Milling & Baking News - September 23, 2008 - 12

Business

Bakeries working to come back
on line after Hurricane Ike
HOUSTON - Bakeries in Houston
were working to return to production
last week after Hurricane Ike hit Sept.
13 and knocked out power.
Two Flowers Foods bakeries in Houston sustained minor damage, said Mary
Krier, vice-president of communications
for Flowers Foods, Inc., Thomasville,
Ga., on Sept. 16, when power had returned to both facilities. One bakery
started production on Sept. 15 and the
other on Sept. 17, Ms. Krier said.
"The market has not yet returned
to normal and is still experiencing
power outages and a shortage of
gas," Ms. Krier said.
The U.S. Department of Energy said

on Sept. 16 that more than 3 million customers in the states affected by Ike were
without power. Texas alone accounted
for more than 2 million customers.
The hurricane affected the baking
industry and every other industry in
Houston, said Christopher Hess, director of sales for Houston's Alain & Marie
LeNotre Bakery, a sweet goods baker.
"Most are still without power, and
our freezer has been down for four
days," he said Sept. 16. "Workers in
Houston are concerned with their families, and people are standing in long
lines to get ice and food. So we are shut
down this week to allow them to take
care of themselves and their families."

Fall campaign launched by Grain Foods Foundation
NEW YORK - On the set for a satellite media tour Sept. 10 was Kate Gosselin, spokesperson for the Grain Foods Foundation. Ms. Gosselin,
a star on the reality television program Jon & Kate
Plus Eight!, was interviewed by local broadcast outlets in several top markets, including Atlanta, Denver, San Diego, Nashville, Tenn., and San Antonio.
She reached a national audience with an interview
on Martha Stewart radio. While in New York, Ms.
Gosselin met with representatives of several women's publications to discuss the Foundation's Brown
Bag campaign (see Milling & Baking News of
Sept. 9, Page 18). She conducted phone interviews
with several top 100 newspapers. A focus of the fall
campaign has been on on-line information outlets,
and the Foundation and Ms. Gosselin has received strong interest with placements already on
SheKnows.com and parents.com and with additional coverage expected. MBN

Mr. Hess said product from Alain &
Marie LeNotre Bakery was transferred
to Coastal Foods, Inc., a bakery in
Houston that had power restored. Mr.
Hess said he expected power at Alain
& Marie LeNotre Bakery to be restored
at least by Sept. 24.
He added people from as far away as
Canada have arrived in Houston to help.
"There is good news, though," Mr.
Hess said. "People are coming together in Houston, and we will survive
this disaster."
Hurricane Ike's effects were felt as
far away as Akron, Ohio, where an
Interstate Bakeries Corp. plant was
without power for 48 hours, said
Maya Pogoda, a spokesperson for
Kansas City-based I.B.C. A storm
and high winds from the remnants
of Hurricane Ike left about 1 million customers of FirstEnergy's Ohio
and western Pennsylvania operating
companies without power on Sept.
14, according to FirstEnergy.
The hurricane failed to disrupt Sara
Lee Bakeries, Downers Grove, Ill.
"We had contingency plans in
place for our customers," said Sara
Matheu, director of media relations
for Sara Lee Bakery, Meats and Foodservice divisions.
In Texas, H-E-B, a supermarket
chain based in San Antonio, said
more than 500 of its employees travelled to Houston to volunteer. The HE-B Mobile Kitchen also was in use at
Houston's George R. Brown Convention Center. H-E-B on Sept. 18 said it
had reopened 64 stores while seven
remained closed. MBN

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Custom Ingredients.

Innovative Ideas.

4800 Main Street, Suite 501 | Kansas City, MO 64112 | (816) 994-7600

12 / September 23, 2008

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Milling & Baking News - September 23, 2008

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