Milling & Baking News - December 8, 2015 - 10

Business X

Flowers Alabama baking plant
going organic next year
Continued from Page 1

its current location for almost 60 years,
dating back to when the company was
known as Hardin's Bakery. Hardin's
was established about
1900, moved to its 15th
Street location in 1956
and was acquired by
Flowers in 1972.
The plant currently
markets products under the Nature's Own,
Sunbeam and Tastykake
brands. The company
operates three other
baking plants in Alabama - in Montgomery, Birmingham and Opelika.
Staffing will hold about steady
Employees at the baking plant
were informed Nov. 30 about plans
to convert the plant and to cease production beginning in early January
for about three months. Mr. Singletary said staffing levels at the plant
when production resumes will be
about the same as at present (about
225 employees).
The need for additional capacity to
bring Flowers' new organic brands
to eastern markets was discussed by

Flowers executives in October, during
a webcast with investment analysts focused on the company's acquisitions.
Asked specifically about making

Dave's Killer Bread available in Flower's core Southeast market, Bradley K.
Alexander, executive vice-president
and chief operating officer, said at the
time plans were being formulated and
that the introduction "certainly can
happen in 2016," an apparent reference to what became the plan to turn
Tuscaloosa organic.
Since the acquisition, D.K.B. has remained headquartered near Portland,
Ore., where it continues baking bread.
Allen L. Shiver, president and chief
executive officer of Flowers, said during the October conference call that the

Private equity group buys majority
in Canadian dessert maker
SAN FRANCISCO - Gryphon Investors is making a majority investment
in The Original Cakerie, which manufactures frozen desserts for retail
and food service customers in North
America. Terms of the recapitalization were not disclosed. The deal is
expected to close in early December.
Dave Hood will remain as president
and chief executive officer of The
Original Cakerie.
The Original Cakerie, which was
founded in 1979, has a production facility at its headquarters in Delta, B.C.,
and another production facility in London, Ont. The company serves more
than 300 customers. Products include
single-layer, two-layer and three-layer
cakes, dessert bars, and brownies. This
year The Original Cakerie received a
2015 Food and Beverage (FABI) Award
from the National Restaurant Association for its Inspired by Happiness gluten-free, two-layer Dreamin' cakes.
10 / December 8, 2015 XMilling & Baking News

"Consumers value affordable indulgence across economic cycles,
and they are increasingly searching

for quality products and clean label
ingredients when they choose to indulge," said Keith Stimson, partner
and head of the Consumer Group for
San Francisco-based Gryphon Investors, a private equity firm. "We have
had a proactive focus on establishing a

company was "excited about the production capacity Alpine brings to our
organic business," referring to Alpine's
two baking plants in the Southwest.
R. Steve Kinsey, executive vice-president and chief financial officer of Flowers, expanded on the production issues.
"Since the team at Alpine has excess
capacity and organic
baking expertise, we
are confident production can be scaled to
meet ever-growing demand for both the Alpine Valley and D.K.B.
brands," he said. "In
the near term, leveraging D.K.B.'s current
production at its bakery
and through existing
co-pack arrangements,
we intend to begin expanding distribution of Dave's Killer Bread in other
geographic territories."
May lessen dependence on co-packers
The Tuscaloosa conversion may
diminish D.K.B.'s dependence on
co-packers for a proportion of production. Asked in October about outsourcing, Mr. Shiver estimated D.K.B. was
using about half a dozen co-packers.
"I don't know the percentage of
their volume, but the majority of their
volume still goes through their Portland facility," he said. MBN
platform in the high-quality premium
baked goods space, in order to benefit
from these consumer trends, as the instore bakery sections of supermarkets
as well as food service customers continue to look for high-quality dessert
offerings."
Gryphon previously invested in
such food companies as Flagstone
Foods, TrustHouse Services Group
and Eight O'Clock Coffee.
"Gryphon has a long-standing track
record of success investing in the food
and beverage space, and assisting
founder-owned businesses like The
Original Cakerie in further developing
their category leadership," said Dennis O'Brien, partner head of the Operations Resources Group for Gryphon
Investors. "The Original Cakerie is a
uniquely attractive platform for expansion in the North American baked
goods sector, and we believe Gryphon's Operations Resources Group
and executive advisers will provide
management with highly relevant and
practical resources as they continue to
build the company." MBN
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Milling & Baking News - December 8, 2015

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