Anyone who has attended Independent Bakers Association meetings over the years knows John Popp, president and chief executive officer, Perfection Bakeries, which operates as Aunt Millie’s Bakeries, Fort Wayne, Ind.

Mr. Popp has been active in the IBA for years and represents the quintessential independent bakery. Never shy to voice his opinion during meetings and in front of elected congressmen who were invited to IBA confabs, Mr. Popp in 2001 worked with the organization to extend an overlooked Environmental Protection Agency order covering mixer bowl coolants. His action saved millions of dollars in potential fines and replacement costs for independent bakeries throughout the country, the American Society of Baking said.

Mr. Popp is also a champion of education, and he encourages his team at Aunt Millie’s to participate in continuing education opportunities and provides R&D internship opportunities to Kansas State University students.

Mr. Popp is one of five industry leaders who will be inducted into ASB’s Baking Hall of Fame. August and Albert Junge, Tatsuo Oshikiri, Mr. Popp and Harry Toufayan will be honored during BakingTECH 2021, a virtual conference set for Feb. 16-18, 2021.

“For 2021, the Baking Hall of Fame committee selected leaders in regional baking, ethnic goods and specialty technology,” said Rowdy Brixey, chair of the ASB Baking Hall of Fame Evaluation Committee and president of Brixey Engineering, Inc. “It is our honor, especially in these difficult times, to again recognize such efforts.”

For Aunt Millie’s Bakeries and all the hard-working independent and family-owned wholesale baking companies throughout the nation, Mr. Popp’s induction to the Baking Hall of Fame is well deserved.