Milling & Baking News - May 17, 2022 - 26

TUES | 05 17 2022
innovation team at Flowers for the bars
and said it is elevating innovation at the
company to an entirely new level.
" We've always had our R& D center
A. Ryals McMullian
drive the bus. It's their brand. They're
the ones that built it, and they continue to
build it and I trust them. "
Taking the value of the acquisition
to still another level has been Flowers'
ability to move DKB beyond its traditional
position exclusively in sliced bread.
Mr. McMullian said the company has
enjoyed success with DKB buns, bagels
and English muffins, and currently the
company is test marketing snack bars
under the Dave's Killer Bread brand. He
said Flowers' hit-or-miss history in trying
to extend its other successful brands into
different products gives the company
appreciation of qualities that set DKB
apart.
" It's the thing about Dave's that's truly
extraordinary for us, " he said. " Not
many brands in our category have the
ability to play across segments. We've
tried other things with Nature's Own
that just didn't work. Perfectly Crafted
would probably be the lone exception
since that sub-brand has done so well. But
with Dave's just about everything we've
tried has been a success. Our breakfast
items for example are doing really well.
Certainly we are still small relative to the
category, but we're doing better now than
we've ever done with any other brand,
and people love the product. We moved
into the bun space with Dave's. We also
26
MILLING & BAKING NEWS
moved into bagels, English muffins and
now the introduction of the bars. It's our
first commercialization of an adjacent
innovation, which we're so happy about. I
think we have an incredible opportunity
to really innovate in the snacking space
with Dave's. As we've grown awareness of
the brand, it has given us the right to play
in different categories, and Dave's has
proven that it can move across different
segments successfully. "
He credited a newly created agile
innovation team, but we were traditionally
more focused on line extensions
and more renovation like efforts, " he
said. " With the addition of this new agile
innovation capability we're talking about
real innovation -focusing on bringing
the consumer new and unique items that
are authentic and true to the Dave's brand
equity. The new bars are our first commercialization.
And as I said on the most
recent investors call, the results are far
exceeding our expectations. Again, it's the
brand and the quality. The retailers love
it. The consumers love it. And so you're
getting that pull through, which is just
awesome to watch. "
While he declined to disclose what will
be next, Mr. McMullian said the move into
adjacencies will not stop with bars.
" I can't talk about it today, but we've
got a pipeline of stuff coming behind it, "
he said. " It doesn't mean we won't have a
product that doesn't do as well. I definitely
expect we'll try something that doesn't at
some point, but that's what we've charged
this new innovation team with doing.
We've told them that they have the freedom
to act like a startup, be entrepreneurial
and take risks. " MBN
- L. Joshua Sosland
Dave's Killer Bread entered into the bars category with organic snack bars in three flavors.
bakingbusiness.com
FLOWERS FOODS, INC.

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Milling & Baking News - May 17, 2022

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