Robert Bingham, assistant bakery manager, bakes French bread.

Ten years ago, Forest Hills Foods, Grand Rapids, Mich., was among several of the nation's better-managed independent in-store bakery operations located in the western half of lower Michigan. Committed to on-premise production, the stores' owners invested capital in equipment, ingredients and employees to ensure that customers could buy the fresh, high-quality bakery foods they wanted.

Consider donuts. Michigan is good donut country. Woe to the in-store operator back then that failed to fry and finish long Johns, Bismarcks and apple fritters, as well as cake donuts. It may as well have shut down.

Fast-forward to the present. Michigan consumers still like fresh donuts. But, Forest Hills stands alone in metropolitan Grand Rapids as the sole in-store operator frying donuts. In fact, the single-store operator is one of the few independent supermarkets still in business in western Michigan.

Regional chains have gobbled up most independents in the region, and in doing so, most have ditched their donut fryers and forsaken broad-spectrum fresh-from-the-oven production. In Grand Rapids, their loss has proven to be Forest Hills' gain.

Donuts, mixed and fried in-store, are a key draw for customers.

Not only have Forest Hills' donut sales held up, but they continue to grow, as does total bakery volume, no mean feat given the depressed state of Michigan's economy. Further, bakery customer counts are mounting, and average per customer in-store purchases are increasing.

Same high standards

Forest Hills' bakery is not doing business much differently than it did 10 years ago, according to Jeff VandenBerge, president and third-generation owner. “Not everybody can say that,” he says. “We've seen a general decline in what supermarkets in our area are offering consumers. And, we've been pretty successful in what we've done during the last 10 years.

“Of course, we continue to try to make improvements. But, our people can point with pride to the fact that we still do things to the same high standards as in the past. We haven't cheapened what we offer.”

The supermarket's roots were in the meat department. VandenBerge's father added deli and bakery during a store remodel in the mid 1970s, when the nationwide surge to install bakeries began in earnest. As with other supermarkets, Forest Hills subsequently added seafood, floral, pharmacy and other departments.

“We look at our business as a whole rather than as different pieces,” VandenBerge observes, “that is, what our store offers our customers, not merely what, for example, bakery, deli or meat offers. Each is important to the total package.”

Each day the bakery offers about 250 different products from its list of some 400 items. Donuts, bread and roll items, and upscale dessert and custom-decorated cakes each comprise more than one-third of total bakery sales with cookies, brownies, sweet dough items, Danish, and puff and other pastries accounting for the remainder.

Donuts are the number-one selling product. Jason Bajema, bakery director, does not hesitate when asked why: “No other supermarket in Grand Rapids is frying donuts, and we have made sure we provide the best possible quality. Continuing to fry donuts is important to maintain our bakery's standards for high quality product.”

Hot baking advantages

Jason Bajema, bakery manager, and Robin Bont, bakery merchandiser, plan displays for effective customer flow, such as providing ample shopping space for the donut case located behind them.

Three bakers handle all baking and frying duties with staggered shifts, beginning at 8 p.m. and concluding at 6 a.m. During the day, three full-time cake decorators finish custom-decorated and all-occasion decorated cakes. A fourth decorator is responsible for dessert cakes and tortes.

Fresh baking has enabled the bakery to offer products that competing in-stores cannot touch, either because they have backed away from on-premise production or manufacturers do not make the items, Bajema says.

Scratch-made cookies provide great opportunities to separate the Forest Hills bakery from other in-stores, he continues. For example, an island cookie display includes four varieties of 2-oz. oval-shaped cookies, measuring 3 ins. by 2 ins. Varieties include fruit bar, honey walnut, ice box and pecan finger, the best-selling flavor. A six-count pack retails for $2.29.

“I cannot believe how popular our scratch-made cookies are,” Bajema says. “One guy comes in every day to buy three packages. We offer high quality cookies that other bakeries don't sell.”

Having scratch production capability also enables the bakery to offer uncommon items, further distinguishing it from competitors' in-stores. One example is salt rising bread, which the bakers prepare daily for a small, yet loyal, cadre of older customers.

Each evening, a baker prepares a salt rising yeast starter, using commercial salt rising yeast, for the next evening's production. After fermenting 24 hours, the starter releases the breath-taking pungent, yeasty aroma associated with traditional scratch salt rising starters. Yet, baking purges the aroma, yielding a tasty white bread, which customers frequently toast.