When Jesse Amoroso and Morgan Murphy look at the baking industry, it’s from a different perspective than their well-known fathers. No, it’s not a generation gap. Rather, it’s because they grew up in a different era, one in which the industry has fundamentally changed.

“Forty years ago, food companies drove the trends in consumer packaged goods,” said Mr. Murphy, assistant vice-president, Mother Murphy’s. “Now it’s a reactive market.”

Social media, he added, are driving a number of microtrends that provide opportunities for new product and better margins. But they also disperse misinformation about health, nutrition and food safety that tarnishes the industry’s good name. Mr. Amoroso, vice-president, Amoroso’s Baking, noted the Italian bread market has significantly changed; national and even international players now rely on more cost-efficient methods of distribution of frozen products to compete in regional bakeries’ backyards.

Sharing perspectives and gaining fresh insights on the industry are just two benefits that the American Bakers Association’s Executive Leadership Development Committee (E.L.D.C.) brings to the table. As the committee’s co-chairs, Mr. Morgan and Mr. Amoroso invite their peers to join them at the E.L.D.C. public policy forum, Sept. 17-19, in Washington.

The hotel deadline is Aug. 26. Check out www.bakingbusiness.com for more thoughts from the E.L.D.C. co-chairs in the coming week.