Milling & Baking News - April 11, 2006 - 41

I N D U S T R Y

Turano sees large opportunity for
A.B.A. in seeking smaller bakers
Continued from Page 1
generally is brightening, Mr. Turano said.
"The industry itself looks like it has a
renewal going," he said. "Even our customers have signs in their places that
read, 'bread is back.'"
Mr. Turano heads a family business
established by his father Mariano in
1958 (see related story below). From very
modest beginnings, Turano has grown
into a leading specialty baker with national distribution of its par-baked and
frozen product. The company operates
three Illinois plants, including a flagship
facility in Berwyn.
"Our Berwyn plant grew from 3,000
square feet to almost 200,000 square
feet," Mr. Turano said. "It's three city
blocks wide and across. What we do
out of the plant is our own distribution
within a 100-mile radius of Chicago. We
operate close to 100 routes."
At Bolingbrook the company produces par-baked and frozen products for
restaurants, supermarkets, hotels and
other institutional customers. Finally, at
Bloomingdale, Turano operates a sweet
goods plant. The company operates retail stores in Berwyn and Bloomingdale.
Food service currently accounts for
70% of its business. All told, the company has 600 employees and about $100
million in annual sales.
With finding ways to build membership a focus of strategic planning at the
A.B.A., independent bakers represent
an opportunity for the association. This
initiative includes attracting new baking companies to the A.B.A. and finding
ways to further engage the smaller companies that already have memberships.
"The number of large bakeries has
been reduced," Mr. Turano said. "There
aren't that many left due to consolidation. As I look at this, we need work with
bakers of all sizes.
"I think that the independent or smaller bakers always have had the feeling
that A.B.A. was more of a large bakery
association. We have many services for
independents around such areas as human resources, technical support, fleets
and safety. I think we need to market our
services better to all baking companies."
Robb MacKie, president and chief executive officer of the A.B.A., said meeting the needs of smaller bakers certainly
does not mean neglecting the requirements of larger ones.
"We're really trying to balance the needs
and the requirements of baking companies
of all sizes," he said. "Different members
come to us with different needs, but with
bakingbusiness.com / world-grain.com

the common purpose of strengthening the
industry. We're working at Ron's direction
and the rest of the executive committee
and the board. The objective is not only

Turano
bringing new members in, but also looking at the services that we have, and prioritizing properly. It's all part of the strategic
planning exercise."
Mr. MacKie described Turano Baking
as a model of how a medium-sized baking company effectively participates in
and taps into the services of the A.B.A.
Mr. Turano agreed wholeheartedly.
"I've benefited tremendously from
A.B.A.," he said. "If my people have a
technical problem, they call Anne (Giesecke, vice-president of policy analysis
and environmental affairs). If they have
a human resources problem, they'll call
Kelly (Knowles, director of government

A C T I V I T I E S

and political affairs). Now that the kids
are getting into the business, they will
need the support of the A.B.A."
While he said improved marketing
would help attract more baking companies
to the A.B.A., Mr. Turano acknowledged
challenges that the association will face.
"We need to go to some of the different bakeries and make them aware of the
advantages of joining A.B.A.," Mr. Turano
said. "The unfortunate thing is that the
smaller the place, the busier the people are.
"I have found that if you want to grow
your business, you have to allow your
people to run the operation. You have to
think of future needs for the business."
Among existing A.B.A. initiatives,
none is more promising than the Grain
Foods Foundation, Mr. Turano said.
"It is something we have talked about
for many, many years," he said. "We had
talked about making things happen, and
finally we did. We need to keep it going."
For the second consecutive year,
A.B.A. spearheaded a meeting between
various grain-based foods trade associations. "The collaboration is tremendous,
with the Allied Trades of the Baking Industry and BEMA," Mr. Turano said.
Mr. Turano also focused attention on
ways to promote the 2007 International
Baking Industry Exposition in Orlando,
Fla. He suggested the A.B.A. should
invest in attending the iba trade fair in
Munich, Germany, later this year to help
promote I.B.I.E.
"We have a great opportunity with Expo
being in Disney World," he said. "I think it is
a chance to attract families from Europe and
South America. Again, it's a little more marketing. We have to make sure we not only
sell the space, we need to make sure enough
people come by and see the products."
Mr. MacKie said early space sales were
exceeding the A.B.A.'s expectations. MBN

An immigrant's tale
Asked to recount Turano Baking Co. history, Renato Turano, president, offered a poignant and
humorous immigrant story, relating how he arrived at age 15 in the United States with his
family in the late 1950s. To create one of the nation's largest specialty baking businesses,
the family overcame numerous obstacles, ranging from his father's decision to return to Italy
to a broken first oven. Mr. Turano's story follows:
My father came to the United States in 1955. He came here before us so that when we
arrived we wouldn't be on the street. He had come to see a brother who had been here
since 1922. It was my father's oldest brother who had kept calling Italy, insisting that someone from the family should come. He had a little bakery and little grocery store. When my
father came he helped his brother by working in the grocery store and the bakery but only
after he finished his day job, which was in sewer construction.
In Italy, he had been a coffee salesman. Here, he was not used to the weather. He was not able
to speak English. After 14 months, he went to his brother and said, "I tried, but my family is in Italy,
and I miss them. I've lost my dignity because in Italy I was respected for what I do and I enjoyed
my work. Over here it's different. I'm new. I don't speak the language. I gotta go back."
He returned to Italy. He got his old job back as a coffee salesman. He got a promotion.
He started to think about it and got the family together and said, "Maybe I made a

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