bake - March/April 2024 - 22

" I love the RBA. It is all about
education. We help people not
have to reinvent the wheel. "
Scott Calvert, owner of Tootie Pie Co. in Austin,
Texas, and RBA Board President
Happy bakers bake better bread
How can bakers be thoughtful and purposeful as we
grow our bakeries? How can we manage our growth
without compromising the safety and development of
our people or the quality of our products? In this class,
Josh Allen of St. Louis-based Companion guided a
journey through the shop (mixing to make-up to baking
to packaging) and examine steps we can take to increase
efficiency and throughput while keeping the things in
mind that truly matter.
Allen is the founder of Companion Baking. Born and
Carl Rinaldi of Erika
Record explains
basic equipment
needs for retail
bakeris to have.
are not left alone in your time of need. "
The session was led by Rinaldi, Austin Archdeacon,
Erika Record's director of operations, and Randy George,
co-owner of Red Hen Baking, based in Middlesex,
Vermont.
" We started Red Hen in 1999 and we continue to the
present day, making bread that we deliver to most of
Vermont and a little bit of New Hampshire, " George
shares.
These days, half of our business comes from our cafe
which serves pastries, sandwiches, soups, salads, bread,
and coffee. "
22 < MAR-APR 2024 | bakemag.com
raised in St. Louis, MO, Allen was immersed in the food
and baking industry from an early age. His great-grandfather
founded Allen Foods, a well-known broadline
food distributor with a large customer base across the
Midwest. Allen spent much of his childhood delivering
groceries to various foodservice operations, cleaning the
freezers and sweeping the trucks for his family's business.
With a dream of opening a baking facility of his own,
Allen returned home to St. Louis in 1993 and leased a
small corner of a manufacturing facility operated by his
family to create Companion Baking.
He started with just six breads in Companion's production
line but gradually expanded the business, partnering
with local and regional restaurants and grocery chains
to build the customized bread programs Companion
has become known for.
" We are a semi-automated bakery. Everything is on
wheels and is moved around, " Allen explains. " We have
got to keep the train moving every day. "
Today, Companion's award-winning bread is served in
more than 1,000 restaurants, grocery stores, and businesses
across the country. Allen credits his success to listening
and nimbly adapting to his customers' wants and needs.
In 2021, Allen created a TEDx Talk titled " Changing our
culture by watching our waste " and regularly presents
seminars to businesses and trade organizations on
culture and sustainability. He also hosts the Baked-In
Podcast with Josh Allen which explores insights and
values from top leaders across a variety of enterprises
in the industries.
http://www.bakemag.com
bake - March/April 2024

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