Baking & Snack - February 2023 - 40

ROTELLA'S ITALIAN BAKERY
a six-pocket divider and a tunnel oven.
" We knew we had to do it, but first you
had to have the money to do it, the business
to do it, the space to put it in and the
guts to do it, " Lou Rotella Jr. said. " My dad
was so forward-thinking and wanted to
move so fast that Dean, Jim and I had to
hold him back. "
Lou Rotella Jr. quickly took over dayto-day
operations when he joined the
business and has led with the same forward-thinking
spirit
his
On Rotella's newest
bun and roll line,
dough is mixed in
1,400-lb batches
in two horizontal
mixers.
driving force behind those initiatives. To him, automation
and equipment was the path to the growth.
In the 1960s, Lou Rotella Sr. introduced sliced bread
to the product portfolio as well as plastic packaging that
allowed the bread to stay fresher longer. In 1965, after
decades of growth, Rotella's made its first move, to a
22,000 square-foot building at 24th
and Pierce Street. The
company remained in that building until 1988.
The 1970s was a decade in which the company
Dough is divided
and rounded on
one of the three roll
lines in the makeup
department.
streamlined its focus and started making investments
in the growth that was coming. In 1975, Lou Rotella Sr.
became the full owner of Rotella's with the commitment
from his son Lou Rotella Jr. to join the family business.
They were also joined by Lou Rotella's Sr.'s son-in-law
Dean Jacobsen Sr., comptroller, and nephew Jim Rotella,
vice president of sales. The company decided to discontinue
its pastry and sweet goods program and focus solely
on bread, buns and rolls. And in the second half of the
decade, they made their first investment in automation:
father did. He
streamlined operations, taking production
from 24 hours a day to 10 hours a day. This
freed up capacity, and he then set his sights on markets
beyond Omaha.
He took an opportunity to franchise the business in
Lincoln, Neb. When the company initially had trouble
competing on the retail store shelves, Lou Rotella Jr. pivoted
and sold to restaurants and other foodservice operators
and found a foothold. He replicated the model
in Des Moines, Iowa, and later Kansas City, Mo. Lou
Rotella Jr. credits his father's support with their success
in expanding beyond Omaha.
" He always let me do whatever I wanted, " he said.
" When I said I wanted to stay in Lincoln, he took my side
over the consultant who was telling us to leave that market.
He took my side about staying in Des Moines, too. He
always would say, 'If you have a good horse, he'll take you
where you need to go, and that's what I have in you.' "
That isn't to say Lou Rotella Sr.'s faith in the next generation
was blind. The patriarch was methodical and had
a system for them as they tried new things and changed
40 Baking & Snack February 2023 / www.bakingbusiness.com
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Baking & Snack - February 2023

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