarship-for-growing-the-future

IDDBA Leadership Certificate Program, this September in Madison: https://www.iddba.org/professional-resources/personal-development/leadership-certificate

You can read more from Heather on generational differences in her #IDDBA2024 General Session panel, Trends; slides from that panel are available here: https://www.iddba.org/iddba-show/about/general-sessions/iddba24/heather-prach

IDDBA's What's in Store publication is online and updated regularly; generational differences relevant to our industry are available for reading there as well: https://www.iddba.org/trendscenter/trends-research/whats-in-store

Join IDDBA's Whitney Atkins, Vice President of Marketing, and Heather Prach, Vice President of Education and Industry Relations, for a full-on dive into the premiere show of the year, #IDDBA2024 in Houston, in just days, June 9-11! They talk about all the things you can look forward to, from the fantastic General Sessions to the action at What's in Store Live, and everything else. See what's happening at #IDDBA2024 here: https://www.iddba.org/iddba-show/about/happening-at-iddba-2024

Cake'd: https://www.iddba.org/iddba-show/participate/cake-d

Salumi'd: https://www.iddba.org/iddba-show/participate/salumi%E2%80%99d

You can email [email protected] for more information about the programs discussed in this episode. As always, feel free to email [email protected] with any comments or ideas for future episodes that you'd like us to receive!

In May, IDDBA's What's in Store Podcast was lucky enough to have a conversation with Picadeli CEO Patrik Hellstrand call in to our studio to have a conversation with one of our podcast hosts, Whitney Atkins, IDDBA's VP of Marketing. The two spoke about the challenges to retailers, how to solve a profitable food problem in the United States, and what Picadeli's re-imagination of the salad bar means for potential partners - all while minimizing that partner's risk.

Picadeli recently opened its 100th (and 101st, and 102nd) US location to join its over 2,000 locations in Europe. Learn more about #IDDBA2024: https://www.iddba.org/iddba-show/about/iddba-2024

You can email [email protected] for more information about the programs discussed in this episode. As always, feel free to email [email protected] with any comments or ideas for future episodes that you'd like us to receive!

In April's What's in Store Podcast, IDDBA's VP of Marketing, Whitney Atkins, and VP of Education and Industry Relations, Heather Prach, are reunited for a conversation on the experience of food and how it relates to IDDBA's place in our industry. In that conversation, they discuss the experiential aspects of What's in Store Live at #IDDBA2024 in Houston, June 9-11 as well as the FlavorConnect series of webinars, in which partipants can actually enjoy the experience of Learn more about #IDDBA2024: https://www.iddba.org/iddba-show/about/iddba-2024

Learn more about What's in Store Live: https://www.iddba.org/iddba-show/about/whats-in-store-live

Learn more about our Webinars, including the FlavorConnect series: https://www.iddba.org/iddba-show/about/whats-in-store-live

You can email [email protected] for more information about the programs discussed in this episode. As always, feel free to email [email protected] with any comments or ideas for future episodes that you'd like us to receive!

What's in Store Podcast's Whitney Atkins (VP of Marketing for IDDBA) is joined by Miles Allen (Education Coordinator at IDDBA) for a chat about charcuterie! In this conversation they discuss IDDBA's Certified Salumiere program and how to obtain Certified Salumiere Professional (CSP) certification, some charcuterie-related events you can expect to see at #IDDBA2024, and a little bit about how #SafeFoodMatters! More on the Certified Salumiere program and how to obtain CSP certification: https://www.iddba.org/professional-resources/personal-development/certified-salumiere-professional-csp-certification

More on Salumi'd and charcuterie events you can enjoy at #IDDBA2024 in Houston, June 9-11: https://www.iddba.org/iddba-show/participate/salumi%E2%80%99d

More on the #SafeFoodMatters resources for food safety: https://www.iddba.org/professional-resources/personal-development/safe-food-matters

You can email [email protected] for more information about the programs discussed in this episode. As always, feel free to email [email protected] with any comments or ideas for future episodes that you'd like us to receive!