Bakery snacks saw a relatively flat year per IRI, Chicago, with 0.16 percent growth to $3.4 billion. Grupo Bimbo far outperformed the category average, though, with growth of 14.48 percent to $249.4 million.

So much of this industry is about creating meaningful connections. Successful products that generate long-lasting repeat purchase patters resonate with their consumers.

Over the past century, John B. Sanfilippo & Son, the 2019 'Snack Producer of the Year,' has grown into one of the world's top nut companies, and a strong culture of growth and innovation continues today.

For Bud Keith, health and wellness was a way of life. He was, after all, a nutritionist, but his passion went well beyond a degree. In the 1960s, he established a juice bar and gym in Mission Beach, an iconic ocean-side neighborhood in San Diego.

The snack and bakery industry is filled with wonderful stories. Writing about the origins, growth and scope of the amazing companies that grace our covers is absolutely one of the best aspects of my job.

Over the last 30-plus years since establishing Lehi Valley, the family has significantly expanded the different types of snacks offered, primarily working with retailers across the U.S. on their private label lines of caramel corn and popcorn, puffed corn snacks, snack mixes, nuts, granola, and more. Freeman and his wife, Trecia, purchased the business outright in 2000, and have steadily expanded the company’s manufacturing footprint ever since.

Two areas of frozen bakery products that have seen strong traction over the past year are frozen breakfast items like waffles and frozen pizza, with trends like clean label, premium offerings and health-conscious considerations factoring into growth.

Joel Clark, founder of Baker Mills and the Kodiak Cakes brand, got his start in the food business when he was just 8 years old, pulling a wagon around his Salt Lake City neighborhood selling whole-grain pancake mix in paper bags door-to-door. His mom ground the wheat. It was his grandfather's recipe.

In 2015, we launched the "Best New Snack & Bakery Products" of the year contest to honor outstanding new snack and bakery products entering the industry, with the online Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery audience voting for their favorites. Since then, we've noticed that the winners often reflect that year's current prevailing consumer sensibilities.