Since Sliced Bread

Running a bakery during a pandemic comes with a lot of extra challenges from rearranging production to keeping employees safe. In this episode, Jeff Dearduff, president and CEO of Gold Standard Baking, shared how increased demand at the supermarket and evaporating foodservice business changed Gold Standard’s operations. He also discusses how the company helped workers adapt by forming a COVID-19 emergency team.

The COVID-19 pandemic upended life around the world in ways no one could have predicted. Since mid-March, the US has seen panic buying at the supermarket, stay-at-home orders, school closings and more measures all aimed at hindering the spread of COVID-19. And those measures had implications for food purchases and the commercial baking industry. In this episode, Jonna Parker, principal, fresh center of excellence for IRI, and Tim Grzebinski, client insights principal, IRI, shared how consumer buying habits changed in those early days of the pandemic. We hear what bakery categories thrived and what categories didn’t.

The new normal is here, but what does that mean for the baking industry? In season three of Baking & Snack’s podcast Since Sliced Bread, Senior Editor Charlotte Atchley will look at how the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the sector and how commercial bakers are responding to the demands brought on by the virus.

It is no secret that the COVID-19 pandemic has completely changed the way consumers buy food and how food companies do business. In light of these significant changes, Since Sliced Bread closes its second season by checking in on some of the featured companies.

Sadie Scheffer started baking gluten-free bread to impress a crush who would become her husband. It worked, and it impressed a lot more people, too. With her gluten-free sourdough, Ms. Scheffer was able to start a small wholesale bakery, Bread SRSLY, Berkeley, Calif. In the past eight years, the bakery has managed its own production, outsourced to a co-manufacturer and brought production back in-house. But its commitment to gluten-free, sourdough has remained consistent. 

After developing a proprietary technology for turning spent brewing grains into a food-safe flour called SuperGrain+, Daniel Kurzrock and Jordan Schwartz founded ReGrained. The company uses the flour in its line of branded snacks that includes nutrition bars and puffs. In this episode of Since Sliced Bread, Mr. Kurzrock shares the challenges they’ve faced not just creating ReGrained but also developing a supply chain that aims to close a food waste loop.

Founder and Owner Greg Acerra’s culinary background has informed how he has built Fireking Baking Co. over the years. Many of the bakery’s customers are restaurants like his own. In this episode of Since Sliced Bread, Mr. Acerra details how premium ingredients can pay off and how he worked around his own knowledge gaps to overcome the challenges of a growing bakery.

Stacy Madison’s, founder of Stacy’s Pita Chips and BeBOLD, shares the challenges that come with creating new products that defy expectations and the importance of staying connected with consumers.

Rubicon Bakers was started as a non-profit in 1993 by Rubicon Programs as a job training program for the Bay area’s homeless population, those recovering from addiction and the formerly incarcerated. Ten years ago Andrew Stoloff and Leslie Crary, a restaurant-owner and lawyer, respectively, purchased the bakery and turned it into a profitable business without losing the original mission.

Brazi Bites founder and CMO Junea Rocha explains how exposure and timing helped bring the brand to the national stage. She shares how Brazi Bites cleared hurdles to become a successful business in the competitive snack industry.