Milling & Baking News - March 1, 2005 - 12

B U S I N E S S

Cereality puts executive team,
Chicago plans on table
CHICAGO - Cereality Cereal Bar &
Cafe on Feb. 22 announced the planned
opening of a location in Chicago, its new
home base, and the appointments of four
executives, including three who formerly worked for Starbucks Coffee Co.
The first Chicago area restaurant will
open in late spring at 100 S. Wacker at
Monroe, across the street from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
New additions to the executive team are:
* Ric Smith, senior vice-president of
store development;
* Mike Romano, director of people;
* John "JR" Rolleston, senior vicepresident of operations; and
* Brian Giacobbe, vice-president of
innovation.
Cereality offers 30 different cereal

varieties, 30 different toppings, various
kinds of milk and choices of hot and
cold beverages in a restaurant concept
defined as "all cereal, all day, all ways."
The new 1,300-square-foot restaurant
in Chicago will offer free Wi-Fi access
and the company's pajama-top wearing
"Cereologist" servers.
"This loop location is perfect for the
next phase of our national rollout," said
David Roth, chief executive officer and
co-founder of Cereality. "We'll get a huge
cross-section of office workers plus the
thousands of traders, clerks and visitors
to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
"Since so many of our ingredients
- milk, wheat, butter - are traded
as commodities at the 'Merc,' we
couldn't have picked a better spot."

Krispy Kreme baking plant
temporarily closed by agency
NORCROSS, GA. - A Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc. baking commissary temporarily has been closed by the Georgia Department of Agriculture.
An inspection of the Norcross plant found flying insects, and managers at
the baking plant agreed to close the facility until the problem is resolved, said
Tommy Irvin, Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture.
"The company agreed to close and work with their pest control operators to
correct the situation," Mr. Irvin said in a statement. He said the plant in the past
has enjoyed a good record.
The plant sells donuts to supermarkets and convenience stores. An investigation began after a customer complained of finding a bug in a donut bought at a
convenience store. MBN

F I N A N C I A L

R E S U L T S

Operating losses decline in
Bimbo's U.S. operations
Continued from Page 1
quarter, primarily in the central U.S.
region. The increase came despite the
elimination of 15% of total stock-keeping units during the year, a result of
the company's initiative to optimize
the product portfolio.
That optimization along with higher
capacity utilization, an increase in
productivity and lower labor costs affected U.S. operations favorably. Those
factors more than offset the negative impacts of higher raw material
costs and an extraordinary charge of
$800,000 related to the write-off of certain fixed assets at a La Mirada plant in
California.
In the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31,
12 / Milling & Baking News, March 1, 2005

Cereality recently announced it was
moving its headquarters to Chicago
from Boulder, Colo. The company expects to open 10 more stores in the next
15 months in the Chicago area, the East
Coast and southern California.
Mr. Smith will lead the real estate team
to find new locations. He has worked
in commercial real estate for about 20
years. Most recently he was director of
real estate for Potbelly Sandwich Works.
Previously, Mr. Smith was director of
development at Starbucks Coffee Co.,
where he was responsible for opening
more than 300 stores.
Mr. Romano, the new director of people
for Cereality, previously was human resources executive at Starbucks. At Cereality he will head up recruitment, training
and benefits for "Cereologists" servers,
back office staff and other team members.
Mr. Rolleston most recently was a
regional director for Starbucks and oversaw more than 90 units in four Midwest
states. He also has worked with such
brands as Perkins, Arby's, Miami Subs
and Bennigans. At Cereality Mr. Rolleston will lead the operations team with
a focus on customer care.
Mr. Giacobbe most recently was director of research and development at
Quaker Foods, where he helped launch
more than 40 new products. At Cereality he will be responsible for driving the
creation of new cereal-based foods.
The new executive team reports to
Tim Casey, chief operating officer for Cereality. The company is less than 2 years
old, having started with a 200-squarefoot pilot store on the campus of Arizona
State University in August of 2003. MBN

the U.S. segment reported operating
losses of NP56 million, which compared with NP229 million in the previous year's fourth quarter.
Fourth-quarter U.S. sales were
NP3,374 million, a 2.7% increase from
NP3,285 million in the previous fourth
quarter.
Mexico City-based Grupo Bimbo
S.A. de C.V. recorded overall operating
profits of NP4,136 million for the fiscal
year, an increase of 19% from NP3,486
million for the previous fiscal year.
Net sales of NP51,545 million were an
increase of 5% compared with NP49,100
million in the previous fiscal year.
Grupo Bimbo S.A. de C.V. reported
net debt of $4,730 million at the year's

end, a reduction of 37.6% compared to
the previous year's end. MBN

Operating profit for
Grupo Bimbo
(in millions of Mexican pesos)
2003
2004
Segment
fiscal year
fiscal year
United States
(-442)
(-294)
Mexico
4,067
4,484
Latin America
(-157)
(-83)

Net sales for
Grupo Bimbo
(in millions of Mexican pesos)
2003
2004
Segment
fiscal year
fiscal year
United States
13,344
13,442
Mexico
33,197
35,651
Latin America
3,405
3,556
Source: Grupo Bimbo S.A. de C.V.

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Milling & Baking News - March 1, 2005

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