While being present as guest of honor at GastroPan 2011 trade fair Romania, Peter Becker, the president of the International Union of Bakers (UIB) - an organization uniting the bakery industry associations in 35 countries across the globe, gave an interview in which he spoke about the world wide problems in the bakery industry and also about the great opportunities that specialized trade fairs can give to producers and suppliers. Find out Peter Becker’s opinion about GastroPan exhibition.

As a specialist with a comprehensive vision of the global bakery industry, how can you generally describe the current situation in the field, internationally?

I think that on the one hand we are lucky because the bread is a vital, healthy and very cheap product. On the other hand, we have problems due to increased demand for flour and grain, which led to massive price increases. Under these conditions, especially in the poor countries, it will become very difficult for bakeries to make quality bread at a price that covers production costs.

Do you think that prices will continue to grow?

I think we must admit that there will be price increases in the whole food industry, especially for bread, because we have different problems. We have changes in agriculture, given that many farmers switching their wheat crops from bread grain to bio-fuel grain. As a result, we have problems with the stocks. We have a growing demand for grains and this is a problem that will lead to price increases in general.

What is your opinion, after visiting GastroPan exhibition, about Romania's efforts to develop its bakery industry?

I am very surprised by the success of this exhibition. I’ve been to Romania six years ago, in Bucharest, and there was no dedicated specialized exhibition organized at that time. Of course, I can not compare this event with the IBA exhibition, which we organize in Germany and is the most important bakery trade fair in the world. But comparing this event with other international exhibitions in Eastern Europe, South America or even Asia, I think you are a good way. The fact that this fair has grown from year to year, from 50 to 90 exhibitors, shows an appetite for investments that will help in the development of the bakery sector in Romania.