Buddy Valastro Jr. puts the pieces of innovation together

This year’s International Dairy Deli Bakery Association (IDDBA) convention brought to life at least one hundred new ideas for retailers to take home and deploy in their stores. BakeMark, for example, demonstrated a wide range of hybrid ideas including doffles (donut waffles) glazed donuts, fudge filled donuts on ice cream, and trifle in a cup, featuring new crème flavored fillings and new complete cake mixes from BakeMark.

The newest creations from Buddy Valastro Jr. of Carlo’s Bake Shop, based in Hoboken, NJ, are Buddy’s DIY Cakes. These Do-It-Yourself (DIY) cake kits feature a 5-inch iced cake with all the fondant needed to create your own masterpiece. Just follow Buddy’s linked tutorial and “become your own boss!”

Buddy’s DIY Cakes “take it to the next level,” Valastro says. “There is going to be a lot of repeat business. This is the future. People want to post online about what they do in the kitchen.”

A keynote speaker at IDDBA 2024 in Houston, Valastro is a fourth-generation baker born into the business owned & operated by his parents. Countless hours were spent in the bakery where his father, Buddy Sr., a master baker, taught Buddy everything about baking and running a business. They dreamed that together, they would make Carlo’s Bakery a household name.

“I’m an innovator, and I want to innovate for the industry,” Valastro said during his IDDBA presentation. “Single serve is the future. That’s what people want – innovative and creative flavors.”

In his 100,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art facility, Buddy and his staff whip up thousands of wedding cakes, specialty cakes and delicious Italian pastries. His award-winning designs have been featured in countless bridal and baking magazines.

The Cake Boss' most colorful creation is Buddy’s famous Rainbow Cake, which is six layers stacked high of delicious rainbow-colored vanilla cake sandwiched between and covered in a silky sweet vanilla buttercream icing and coated in rainbow sprinkles. “This colorful cake creation is six layers of happiness wrapped in a sweet vanilla buttercream frosting and then engulfed in rainbow sprinkles.”

As for additional trends for the future, Valastro points to innovations that are “very experiential and outside the box. You can be innovative in your flavor profile but where’s the razzle dazzle? I feel like a dot connector. I put things together.”