As part of the Heritage Bank Toowoomba Royal Show the King of Bakers Bread Show has more than 50 years of history and is known as the chosen baking competition to enter in southeast Queensland. On 23 February 2024 from 9am to 4pm more than 500 entries across 45 categories were judged for the 2024 King of Bakers Bread Show.
This year’s competition sections were comprised of 45 classes of bread, cakes, commercial goods, pastry, feature products, and apprentice classes. Product classes included 1800g White Married, 450g White Tank, 70g Hot Cross Buns, Savoury Hospitality Bread, Ciabatta, Single Sponge, Apple Pie, Vanilla Slice, Mudcake, Cupcakes, Swiss Roll, Novelty Cake, and four apprentice classes.
Major awards included the 2024 King of Bakers Bread Show include the King of Bakers Championship, Most Successful Cake Exhibitor (sponsored by All About Bakery Equipment), Most Successful Bread Exhibitor (sponsored by Australian Bakels), Most Successful 1st and 2nd Year Apprentice (sponsored by Woolworths Supermarkets), Most Successful 3rd and 4th Year Apprentice (sponsored by Woolworths Supermarkets), Best Speciality Bread (sponsored by Kialla Pure Foods), Champion Loaf (sponsored by Lesaffre Australia), Commercial Bread (sponsored by Mauri), Toowoomba Cup (sponsored by Moffat Bakery Equipment), Best Pastry Exhibit (Sponsored by EOI Peerless Foods) and Feature Product of the Show (sponsored by TRS Refrigeration and Catering Equipment). Regional awards included the Regional Shield (sponsored by Allied Pinnacle), Regional Bread Award (sponsored by NBIA), and the Regional Cake Award (sponsored by Manildra Group).
The judging criteria varies for each class taking into consideration the following aspect that are relevant to the product, volume and appearance, texture and structure, aroma, colour, taste, internal appearance, filling, stability, originality, and technical difficulty. Each criterion is given a value with a total possible of 100 points.
Chief Judge Mark Dennien said, “Once again the King of Bakers Bread Show has proved to be the largest bread show in Australia. The overall quality of entries was very good, with narrow margins between top place getters, providing a challenge to all the judges who took part. I would like to thank the judges, sponsors and entrants who make these events possible”.
The presentation dinner began at 5.30pm with approximately 90 attendees from various local bakeries, sponsors, and competitors from around southeast Queensland. A delicious two course meal was served as the presentation for 45 classes and 14 major awards were presented.
NBIA General Manager, Dean Musgrave said, “It’s great to see a big crowd of bakers all celebrating baking at the 2024 King of Bakers Bread Show. The products where all high quality and a tribute to the skill that is out there in the industry. Many thanks to all entrants and the event sponsors without your participation we competitions like this aren’t possible”.
Listed below are the major award and regional winners in the 2024 King of Bakers Bread Show and the full results can be downloaded here.
| AWARD | WINNER |
| King of the Bakers Championship | Antony’s Bakery |
| Most Successful Cake Exhibitor | Antony’s Bakery & Brumby’s Bakery Wyalla Plaza |
| Most Successful Bread Exhibitor | Coles Park Ridge |
| Most Successful 1st & 2nd Year Apprentice | Sarah Lindenmayer (Antony’s Bakery) |
| Most Successful 3rd & 4th Year Apprentice | Jeremy Oloffson (Theo’s Bakery) |
| Best Speciality Bread | Brumby’s Westridge |
| Champion Loaf | Coles Park Ridge |
| Commercial Bread | Antony’s Bakery |
| Toowoomba Cup | Coles Park Ridge |
| Feature Product of the Show | Foxy’s Bakery |
| Regional Shield | Antony’s Bakery |
| Regional Bread Award | Antony’s Bakery |
| Regional Cake Award | Antony’s Bakery & Brumby’s Bakery Wyalla Plaza |
On behalf of all who competed in the 2024 King of Bakers Bread Show we would like to thank Damon Phillips (Royal Agricultural Society of Queensland) who did a tremendous job of organising the entire event and collating the results. Thank you to Chris Hurford (Baking Industry Training Australia), Stuart Evans (Allied Pinnacle), Mark Dennien (Lallemand), David Oldham (MOI International), Mel Maquis (Baking Industry Training Australia), Dean Musgrave (National Baking Industry Association), Holly Fennell (Woolworths), Neil Johnson (MAURI Australia) for giving their time and expertise in judging and pencilling the competition.
A big thank you also goes out to Allied Pinnacle, Australian Bakels, National Baking Industry Association, TRS Refrigeration & Catering Equipment, Woolworths Supermarkets Queensland, Mr Rod Stirling AM, All About Bakery Equipment, Mauri, Lesaffre Australia Pacific, Cec Willersdorf Family, Moffat Bakery Equipment, Manildra Group, Kialla Pure Foods, MOI International, EOI Peerless Foods, and Brumby’s Wyalla Plaza for sponsoring the 2024 King of Bakers Bread Show.
