Baking & Snack - November 2019 - 28

NERI'S BAKERY PRODUCTS

"As a copacker,
people are
constantly
pitching us
ideas, and if
it's within our
capabilities,
we'll do our
best to meet
their ideas."
Anthony M. Neri, Neri's
Bakery Products

From left: Anthony Frank
Neri, plant manager;
Salvatore Neri Jr., manager of the sweet goods
department; Brett Neri,
HR, and Anthony M. Neri,
GM, are part of the fourth
generation of family
members now managing
Neri's Bakery Products.

ovens at a volume of 3,400 doz an hour. In any given week,
that adds up to more than 1.1 million bagels. Sandwiched
in the middle is the newest production line that cranks out
1,800 doz hamburger and hot dog buns an hour.
Despite being landlocked by city streets on four sides,
Neri's has found room to grow. Next year, it's expanding its pastry department that will turn out 320 individually wrapped cookies per minute and a cinnamon bun line
making 12,000 pieces an hour.

Fresh take on old school
The world may have changed since the company was
founded by Paul Neri Sr. in 1910, but the bakery's original recipes and traditions for creating its culinary confections and signature breads, rolls, and bagels have not. "Our
pastry division handcrafts the masterpieces using the best
ingredients, benchmarking our standard of excellence,"
Anthony M. Neri said. "For decades our tasty inventions
have been a part of Port Chester's' parties and gatherings."
However, the highly automated wholesale operation
prefers working in the background as a leading co-manufacturer for the commercial baking industry. Neri's also
supplies restaurants, delis, schools and other foodservice
institutions throughout the Northeast and beyond.
During the past three decades, Neri's Bakery has blossomed under the veteran, third-generation leadership of
brothers Dominick Neri, and Paul Neri, vice-president. To
build the bakery to what it is today, they've worked closely
with their cousin Bob Neri, vice-president of sales, and
brothers Sondro Neri, who oversees the bagel department,
and Salvatore Neri Sr., who manages the pastry department.
With all of them in their 50s and 60s, the fourth genera-

28 Baking & Snack November 2019 / www.bakingandsnack.com

tion of Neri family members - ranging in age from 22 to
35 - now manages the bakery's daily operations. Along
with Anthony M. Neri and Brett Neri-Ferraro, they include
Anthony Frank Neri, plant manager and son of Paul Neri,
and Salvatore Neri, Jr., who works with his father coordinating production in the pastry department.
For both generations, the focus is now about ensuring
the "success" in succession for the foreseeable future, and
it's quite a group effort. "Our fathers are involved, but they
are old school," Anthony M. Neri noted. "Let's face it. They
have an abundance of experience. At the end of the day,
why wouldn't you sit down and have a conversation with
somebody who has been doing it longer and knows more
about the bakery than you do? When the whole team puts
our heads together, we can move mountains."
The bakery's long-term growth can be attributed to the
family's perennial reinvestment into upgrading all aspects
of the business, ranging from customer service and product
quality to employee training, food safety and, of course, the
latest in automation. That commitment is so ingrained that
it's become a strategic part of the company's mission statement that's paid back so well over the years.
"There's no 'We only have $2 million to spend this year,' "
Ms. Neri-Ferraro explained. "We are constantly reinvesting.
If something costs $2 million, but spending $3 million will
be better in the long run, we're spending $3 million. There
are no short cuts."
Such investments include paying a little more for quality ingredients such as fresh eggs, butter and milk that are
integral to the bakery's made-from-scratch product quality.
For customer service, Neri's still maintains an open-line
policy. No voicemail jail, even after hours. All orders come

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Baking & Snack - November 2019

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