One global trend that’s steadily surging in popularity involves the rebirth of sourdough in bread products. Bakers around the world realize they can create their own twists on the full-bodied flavor profiles, influenced by their region’s climate and myriad other factors, said Nico Roesler, managing editor, in the February issue of Baking & Snack magazine. In fact, sourdough is breaking through misconceptions about what it actually is.

One misguided notion is that the bread must taste sour, but variables like location, time, temperature, humidity, water quality and technique of the specific baker determine flavor and texture.

“Sour notes are not a necessity, and the world is taking notice,” Mr. Roesler reported.

North America and Europe account for more than 50% of total global sourdough sales, according to the 2018 “Global Sourdough Market” Mordor Intelligence report.

“However, the market is expected to grow immensely in other regions, such as Eastern Europe and Asia-Pacific countries such as China, Singapore, Malaysia and India,” the report stated.

Such increased awareness in sourdough and the much broader artisan and specialty bread markets have prompted the International Baking Industry Exposition (IBIE) to unveil two Artisan Marketplaces presented by Bread Bakers Guild of America and Puratos. Specifically, IBIE wants to give craft bakers a place to enhance their skills, improve their operations and create a destination for bakers of all sizes to learn how to either scale up to larger, wholesale operations or simply perfect their processes.

Curated competitions, tastes, staged demonstrations from celebrity chefs and Certified Master Bakers, exhibitor demonstrations and more will bring this global trend to the IBIE floor, which runs Sept. 7-11 in Las Vegas. That’s sweet news for sourdough fans.