Throughout the year, whenever you pick up a sandwich away from home, there is a good chance you have Bimbo Bakehouse to thank for your bread.

The American foodservice industry goes through a tremendous amount of bread every year. Foodservice is a key component of America’s national economy. In 2019, according to USDA’s Economic Research Service (USDA-ERS), the share of food eaten at home was 45.2 percent, and food away from home was 54.8 percent. In a typical year, revenue across the U.S. foodservice industry approaches $1 trillion in sales, hitting $969.4 billion in 2019, per USDA-ERS.

Bimbo Bakehouse, based in Horsham, PA, is the foodservice business for Bimbo Bakeries USA, part of Grupo Bimbo, the largest bakery company in the world, with distribution in 33 countries. Bimbo Bakehouse offers a comprehensive range of frozen and fresh bread and other bakery products to U.S. restaurants and other foodservice operations, as well as the in-store bakery (ISB). The business leverages its wide range of trusted Grupo Bimbo brands, as well as customized solutions, to meet ongoing U.S. industry needs.

While the Bimbo Bakehouse name is new, Grupo Bimbo, along with its American subsidiary Bimbo Bakeries USA, has a long history of baking expertize, currently holding the most-extensive organizational reach across the baking industry.

Bakehouse beginnings
“Bimbo Bakehouse has a rich history of providing a wide variety of bakery items to both the foodservice and in-store bakery (ISB) channels,” says Donovan Clark, category manager, frozen in-store bakery. “The company is a combination of the frozen bakery business that was acquired from Wholesome Harvest Baking, Inc. in 2014 and the fresh bakery business of Bimbo Bakeries USA.”

Grupo Bimbo got its start in Mexico in 1945, but the American chapter of this story begins in 1994 when Grupo Bimbo purchased La Hacienda, a California-based tortilla company. The company then entered the U.S. bread market in 1997 with the acquisition of Pacific Pride Bakeries of San Diego. The company grew again in 1998 with the purchase of Mrs Baird’s Bakeries in Texas, which at the time was the largest family-owned bakery in the U.S. The combined operations were renamed Bimbo Bakeries USA (BBU).

In 2002, BBU acquired the western U.S. baking business of George Weston Ltd., adding such iconic premium brands as Oroweat®, Entenmann’s®, Thomas®’, and Boboli®. In 2009, Grupo Bimbo purchased the remaining U.S. fresh baked goods business from George Weston, adding the Arnold®, Brownberry®, Freihofer’s®, and Stroehmann® brands.

In 2011, BBU completed its largest acquisition to date: Sara Lee’s North American fresh bakery business. “Adding Sara Lee’s bread business doubled BBU in size, enabling us to better deliver on our mission, vision and values,” says Clark.

Then, in 2014, BBU acquired Wholesome Harvest Baking, Inc., a frozen bakery business that is now part of Bimbo Bakehouse. “Only our name has changed, and Wholesome Harvest remains a powerful frozen bakery brand among our ISB portfolio,” says Clark.

Bimbo Bakehouse also works in conjunction with sister company Bimbo QSR (formerly Chicago’s East Balt Bakeries), which is dedicated to the global quick-service restaurant (QSR) channel.

Today, Bimbo Bakehouse has 62 manufacturing plants within its distribution system, including facilities dedicated to:

• Traditional fresh bread products like breads, buns, and English muffins

• Artisan bakery products like artisan, crusty, hearth-based breads and buns, as well as pretzel buns/rolls and croissants)

• Sweet baked goods

Dana Strain, marketing manager, frozen foodservice, notes BBU is the only commercial bakery that serves all 50 U.S. states.

“Our subsidiary benefits from shared internal services, as well as an overall knowledge transfer between organizations (Grupo Bimbo, Bimbo Bakeries USA, Bimbo QSR and Bimbo Bakehouse),” says Strain. “The idea that we freely share new trends, best practices, and innovation is a daily practice. We are all led and driven by our company purpose of ‘Nourishing a Better World.’ That allows us to continue as the world’s leading baking company by adopting new ways of working and doing things. Grupo Bimbo’s scale allows us to gather and share insights across multiple countries, markets, and consumer channels.”


Efficient and lean
BBU continues to provide industry leadership in making improvements to production facility efficiency and reducing overall environmental impact.

“BBU is an ENERGY STAR partner,” says Leslie Adebayo, manager region environmental sustainability. “All of the Bimbo Bakehouse bakeries are registered active participants in the ‘Challenge for Industry’ (energy reduction of at least 10 percent in 5 years or less) as well as the Certification Program, which ranks bakeries in the industry. The San Luis Obispo bakery has been certified five years in a row, putting it in the top 25 percent of bakeries for energy efficiency nationally.”

Adebayo notes BBU bakeries incorporate the latest power and energy savings technologies, including upgrades to LED lighting and high-efficiency motors. “These upgrades help reduce power consumption in the bakeries dramatically.”

• Baguettes and table breads, including bâtards, French and Italian breads, and dinner rolls

• Pretzel breads

• Sandwich breads (sliced and unsliced)

• Breakfast breads, including English muffins, bagels, sweet baked goods, croissants, turnovers, pastry bites, and sandwich buns and rolls for subs, hamburgers, hot dogs, and more

• Healthy and better-for-you

• Comfort food

• Off-premise dining and grab-and-go

“Consumers are seeking healthy and ‘better-for-you’ items,” says Davis. “This was a trend before COVID-19, but the pandemic has reinforced the desire for immunity-boosting foods.” She points to information from Datassential, Chicago, presented in May 2020, that found 35 percent of consumers say leading a healthy lifestyle has become more important than when the pandemic began. Also, in its coverage of 2021 trends, Datassential found 58 percent of consumers are looking forward to seeing more healthful eating trends in the coming year. “Operators have been adding healthier options to their menus,” she says, citing Datassential MenuTrends data showing the use of multigrain sandwich carriers has grown 15 percent on menus over the past four years. “Within ISB, consumers are looking for products without additives or preservatives, GMO-free, or organic options,” she says.

Comfort is also tracking well with consumers of late. “Consumers crave the foods that bring them comfort, especially in times of crisis, as has been in the case over the past year,” says Davis. She notes Datassential has found 57 percent of consumers are looking forward to seeing more comfort food trends in the coming year. “Comfort food means different things to different people,” she says. “Two in five of consumers define comfort food as something they ate growing up, so we see a lot of nostalgic items on menus.” She notes items like grilled cheese are growing on menus, with incidence on menus up 6.5 percent over the past 4 years, per Datassential MenuTrends. “Operators have elevated classic comfort foods, like burgers, by using higher-quality ingredients, such as brioche and pretzel buns.”

Operators have also grown more flexible regarding off-premise dining. “There’s no question that off-premise dining has been growing in the past year with dining room closures and consumer hesitation to dine on-premise,” says Davis. Datassential found 25 percent of operators have adjusted menus to optimize the delivery and takeout experience. She cites an example of using sub and sandwich rolls that will hold up well during the transport time from restaurant to table. And this trend is not limited to commercial foodservice. “Non-commercial segments have been offering more grab-and-go options, so they might switch to sandwich rolls that are intended to hold in a refrigerated case.”

Better-for-you approaches
Wholesome Harvest is another Bimbo Bakehouse brand dedicated to retail ISB. The company bakes the hearty breads in this portfolio without artificial preservatives, colors, or flavors. They contain at least 8 grams of whole grains per serving and are Non-GMO Project Verified. The line appeals to health-conscious consumers, suggests Clark.

Bimbo Bakehouse has continued to develop better-for-you options, including for school foodservice. “In 2021 we launched three new products specifically designed for the K12 segment, all of which meet creditable grain requirements and are made with whole-grain white wheat,” says Strain. “We’re currently in the process of reformulating the portfolio to meet clean-label requirements and developing new options in our product portfolio with healthy nutritional profiles.”

BBU consistently monitors the industry for trends—health-related or otherwise, notes Strain. Organizationally, the company is committed to:

• Reducing sugars, saturated fats, trans fatty acids, sodium, and other nutriments with a high impact on public health

• Increasing the content of beneficial ingredients rich in nutrients, such as whole grains, fiber, vitamins, and minerals

And when an off-the-shelf product won’t suffice, customized solutions can come into play. “Collaboration has always been an integral component of our business,” says Clark. “We take pride in using our expertise to develop forward-thinking concepts and working with our partners to address specific needs in their markets. What works for one of our customers doesn’t necessarily work for all of our customers, so it’s important to us that we work together to create unique product offerings that win in their respective marketplaces.”

For Bimbo Bakehouse, offering operator-led bakery product customization is about forging and building strategic relationships within the industry, says Clark. “We have a history as a contracted manufacturing partner for customers who have their own proprietary product and can develop new products through our industry-leading research and development team to meet the specifications of our customer.”

“How we work with operators really depends on their business model,” says Strain. “Because we offer both fresh and frozen foodservice options, we’re able to accommodate their needs and support them according to their specific needs.”

With frozen bakery items, notes Strain, the advantages are:

• When product is frozen on the production line, there is minimal loss of ambient shelf life—minutes or hours, not days—until the product is thawed and used by the operator, thus preserving product freshness

• By avoiding exposure to air and moisture in transit, frozen product is suited for maintaining quality and integrity throughout the logistics and handling

• The operator has the ability to thaw and use only what is needed

With fresh bakery items, the advantages are:

• Minimal inventory storage needs

• No additional labor or steps needed prior to serving (like proofing, baking, thawing, etc.)

“For retail in-store bakery, we focus on three frozen formats that help our retailers with their distinctive operational challenges and are designed to deliver the qualities consumers expect of freshly baked bread,” says Karen Murphy, senior director and general manager, frozen in-store bakery:

• Parbaked solutions—products that are baked 90 percent and are baked off in store

• Thaw-and-sell solutions—fully packaged products that the retailer simply lets thaw and then puts them on shelf, low-labor solutions that typically have extended shelf life beyond parbaked options, which helps the retailer with inventory and waste management

• Take-and-bake solutions—products that are baked 95 percent and then fully packaged, subsequently thawed by the retailer and merchandised for sale to shoppers who finish baking the product at home

“Bimbo Bakehouse has a strong understanding of restaurant operations and can navigate and simplify back-of-house systems by providing the right solution,” says Strain. “With in-depth category knowledge and insight, we provide custom solutions for retailers and foodservice operators with specific needs. We work in partnership with our customer on all aspects of restaurant operations by using on-site visits, customer data analysis, and established industry trends. It starts with our dedicated sales team, who have experience servicing all channels and verticals within retail & foodservice channels. We have a knowledgeable and talented R&D team that includes a culinary innovation manager. They pair experience, inspiration, and trends to form culinary and menu recommendations. Then comes the support of our marketing team, who partner new flavor, culinary and menu recommendations with fact-based selling, with help from our customer insights team.”

Real-world solutions
“We believe the most valuable relationships with our customers are ones that go beyond the commodity transaction, wherein we engage our culinary team and help the customer achieve their strategic goals,” says Ted Swain, marketing director, foodservice.

“In late 2018, we had the opportunity to initiate a strategic innovation session and culinary demonstration with one of our largest national customers,” says Swain. “Ahead of this session, they shared their internal goals, which we reviewed and shared back the understanding of how different parts of our portfolio could help achieve those objectives. In the joint innovation session, we prepared and demonstrated 10 new product ideas across multiple dayparts utilizing ingredients in their pantry in a new way, thanks to the range of sandwich carriers in our portfolio. The result was that we were awarded a 12-week, national LTO in one of the largest restaurant chains in the country in 2019 that proved to be mutually beneficial to us and the customer.”

In retail ISB, every opportunity to talk innovation with one a retailer partner is a unique experience, says Clark. “There are numerous ways the retail market can be segmented. It’s important for us to tap into each segment’s unique needs, leverage our creativity and experience, and develop solutions with which our retailers can win. This has included altering our branded portfolio to be more in line with retail bakery operational challenges or reviewing capabilities and investing in our bakeries to give us better opportunities to service consumer needs.” SF&WB