Like many bakeries, Turano Baking Co. started small, with a family recipe created in Italy and brought to America. Over time, the name and reputation grew, and it has since become a national brand. While the company has expanded from a few loaves of handcrafted traditional bread shared with friends and neighbors to a nationally respected company that continues to grow and modernize, leaders at the firm have worked to stay true to its high quality standards, as well as its family values. This recipe for success is one reason Turano Baking Co. has been named Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery’s 2025 Bakery of the Year.

Origin story
When Mariano Turano arrived in the U.S. from Calabria, Italy, he didn’t set out to build a bakery empire, just to seize a piece of the American dream for him and his growing family. Opportunity knocked when he purchased a modest bake shop on Chicago’s west side, building on his traditional round bread baked with the same recipe he’d perfected in the old country.

According to Mariano’s son Umberto “Tony” Turano, “Dad had some friends that lived in Highland Park, IL. Every time he would go visit, they would ask him to bring a couple loaves of bread, which was similar to what they used to eat in Italy. We would go there on the weekend, and he would go play cards with those people.”

Soon enough, the conversation turned from the games to the bread.

“During the conversation, they would say, ‘So-and-so tasted the bread; can you bring them a loaf of bread, too?’ That's how it actually started.”

Mariano’s older brother Carmen owned a grocery shop, where Mariano would bake the traditional breads. He started sharing the bread with his friends, then charging for the loaves eventually. Demand among Mariano’s pals got to the point where the trunk of his 1956 Chevy would be weighted down with loaves. Eventually word spread beyond the circle of friends and family about the authentic Italian bread, unique at the time to the Chicago area.

The wild popularity of the products motivated Mariano’s brothers Carmen and Eugenio to join him to found Campagna Turano Bakery in Berwyn, the Chicago suburb where the company’s current headquarters call home. The team broadened their offerings to include new bread items, open up the Mamma Susi Bake Shop (still open today), and before long, the handcrafted baked goods were in demand not just from hungry neighbors, but by grocery stores and restaurants.

Next, Tony and his brothers, Giancarlo and the late Renato, joined their father to further grow the business. They brainstormed new varieties, constructed bakery lines, forged customer relationships, and officially named the company Turano Baking Co. Today, what started as a dream in a small shop is a nationwide enterprise, with five advanced facilities in Berwyn and Bolingbrook, IL; Villa Rica, GA; Orlando, FL; and Henderson, NV.

Family pride
The Turano Baking Co. has through the years had plenty of Turanos on the company roster. However, Tony points out,

“My father gave each of us the choice of either working at the bakery and helping it grow, or going somewhere else,” he shares. “You got a degree, went to school someplace, do what you got your degree in. Each one of us decided to stay, but then as we got older, we had our own families, so we definitely had to grow this thing in order for everybody to get a paycheck, and that's exactly what we did.”

The next generation was given the same choice; in 2012, the brothers opted to hand the company over to the third generation. Joe Turano, tapped to serve as president after that changing of the guard, says one key to the company’s enduring success is treating customers much like family, too.

“After these 63 years, we really try to stay true to our roots,” he says. “Whether it's a larger national customer or a more localized independent customer, restaurant, or grocery store, we handle and we serve everyone the same way. That is always our focus.”

Lisa Turano, vice president of legal, says the company prides itself on working closely with clients and delivering what they need.

“We really seek to know our customers—whether they take six loaves of bread a day, or 600 loaves of bread a day, we make it a point to understand their needs, and to meet them,” she notes. “Additionally, I think we've always been the company that when there's been an issue, we've made ourselves available. We've tried to accommodate them, work it out, and make sure that we can service our customers at a value, and variety that makes sense to them.”

Anthony Turano, vice president of administration, says, “We are very responsive, and we’re very proactive with new opportunities for the customers, whether it's something that might save them cost, or totally unrelated to the bread product. Our customers look to us for solutions…and that's how we've been able to be successful.”

Jack Mitchell, director of production operations, shares that he feels Turano’s treatment of its staff also has added to its successful track record.

“I've been in this business 49 years, and I've been with Turano 17 years, and our people are our greatest assets—we recognize our people above and beyond anybody, in the way we care for people, and in the way we educate our people,” he says. “We offer them career opportunities, we offer them a great benefit package, and they're treated with respect.”

Tony points out that staff tends to be loyal to the Turano company, and leadership endeavors to return the favor—layoffs have been unheard of, even during the pandemic.

“We’ve never had to lay anyone off because of the lack of work, or dismiss anybody, I should say, because of lack of work; we've always kept everybody working,” he remarks. “We value each of our employees.”

Michelle Van Klaveren—director of operations, food safety, and quality assurance—says that while labor issues have been an ongoing challenge at Turano Baking Co. as they have been across the industry, investment in finding and recruiting new workers, and developing existing staff, is a priority, with partnerships and outreach programs with learning institutions encouraging youngsters to think about careers in baking in general and Turano specifically.

“We do have a lot of tenured employees here that are now bringing their sons and daughters into the industry and starting to work with us,” she says. “Turano does a really good job with investing and training and keeping their employees, which enables us to have a very tenured workforce,” pointing out that the roster includes the company’s workers includes several people who have worked there for decades, even approaching the half-century mark.

Further, Joe explains that while the company has added product offerings, built additional facilities, installed new equipment, and expanded its reach, Turano Baking Co. has remained true to its original values.

“We have certainly maintained our standards all of these years, with high-quality product,” he notes. “We don't just change processes on products to produce breads or rolls faster; we really try to produce the best quality and to serve the customer the way the customer needs, the best way that we can. Even as the company has evolved and grown, we've done our best to try to maintain all of our high standards.”

Taking on tech
With considerable company growth over the years, as well as the evolution of available production technology, Turano Baking Co. has considered tech acquisitions and upgrades frequently over the years. However, Joe says, the company takes a thoughtful approach to any such changes.

“In an American Bakers Association panel, an automation panel, I remember saying something to the tune of, 'We are always looking where automation might make sense for our front lines,’” he relates.

Leo Desrosiers, vice president of operations, says while Turano Baking Co. is willing to invest in new equipment where needed, the company takes a thoughtful and cautious approach to ensure the investment (as Joe points out) makes sense for them, and works for the company and its customers.

“I've never seen that we've actually chased the newest and greatest piece of equipment, or the one that runs the fastest; we'll let somebody else go through that process and have their struggles with it,” he remarks. “We take equipment that's available, and we adapt it in ways that even the suppliers of the equipment themselves never saw as being possible.”

Mitchell points out that the company prioritizes quality and customer service when making upgrade decisions, but ultimately the end result lies with the people running the equipment.

“As far as automation goes, it's a great piece of our business, but I think whether you're making the artisan style product or the soft roll products, it's the skill of our people—and the care and patience that we have with our people,” he says. “We're very loyal to them, and they're very loyal to us.”

The company reportedly has a number of expansion and upgrade plans in the works—modernizing the lines at its Berwyn flagship facility, opening a significant bakery and cold-storage expansion facility in Georgia, seeking opportunities to grow its reach in the west and southwest. Whatever comes, Tony remarks, the company will continue to prioritize what its clients need.

“We go where our customer takes us,” he shares. “That's exactly what we've done in the past, and that's what we'll continue to do in the future.” SF&WB