Baking & Snack - February 2021 - 24

BAKING HALL OF FAME

THE FATHER OF

FLATBREADS

Harry Toufayan pioneered the nation's pita and flatbread market while building
one of the largest family-owned, automated specialty baking companies.
by Dan Malovany

B

Back in the 1960s, a bright light turned on in Harry
Toufayan's mind as he waited in line at a supermarket deli
counter near his family's home in New Jersey. That's when
the young man in his early 20s realized that consumers
might love the pocketed pita bread that his family had
been making since 1926, first in the Middle East where
they had lived before immigrating to the United States
and then with his father in the small family bakery.
Mr. Toufayan began introducing pitas to grocery,
deli and health food store buyers, and the rest is history. Today, Ridgefield, N.J.-based Toufayan Bakeries
is recognized as one of the nation's leading producers
of flatbreads, pitas, bagels and other specialty baked
goods produced in three state-of-the-art facilities: two in
Florida and the other in New Jersey. Mr. Toufayan runs
the company with his three children, Greg, Kristine and
Karen Toufayan, who respectively head operations, finance and marketing within the organization.
For more than 50 years, " Hurricane " Harry, as he is
affectionately known, has been active in the baking industry, spearheading the development of more than 100
varieties of authentic, healthy baked goods that include
everything from lavash and organic breads to glutenfree wraps and pita chips.
Decades ago, Mr. Toufayan became the first to automate production of pita bread, working alongside
the then owner of Universal Oven to develop the conveyorized proofers that are now used in most pita and
flatbread bakeries across the world. With a thorough
knowledge of all the recipes and machinery, he person-

24 Baking & Snack February 2021 / www.bakingbusiness.com

ally oversaw the creation of the company's bakeries and
collaborated with OEMs to design new equipment to
keep up with the demand for its products.
In business, Mr. Toufayan demonstrated a passion
for creating new items that usually required significant
capital investments in production and packaging equipment, noted Nannette Gardetto, former executive vice
president of Gardetto's and former chief executive officer
of Baptista's Bakery, Milwaukee, in one of a dozen letters
of recommendation.
Ms. Gardetto recalled how Mr. Toufayan had become a supplier of baked goods to her family's business
and developed a close friendship with her father, John
Gardetto.
" Their business deals were always done on a mere
handshake, but that handshake was a symbol of the
bond between them that transcended business, " she observed. " It symbolized their shared values of humility,
honesty, respect and integrity. "
Mr. Toufayan has been active in the American Bakers
Association and other industry groups. His passion,
however, involves charitable and philanthropic work. He
built and actively supports a church youth center from
homeland, Armenia. Mr. Toufayan has also funded the
expansion of local nonprofits, schools and charities and
regularly steps in to help those in need nationwide, including during the recent pandemic.
For his personal and business accomplishments over
the past half century, the American Society of Baking has
named Mr. Toufayan to the 2021 Baking Hall of Fame.

*


http://www.bakingbusiness.com

Baking & Snack - February 2021

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