Baking & Snack - March 2020 - 14

Gonnella Baking transitions
to frozen baked foods
Gonnella Baking Co., Schaumburg, IL, a baker of Italian- and
French-style bread, is shifting its focus toward its rapidly growing
frozen baked bread business.
To accommodate the transition, Gonnella said it will no longer distribute "fresh bread" to restaurants and other foodservice
outlets in the Chicago area. Tom Marcucci, vice-president of sales
and marketing at Gonnella, said "fresh bread" in this case refers to
bread baked in the past 12 to 18 hours.
"We did this so we can grow because we're transitioning to full
frozen-baked bread manufacturing," Mr. Marcucci said. "The
[fresh bread] routes business was legacy and over time had become
smaller. It just became time to focus on the greatest potential."
Mr. Marcucci said Gonnella is not closing any baking plants or
shutting down production lines. He said fresh bread accounted for
only about 4% to 5% of total production at the Aurora, IL, plant,
and most of the fresh stock-keeping units that have been phased
out are still being baked and distributed in a frozen format.
Approximately 40 employees will be affected by the transition.
Mr. Marcucci said many of those have found other employment or
have been offered other opportunities within Gonnella.
"Our business is growing vigorously," Mr. Marcucci said.
"Natural frozen baked lines are experiencing explosive growth,
and this has presented us another opportunity to engage our national partners is a more serious way."
- Eric Schroeder, Milling & Baking News

TNT Crust expanding with
new production plant
TNT Crust, Green Bay, WI, a manufacturer and distributor of
pizza crust, acquired a new production facility in St. Charles, MO.
The plant is expected to add more than 100,000 sq ft of capacity to
TNT's network, beginning in the second half of 2020.
"We are very excited to have the opportunity to meaningfully grow with our valued customers and support their commercial success for years to come," said Scott McNair, CEO of TNT.
"The new facility will be outfitted with state-of-the-art equipment and exemplifies TNT's commitment to enhancing our production capabilities and leading the industry in quality, service
and innovation."
TNT is a portfolio company of Peak Rock Capital, a middlemarket private investment firm that acquired it from Tyson Foods
in September 2018. Founded in 1981, TNT produces par-baked
and self-rising crusts for frozen pizza manufacturers and foodservice customers at two BRC-certified facilities in Green Bay that
employ a total of 400.

14 Baking & Snack March 2020 / www.bakingandsnack.com

Two legume-based snack
companies combine
The Good Bean, Berkeley, CA, maker of roasted chickpea snacks,
has acquired Beanitos, Austin, TX, maker of better-for-you beanbased chips and puffs.
The combined companies now offer a portfolio of 10 The Good
Bean and 16 Beanitos SKUs. Both brands are committed to sustainably sourcing from US farms, and their current combined annual procurement of sustainably grown and harvested legumes
now exceeds 5 million lb.
"From the beginning, our mission has been to make bean and
plant-based snacking accessible, delicious and affordable for everyone while supporting responsible agriculture," said Sarah Wallace,
founder and CEO of The Good Bean. "The Beanitos portfolio perfectly complements the whole-bean snacking focus that The Good
Bean is known for, and combining these two brands structurally and operationally will enable us to streamline many processes
throughout the supply chain to create efficiencies for our industry
partners - and ultimately our consumers in the US and Canada.
We're fortunate to have investment partners who believe in our vision and are eager to amplify growth for both brands."
- Rebekah Schouten, Food Business News

Baking Industry Alliance
partners with USO
The Baking Industry Alliance (BIA) held its first baking industryfocused Employment Readiness Workshop in partnership with
United Service Organizations (USO) Pathfinder to assist service
members preparing to transition into the civilian workforce.
With participation from almost 30 industry representatives and
more than 50 service members and spouses, the event consisted of
networking, virtual bakery tours, two baking industry panels and
mock interviews for potential employment.
The BIA is managed by the American Baking Association (ABA)
and members include AIB International, American Society of
Baking, Allied Trades of the Baking Industry, BEMA, Grain Foods
Foundation and the North American Millers' Association.

http://www.bakingandsnack.com

Baking & Snack - March 2020

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