The International Dairy-Deli-Bakery Association (IDDBA), Madison, Wis., has chosen three contestants to participate in the 18th annual IDDBA Cake Decorating Challenge, to be held at IDDBA’s Dairy-Deli-Bake 2013 seminar and expo in Orlando, Fla., June 2-4. Sixty-eight entrants from 31 supermarket chains entered the competition.

The decorators receiving an all-expense paid trip to compete are Kelli Coleman, Dillons, Lawrence, Kan.; Dawnette Costa, Giant Eagle, Erie, Pa.: and Rebecca Lougheed, Food City, Greeneville, Tenn.

On Sunday, June 2, each contestant will decorate enough cakes to fill one multi-tiered, 8-ft. bakery case. On Monday, June 3, each contestant will decorate a wedding cake. On Tuesday, June 4, the trio will compete in a special “Decorator’s Choice” event.

The judges for the event will are Luke Bender, manager of technical service, Maplehurst Bakeries, LLC, Brownsburg, Ind., and Jim Caliendo, dessert training specialist, Rich Products Corp., Buffalo, N.Y.

“I’m surprised that there are only a few cake-oriented TV food shows out there,” says IDDBA executive director Carol Christison. “It’s not for lack of talent. The number of contestants and incredible skills displayed by entrants in the IDDBA’s Annual Cake Decorating Challenge shows there are enough talented decorators for many more shows.

“While many of these decorators have had professional culinary training, many of them are self-taught and have learned their skills on the job. They know what will work, how to work under pressure, and, most importantly, how to wow the customer.

“Supermarket cake decorators have to be multi-talented. They need to work at a fast pace to create production cakes and they need to work at their creative peak for custom theme cakes and spectacular wedding cakes. The entrants in this year’s contest meet those demands and demonstrate exceptional performance on all levels. They’ve met the challenge!”

For more information, contact IDDBA at 608-310-5000 or visit www.iddba.org.