Specialty Wholesale Baking
Grimaldi's adapts for its second century of success
In the early 1960s, Ridgewood, in the borough of Queens, N.Y., had nearly 50 bakeries. Today, only four bakeries are operating. In 2009, family-owned...
Home is where the hearth oven is
Most people do not like to take their work home with them. Steve Nelson, a baker in St. Joseph, Minn., is not one of those people. After two years of...
Desserts key to in-store sales
As a key component to supermarket in-store bakery sales, the dessert category continued to grow nationally during the 52-week period ending July 26, 2008....
Part IV: Ingredient prices challenge profitability
The rapid, steep increase in ingredient and fuel costs has forever changed the accounting landscape for bakeries. To keep up with the increased costs...
Whole grains strike a chord with customers
Whole grains remain among the leading bakery product trends, but sales growth has slowed. Promoting whole grains has revived consumer awareness of the healthful side of baking and encouraged other health-oriented niches, such as gluten-free and all-natural/organic, to gain momentum....
How Berkshire Mountain Bakery manages growth
Bigger wasn’t better for this Housatonic, Mass. specialty wholesale bakery. Owner Richard Bourdon reorganized his staff and revised his production schedule; today, with more than $1 million in sales, the bakery is profitable....
Extreme variety pays dividends, spurs growth
While the baking industry as a whole is grappling with tough economic times, Pane d’Amore has increased sales 30 percent this year, and is earning five times more than projected after five consecutive years of growth....
Part III: Manage Retail Prices For True Profit
While retail bakers increased prices this year to counter skyrocketing commodities costs, did they raise them enough? Bakery owner Karl Schmitt shares his methods for answering this question and scrutinizing bakery profit and loss reports (P&Ls) in this challenging economy....
Steve Barnhart generation next
In 2007, Steve Barnhart became the nation’s youngest CMB, and he hasn’t stopped there. As the R&D specialist at Highland Baking Co., Northbrook, Ill. he is surprising and impressing some of baking’s elder statesmen....
Part II: Adjust your bakery business
Bakery operators only raise prices when they have to. Most bakers, from the smallest retailer to the largest wholesaler, have had to more often and by...
2008 Leadership Awards
On occasion, bakers of fresh product need to reflect on what is right about their trade. This year, the need to focus on the positive is even greater...
Simply Bread: where old & new mesh
This bakery’s growth is fueled by retaining traditional artisan techniques while relying on new technology....
Olive bread delivers mass appeal
Bread has been a staple in the human diet for at least 6,000 years. Archaeological digs suggest it may have been consumed for at least 10,000 years. Olives...
Carlos Bakery pushes the envelope
When Bartolo (Buddy) Valastro Jr. began working in the cake decorating department of his familys bakery in Hoboken, N.J., he was simply filling in where...
Baker Street shifts focus
Tom Ivory is the first to admit that it has been somewhat of a roller coaster ride for Baker Street Bread Co. It has gone from a $1 million retail operation...
