ACE Bakery

Last updated
ACE Bakery logo ACE Bakery logo.jpg
ACE Bakery logo

ACE Bakery is a maker of European-style, artisan breads and baked goods. The company, based in Toronto, has some 35 varieties of bread. [1] According to Toronto Life, ACE Bakery's bread is preservative free and from natural starters. [1] In addition to other products, including a line of granola [1] and artisan crisps, [2] marketed across Canada and parts of the United States. [3] Along with breads, ACE Bakery also makes par-baked or partially baked, flash-frozen dough. [4] Founded by a Caledon, Ontario husband and wife, the company is today owned by FGF Brands. [5]

Contents

History

In 1982, Martin Connell, a business executive, [6] began baking baguettes, as an early-morning weekend hobby, in the kitchen of his home near Caledon, Ontario. [4] Connell and spouse Linda Haynes, a former television producer, [7] continued to experiment with bread-making techniques and eventually built a small "bakehouse" on the property. They also began visiting bakeries in North America and Europe, as they considered the possibility of starting their own business. [4]

Connell and Haynes opened ACE Bakery at 548 King Street West, downtown Toronto, in March 1993. Located in a former handbag factory, [8] the bakery cafe was initially a 100-loaf-a-day operation. [9] From inception, the couple pledged that a portion of all after-tax profits would be directed to Calmeadow, a charitable foundation in support of micro-financing they had established a decade earlier. [8] By 1996, ACE Bakery sales had reached approximately $4 million. [10] A year later, the business was moved to a larger, 23,000-square-foot facility in North York, which was eventually doubled in size. [4]

In 2001, ACE Bakery introduced a line of frozen dough, a process in which the bread was 85 percent baked and then flash frozen. [11] The new product was sold to in-store bakeries and restaurants in Ontario, parts of New York and Michigan, as well as resorts in the Bahamas. [4]

In terms of marketing and promotions, Haynes published "The ACE Bakery Cookbook: Recipes for and with Bread," [12] in 2003, which became a bestseller. [13] It was followed three years later by a second book, entitled "More from ACE Bakery." [14]

By 2008, the company's annual sales approached $50 million and were growing at a double-digit rate. [4] That year, Connell and Haynes, along with Canadian investors Birch Hill Equity Partners, sold ACE Bakery to Glencoe Capital, a Chicago-based private equity firm. [15] Three years later, ACE was acquired by Weston Foods Canada Inc., a subsidiary of George Weston Limited, for $110 million. [16]

The company announced plans to construct a bakery in the United States in 2012. The facility, located in Cherokee County, South Carolina, cost $18.4 million. [17] Five years later, the company invested $31.9 million to expand its operations in Cherokee County. [18]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baguette</span> Long French bread

A baguette is a long, thin type of bread of French origin that is commonly made from basic lean dough. It is distinguishable by its length and crisp crust.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Weston</span> Canadian businessman

George Weston was an American-born Canadian businessman and the founder of George Weston Limited. He became Toronto's biggest baker with Canada's largest bread factory. Weston began his career at the age of 12 as a baker's apprentice and went on to become a bread route salesman. By the turn of the century, he was known throughout the city for his "Weston’s Home-Made Bread" and years later for "Weston’s Biscuits." In addition to being a successful local businessman, he was also a prominent Methodist, as well as a municipal politician who served four years as alderman on Toronto City Council.

Martin Philip Connell, OC, O.Ont is a Canadian businessman and philanthropist. He is the 1994 recipient of the Pearson Medal of Peace for his work in fighting poverty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wonder Bread</span> Brand of pre-sliced bread

Wonder Bread is a brand of sliced bread which originated in the United States in 1921 and was one of the first to be sold pre-sliced nationwide in 1930. The brand is currently owned by Flowers Foods in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Panera Bread</span> American restaurant chain specializing in soups, salads and sandwiches

Panera Bread is an American chain store of bakery-café fast casual restaurants with over 2,000 locations, all of which are in the United States and Canada. Its headquarters are in Sunset Hills, Missouri.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ciabatta</span> Italian white bread

Ciabatta is an Italian white bread made from wheat flour, water, salt, yeast and olive oil, created in 1982 by a baker in Adria, province of Rovigo, Veneto, Italy, in response to the popularity of French baguettes. Ciabatta is somewhat elongated, broad, and flat, and is baked in many variations, although unique for its alveolar holes. Ciabatta is made with a strong flour and uses a very high hydration dough.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Italian tomato pie</span> Pizza-like baked good of Italian-American origin

Italian tomato pie is an Italian-American and Italian-Canadian baked good consisting of a thick, porous, focaccia-like dough covered with tomato sauce. It may be sprinkled with romano cheese or oregano. It is not usually served straight from the oven, but allowed to cool and then consumed at room temperature or reheated. Like Sicilian pizza, tomato pie is baked in a large rectangular pan and usually served in square slices, although in Rhode Island it is cut into rectangular strips like pizza al taglio. Tomato pie descends from and resembles the Italian sfincione, although it is not the same dish; for instance, sfincione may have toppings, is usually served hot, and has a crust more like brioche than focaccia.

ARYZTA AG is a food business based in Zurich with operations in Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. It is incorporated in Switzerland and is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange. It discontinued its listing on Euronext Dublin on 1 March 2021. The group is a major supplier in the specialty frozen bakery sector, and is a global supplier of baked goods to the food service, retail and quick service restaurant sectors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maple Leaf Foods</span> Canadian food packaging company

Maple Leaf Foods Inc. is a Canadian consumer packaged meats company. Its head office is in Mississauga, Ontario.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Délifrance</span> International company specialising in French bakery products

Délifrance is a bakery company that produces "French style" bakery, savoury and snacking products in over 100 countries on five continents. It has been in operation since 1983. The sister company of Délifrance is Grands Moulins de Paris, which is a major French milling company and supplies 100% of the flour used in Délifrance's products.

George Weston Limited, often referred to as Weston or Weston's, is a Canadian holding company. Founded by George Weston in 1882, the company today consists of the Choice Properties real estate investment trust and Loblaw Companies Limited, Canada's largest supermarket retailer, in which it maintains a controlling interest. Retail brands include President's Choice, No Name and Joe Fresh. The former Weston Bakeries division, which owned the brands Wonder, Country Harvest, D'Italiano, Ready Bake and Gadoua, was sold off to FGF Brands in 2022. The company is controlled by the Weston family, which owns a majority share in George Weston Limited.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">W. Garfield Weston</span>

Willard Garfield Weston was a Canadian businessman and philanthropist who was a member of the prominent Weston family. He led George Weston Limited and its various subsidiaries and associated companies, including Associated British Foods, for half a century and established one of the world's largest food processing and distribution concerns. He also served as a Member of Parliament (MP) in the British House of Commons during World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">La Brea Bakery</span> Bakery company based in Los Angeles, US

La Brea Bakery is an industrial baking company started in Los Angeles, California. Since opening its flagship store on 624 S La Brea Avenue in 1989—six months earlier than Campanile, the restaurant it was built to serve—La Brea has opened two much larger bakeries in Van Nuys, California, and Swedesboro, New Jersey, to serve wholesale clients. La Brea Bakery is one of the largest sellers of artisan bread in the US. In 2001, La Brea was acquired by Aryzta AG. In 2021, Aryzta sold its interest in La Brea Bakery and its other North American brands to Lindsay Goldberg. In May 2021, Aryzta North America was renamed to Aspire Bakeries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bimbo Bakeries USA</span> American subsidiary bakery company of Grupo Bimbo

Bimbo Bakeries USA, Inc. is the American corporate arm of the Mexican multinational bakery product manufacturing company Grupo Bimbo. It is the largest bakery company in the United States. The company, headquartered in Horsham, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia, owns many fresh bread and sweet baked goods brands in the United States, including Entenmann's, Sara Lee, and Thomas'. It is also a top advertising sponsor for many major soccer teams around the globe.

The history of California bread as a prominent factor in the field of bread baking dates from the days of the California Gold Rush around 1849, encompassing the development of sourdough bread in San Francisco. It includes the rise of artisan bakeries in the 1980s, which strongly influenced what has been called the "Bread Revolution".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canada Bread</span> Canadian baked goods producer

Canada Bread Company, Ltd. is a Canadian producer and distributor of packaged fresh bread and bakery products. The company operates 17 bakeries and employs over 4,800 employees across Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Semifreddi's Bakery</span>

Semifreddi’s Bakery is an Alameda-based artisan bakery that serves the entire San Francisco Bay Area. The name Semifreddi means “half-frozen” in Italian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bread in Europe</span> Overview of bread in Europe

Bread is a staple food throughout Europe. Throughout the 20th century, there was a huge increase in global production, mainly due to a rise in available, developed land throughout Europe, North America and Africa.

General Host Corp. was a New York-based food and food-related company. It was also the owner of Frank's Nursery & Crafts until the company's bankruptcy in 2004.

Linda Haynes is co-founder of ACE Bakery Limited, Calmeadow, and the Haynes-Connell Foundation. For her philanthropic work, Haynes was awarded the Member of the Order of Canada in 2006, and invested in 2007.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "ACE Bakery". Toronto Life. Retrieved 5 November 2012.[ permanent dead link ]
  2. ↑ "More good things". ACE Bakery. Archived from the original on 23 November 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
  3. ↑ "An ace in the kitchen". Doctor's Review. May 2007.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Silverman, Craig (August 28, 2008). "Trading bread for dough". Globe and Mail. Retrieved October 5, 2012.
  5. ↑ Schroeder, Eric (October 26, 2021). "FGF Brands to acquire Weston Foods assets for $1.2 billion". Food Business News. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
  6. ↑ "Our Team". Birch Hill Equity Partners. Archived from the original on June 26, 2012. Retrieved October 25, 2012.
  7. ↑ "The Final Proof". Bakers Journal. July 2007.
  8. 1 2 Kane, Marion (March 10, 1993). "Bakery breadwinner for Canada's poor". Toronton Star.
  9. ↑ Johnson, Jessica (October 16, 2003). "The official Toronto baguette". Globe and Mail.
  10. ↑ MacDonald, Gayle (February 9, 1996). "Let them eat bread". Globe and Mail.
  11. ↑ "ACE Bakery's winning hand". Bakers Journal. Archived from the original on September 23, 2010. Retrieved October 23, 2012.
  12. ↑ "Taster's choice". Globe and Mail. November 22, 2003.
  13. ↑ "Ginger, almond and lemon cake". Natalie Maclean. Retrieved 5 November 2012.
  14. ↑ Adrian, Marks. "One cannot live by bread alone". January magazine. Retrieved 15 November 2012.
  15. ↑ Honey, Kim (April 9, 2008). "Ace team sells bakery". Toronto Star. Retrieved October 29, 2012.
  16. ↑ "George Weston Ltd. buys ACE Bakery". Food Service and Hospitality. Archived from the original on January 23, 2013. Retrieved October 5, 2012.
  17. ↑ "ACE Bakery investing $18.4M, creating 51 jobs in Cherokee County". GoUpstate.com. Retrieved September 28, 2012.
  18. ↑ Staff Reports. "ACE Bakery announces $32M expansion, new jobs in Cherokee County". GoUpstate. Retrieved 2018-02-16.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.