Baking&Snack - February 2014 - 54

MILE HI BAKERY

On a yearly basis, more than 28 million doz buns will
flow out of Mile Hi Bakery, managed by (from left)
Gabriel Holt, lead supervisor; Marc McCarty, production superintendent; Bryan Sanchez, bakery director;
David Bauman, general manager; Paul Chan, bakery
director; and Alan Kildahl, director of engineering,

Sustainable
by Design
Equipped with 'next generation' technology, Mile Hi
moves bun production into its 'next generation' plant
and seeks LEED Gold certification as well.

by Laurie Gorton
"Ours is the newest bun bakery in the quick-servicerestaurant (QSR) supply chain system," said Tony
Taddonio, CEO, Mile Hi Foods, Denver. For its new
128,000-sq-ft facility, Mile Hi Bakery deliberately sought
the next level of speed and capacity to bring output to
5,400 doz per hour.
But the new plant team and bakery managers had
additional objectives. "We're actually more than just
faster; we're more flexible," said Bakery Director Bryan
Sanchez. "And we're more sustainable in terms of plant
and people."
Among the "next generation" technologies employed
at the new bakery are a batching system that's flexible but
not complicated, a divider that can handle doughs from
soft to stiff, a topping/splitting system that maximizes
variety options and packaging methods to accommodate needs ranging from "dozen" bags to 30-count bulk
packs. "We built in the capacity to serve markets beyond
the QSR field we now supply," Mr. Taddonio said. "This
is very much the model for European bun bakeries."

Taking the LEED
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
(LEED) Gold certification is a primary objective for the

54 Baking & Snack February 2014 / www.bakingandsnack.com

new bakery, which it is well on its way to achieving. The
project team planned to make the facility among the
first bakeries in the US to earn this status.
Rather than chemically seal the production hall's
concrete floor, Mile Hi opted to polish it instead. It retained the original floor of the building, except for adding drains and footings for the heavier equipment. "The
concrete was polished smooth with a diamond-tipped
head and is easy to clean with simple washing solutions,"
Mr. Sanchez explained.
Energy and water savings figured into other renovation strategies. Mile Hi removed the river rock that anchored the roof and used it for landscaping. The new
roof, a TPO R30-rated white membrane, reflects light
and heat, keeping the bakery cooler and cutting the "urban heat island" effect of older styles. Low-water-flush
fixtures enable water conservation. And the Newsmith
Dual-Lane tray washer not only uses cold water only, but
it also recycles half its wash water to further conserve
resources.
"We don't have a boiler in this bakery," Mr. Taddonio
observed, "because heat recovery is part of our management approach." Excess heat from the ammonia compressors is channeled into the freezer floor to maintain

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