Baking & Snack - February 2022 - 36

Partners, A Tasteful Choice Company, builds a state-of-the-art bakery to
create wholesome, specialty foods for now and the foreseeable future.
by Dan Malovany
The new sheeting
line enhances the
consistency and
quality of Partners'
specialty crackers
while providing
greater efficiencies
and higher capacity
at lower operating
costs.
Photography by Earl Harper/
Harper Studios
M
Marian Harris always had a knack of being one step
ahead of the times. When starting her downtown Seattle
restaurant several decades ago, she focused on homemade
food crafted with real ingredients, well before everyone
else. Back then, people had steaks and martinis
for lunch. Going to a restaurant and buying something
that's freshly made like cinnamon rolls, baked cookies
and fresh soup was a novel concept at the time.
Unable to find quality crackers to accompany her signature
soups, Ms. Harris did what came instinctively.
She made her own, eventually leading to the startup of
Partners, A Tasteful Choice Company, which became a
pioneer in the specialty cracker segment. The company
has been riding the tide ever since 1992.
" When we started the cracker business, there were
very few specialty crackers and almost no flavored
crackers. Now that seems like it's so obvious, but there
was nothing out there at the time, " recalled Cara Figgins,
Ms. Harris' daughter and president of this specialty
cracker producer, located just outside of Seattle. " We're
really about products that are flavorful and high quality.
That artisan segment in the cracker category is going
to stay. People are always looking for artisan crackers. If
we can provide these products at a more cost-effective
price, we have a lot of the market segment to still capture
36 Baking & Snack February 2022 / www.bakingbusiness.com
before we run out of people who haven't tried these specialty
products. "
Over the years, the company has rolled out wave after
wave of premium entertainment and snack crackers sold
under the Partners, Wisecrackers, Blue Star Farms and
All-American brands, as well as supported a burgeoning
co-manufactured crackers and baked goods business for
the retail, foodservice and private label markets.
But success had its growing pains. Since the company
began automating production in 2000, Partners quickly
outgrew its Seattle facility and moved to Kent, Wash., in
2006. Capacity there ran out in half the projected time,
and the choice became to either expand the Kent facility
or find a new one.
" We did the evaluation of staying in the old place
and how much it would cost to upgrade there, and it
was about the same as us moving, but we wouldn't have
given ourselves the runway if we just stayed where we
were, " Ms. Figgins explained.
When the company finally moved in 2017, they found
their field of dreams in Des Moines. No, not in Iowa. For
them, Des Moines (some locals pronounce the second
" s " in the name) is in Washington state right near the
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Today, the builtto-specification
plant houses two distinct production
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