“Modern Bakery | Confex — is the engine of our progress and commerce” - Berta Group, General Partner of the Trade Fair 2024

29 YEARS OF SUCCESS – interesting, informative and productive for the 29th time, the only trade fair in Russia and the CIS countries was held, which covers the entire cycle of production of confectionery and bakery products. Industry professionals have once again recognized Modern Bakery | Confex as the effective business development platform that allows to share experience, look for business growth points and ways to adapt to new conditions.

Extensive exposition responding to current market demands

This year, the exposition has grown by a third: 258 companies from 13 countries presented their technological and ingredient solutions: Azerbaijan, Belarus, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Egypt, India, Iran, Italy, China, Russia, Turkey, Czech Republic. Traditionally, well-known foreign and Russian brands took part in the exhibition: Berta, Abat, Angel Yeast, Canol, Debag, Divo, Gostol, Handtmann, Kumkaya, Lesaffre, J4, Memak, Qingdao Kesong, Polair, Porlanmaz, Rondo, Unifood, Wachtel, Wiesheu, Voskhod, NHL Retail, Technopool, etc. 

Within the trade fair were presented such thematic areas as food technologies for bakery and confectionery industries, ingredients, raw materials and additives, equipment for packaging, storage and equipping of retail spaces, refrigeration equipment, technologies for industrial hygiene, commercial transport, equipment and ingredients for the production of ready-to-eat food and semi-finished products.

TOMER: «There are a lot of worldwide producers of equipment and ingredients presented»

DEBAG: «German companies have reappeared here at the trade fair. Also, we see that companies from other countries appeared»

The Modern Bakery | Confex trade fair demonstrated the interest of foreign suppliers in the Russian market – well-known brands JAC, MIWE, Wachtel, PromIngredients and others presented their solutions at the exhibition:

GOSTOL: «Many producers and suppliers of equipment that left the Russian market last year have reappeared at the trade fair»

New participants in 2024 were Altuntop (Turkey), AOCNO (China), HDR Gida (Turkey), OMIDI (Iran), Sarmaşık (Turkey), ULMA Packaging, Miratorg, Tatkrahmalpatoka, etc.

 The section for chocolate and sugar confectionery production Confex. Confectionery expertise continues its development.  For the third time, an exposition of ingredients, equipment and technologies for the production of chocolate and sugary confectionery products was organized within Modern Bakery | Confex trade fair. Russian and foreign producers presented their solutions at the trade fair: Alke Machinery, Arcan, Betaform, Biscuit Pro, CONFECTRA, COSKUN, Dito Group, HASKAN, HDR Gida, Kadzama, Keskin, sacumi, SAM Makina, TOMER, Yilmaz Kimya, Ygmak.

Annually, at Modern Bakery | Confex trade fair the latest innovations in equipment and ingredients for the production of bakery and confectionery products are presented, which is noted by visitors of the exhibition:

"This is an annual holiday for every baker in the country" (Dmitry Semenov, President of the Russian Bakers Union)

"What is necessary for producers is here" (Andrey Sushchenko, General Director of the Bread Manufactory (Smolensk Bakery)

"We have found equipment here for our future projects" (President of the Milimon Family Restaurant Association, owner of the Beloturka bakery)

The exhibition was attended by 14,815 industry specialists from 29 countries, 8 federal districts and 87 regions of the Russian Federation. Among the visitors were also heads and representatives of trade missions of the foreign countries: India, Malaysia, Republic of Ghana, Republic of Tunisia, Turkey.

Business diversification and competition for customer: key industry trends within the business program

International business forum for owners and top managers of confectionery enterprises "Confex. Confectionery Expertise" continues its development: in 2024, 483 industry specialists attended the 2 days' event. More than 30 speakers from well-known companies shared the modern trends in confectionery production: Evgeny Leibovich, Confectionery Plant "Sladonezh"; Sergey Coffeepot, FitnesSHOCK; Evgenia Potekina, Group of companies "EFKO"; Tamara Dyuzhina, LLC "United Confectioners"; Elena Izgorodina, Confectionery Plant "Sorceress"; Oksana Pobedennaya, Confectionery Plant "ESSEN"; Alexandra Gordeeva, NielsenIQ, and others.

The speakers highlighted the main trends in the confectionery market, and also discussed the issues of confectionery packaging, assortment development and effective marketing, building mutually beneficial cooperation with offline and online retail, as well as supplying confectionery with ingredients and raw materials.

As part of the public talk "Business of bakeries and pastry shops", experts discussed effective methods of popularizing bread, successful business cases, as well as trends and strategies for increasing profit. 

Within the training course "School for Modern Baker & Confectioner "Use of ingredients and confectionery products" 73 graduates received state-issued diplomas and certificates of course completion. The 3 days program covered the issues of standardization, regulation, the use of additives, safety, labeling of the composition, as well as improving the quality of bread and confectionery. 

Within the solemn award ceremony of the XV All-Russian contest "The best bread of Russia", 174 samples of bread and bakery products received awards. 37 enterprises from 23 regions of Russia took part in the contest. 

In total, 36 business events were held within the trade fair for specialists in the bakery and confectionery industries: 

• Symposium “Bread is the basis of a healthy diet” (Organizers – the International Industrial Academy, the Russian Bakers Union, with support Federal research center for nutrition, biotechnology and food safety)

• Symposium “PRO BREAD” (Organizer – Research Institute of the Bakery Industry)

• Conference “Personnel Management in food production: HR evolution”

• Business Club “Best regional practices of Russian national bakery” (Organizer – St. Petersburg Institute of Management and Food Technology)

• Briefing of the Russian Union of Bakers and Signing of a cooperation agreement between the Business Center for Economic Development of the CIS and the Russian Union of Bakers (Organizer – the Russian Union of Bakers)

• Presentation of the second edition of the textbook (Organizers – the Russian Union of Bakers and the International Industrial Academy)

• Scientific and practical conference “Modern approaches to the development and safety of confectionery products. Justification of expiration dates” (Organizer – All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Confectionery Industry of RAS)

• The conference “Modern trends in the creation of enriched, functional and specialized confectionery and chocolate” (Organizer – BIOTECH University) and others.

Representatives of the State Duma, the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, and the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation visited the trade fair and business program events.

New section of the trade fair – all for ready-to-eat food and semi-finished products

One of the latest trends in the industry: leaders in the confectionery and bakery markets are developing new segments and entering the market of frozen semi–finished products and ready-to-eat food. 

In 2024, visitors of Modern Bakery | Confex trade fair were also able to get acquainted with the latest innovations in equipment and ingredients for the production of ready-to-eat food and semi-finished products as part of the new section – the GOTOVO exhibition. The exposition presented equipment for meat processing, vegetables and fruit processing, equipment for working with dough and semi-finished products, packaging solutions. 

The main trends in the markets of ready-to-eat food and semi-finished products, as well as issues of designing a modern commercial kitchen, were discussed by speakers and participants of the first conference for producers of ready-to-eat food and semi-finished products GOTOVO. The speakers of the leading companies for the production of ready-to-eat food and semi-finished products shared their experience and successful cases: Yandex Lavka, X5 Food, Neftmagistral, Sibirskaya collection, Group of companies "Shokoladnitsa", Uppetit, and others. 

Experts of the RBC analytical group provided up-to-date statistical information on the delivery and food manufacturing which gives a clear idea of the modern consumer and their preferences: "With the introduction of even a minimum paid delivery, 30-40% of Russians think about abandoning the service, or seek to reduce the frequency of using the service." 

306 industry experts attended 3 expert sessions. Among the visitors are retail chains Commandor, Auchan, Magnit, x5 Group, Perekrestok, Lenta, Azbuka Vkusa, OZON, Yandex Lavka, Cherkizovo.

Bread promoting – first exhibition flashmob for professionals and bread connoisseurs “I ❤️ Bread”

Over the past few years, the issue of bread popularization has been acute in the baking industry. Thinking about their diet, many consumers stop eating bread or give their preference to gluten-free analogues; myths about bread consumption appear.

The organizers of Modern Bakery Moscow | Confex support the initiative to promote bread: the first flashmob for professionals and bread connoisseurs "I ❤️ BREAD" took place within the 2024 exhibition. Visitors and professionals of the baking industry talked about their love for bread, shared expert opinions about the benefits of bread and debunked the main myths.

Master Classes of top bakery and pastry chefs

The visitors were particularly interested in the practical part of the trade fair – master classes. In 4 days, top bakery and pastry chefs conducted 20 master classes for 2102 students. The master classes were devoted to working with chocolate and candies, creating conceptual desserts, non-standard combinations and technically complex anti-gravity cakes, new technologies for working with yeast, puff pastry, Hokkaido dough, Easter holiday baking, trends in baking and confectionery, modern trends in decoration, optimization of cost of products and other relevant issues.

The trade fair was supported by 

The State Duma of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation, the Government of Moscow. 

The exhibition is supported by: The Russian Bakers Union, National Bread Bakers Union, Food Ingredients Producers Union, industry insitutes – Research Institute of the Bakery Industry, International Industrial Academy, All-Russian Research Institute of Confectionery Industry of RAS, leading universities of the food industry: St. Petersburg Institute of Management and Food Technology, BIOTECH University, Plekhanov Russian University of Economics.