Dancing Deer Baking Co.

Last updated
Dancing Deer Baking Co
Company type Privately held company
Industry Bakery
Founded1994 in West Roxbury, Boston, Massachusetts, US
FounderSuzanne Lombardi, Ayis Antoniou, and Trish Karter
Headquarters,
Area served
United States and Canada
Key people
Frank Carpenito, CEO
Products Cakes, Cookies, Brownies, Baking Mixes and Gift Baskets
Number of employees
75-225 (seasonal)
Website dancingdeer.com
Footnotes /references
[1]
A stack of Dancing Deer brownies Dancing-Deer-Brownies-Stack.jpg
A stack of Dancing Deer brownies

Dancing Deer Baking Co. is a New York based bakery that sells kosher-certified cookies, brownies, cakes and baking mixes in the specialty/natural products, food service/travel/hospitality, business gifts and direct-to-consumer marketplaces. A variety of Dancing Deer products are also available in grocery chains and specialty food stores across the United States and certain parts of Canada, including nationally recognized Whole Foods Market. [2]

Contents

The company is noted for producing all-natural, preservative-free products. [3]

History

Dancing Deer was incorporated in 1994 [1] by three founders, Suzanne Lombardi, a baker who originated many of Dancing Deer's recipes, Ayis Antoniou, a business strategist and Trish Karter, an artist and businesswoman. [4]

The company started out in a former pizza parlor in West Roxbury, Massachusetts on a busy street corner with a couple of convection ovens. At that time, their specialty was cakes, sold primarily to cafes and restaurants. In 1996, they brought out a line of packaged consumer goods under the Dancing Deer label. [5] [6] [7] The company reported revenues of more than $10 million by 2007. [8]

In 2008, the company made a strategic decision to focus on growing the corporate gift portion of the business. Dancing Deer has the ability to print the corporate logos on gift tins and boxes and cookies can be imprinted with corporate logos. Revenues from corporate gifts represented about 15% of annual revenues in 2008 and by late 2008 this was up to over 18%. [9]

In September 2010, Karter stepped down from her role as CEO of the company to pursue a life outside of baking. [10] Frank Carpenito became CEO in 2010 and left the position in July 2016.

In 2024, Dancing Deer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. [11]

Company name

The name for the company came from Lombardi's grandmother, Erma Shaw, who owned a gift shop and antique store named Dancing Deer in Bar Harbor, Maine. The company also borrowed recipes including the famous Deep Dark Gingerbread Cake. [12]

Awards

In 1998, the NASFT or National Association for the Specialty Food Trade awarded Dancing Deer the gold Sofi Award for Outstanding Cookie of the year for their signature Molasses Clove Cookie. Sofi stands for Specialty Outstanding Food Innovation and honors the outstanding specialty foods and beverages of the year in 33 categories. It is considered to be the Food Industry's equivalent of the Oscars. [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bakery</span> Type of business that sells flour-based food

A bakery is an establishment that produces and sells flour-based baked goods made in an oven such as bread, cookies, cakes, doughnuts, bagels, pastries, and pies. Some retail bakeries are also categorized as cafés, serving coffee and tea to customers who wish to consume the baked goods on the premises. In some countries, a distinction is made between bakeries, which primarily sell breads, and pâtisseries, which primarily sell sweet baked goods.

Scott Livengood is the owner and chief executive officer of Dewey’s Bakery, Inc., which was founded in 1930 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The company owns two brands, Salem Baking Company (SBC) and Dewey's Bakery. Salem Baking Company is a specialty cookie and cracker brand and a private brand manufacturer. Dewey's Bakery is a retail bakery located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, operating a high volume production/retail location and a satellite store. Dewey's Bakery specializes in traditional iced and fondant layers cakes, sheet cakes, cupcakes, cake squares, cake pops, cheesecakes, "cookie cakes", "brownie cakes", and "ice cream cakes and pies".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McKee Foods</span> Snack food and granola manufacturer

McKee Foods Corporation is a privately held and family-owned American snack food and granola manufacturer headquartered in Collegedale, Tennessee. The corporation is the maker of Drake's Cakes, Fieldstone Bakery snacks and cereal, Little Debbie snacks, and Sunbelt Bakery granola and cereal. The company also formerly operated Heartland Brands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Entenmann's</span> American baked goods manufacturer

Entenmann's is an American company that manufactures baked goods and delivers them throughout the United States to supermarkets and other retailers for public sales. Often, they are known to have display cases at the end of store aisles. The company offers dessert, cup, loaf, and crumb cakes, and donuts, cookies, pies, cereal bars, muffins, Danish pastries, and among other baked goods, buns. In the past several years, they have added designer coffee flavors along with scented candles to their product line in an effort to broaden its appeal.

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. The company is majority owned by Wittington Investments, Ltd Canada, a holding company that the Weston family are the controlling share holders in. 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mrs. Fields</span> American food company specializing in cookies

Mrs. Fields' Original Cookies Inc. is an American franchisor in the snack food industry, with Mrs. Fields and TCBY as its core brands. Through its franchisees' retail stores, it is one of the largest retailers of freshly-baked-on-premises specialty cookies and brownies in the United States and the largest retailer of soft-serve frozen yogurt in the country. In addition, it operates a gifts and branded retail business, entering into many licensing arrangements. Its franchise systems include over 300 franchised and licensed locations throughout the United States and in 22 other countries. It also offers retail grocery products and a gifting catalog under the name of Mrs. Fields Gifts. It is headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black and white cookie</span> Round cookie with chocolate and vanilla frosting

Black-and-white cookies, half-and-half cookies, and half-moon cookies are similar round cookies iced or frosted in two colors, with one half vanilla and the other chocolate. They are found in the Northeastern United States and Florida. Black-and-white cookies are flat, have fondant or sometimes royal icing on a dense cake base, and are common in the New York metropolitan area. Half-moon cookies are slightly dome-shaped (convex), have frosting on a fluffy angel cake base, and are common in Central New York and Boston, Massachusetts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mother's Cookies</span> American food brand

Mother's Cookies is a food brand owned by Italian conglomerate Ferrero Group. Mother Cookies began as a bakery based in Oakland, California, that operated from 1914 to 2008. A sister company, Archway Cookies of Battle Creek, Michigan, was founded in 1936. Both Mother's Cookies and Archway declared bankruptcy in 2008. At its height, the company distributed cookies throughout the United States, and was one of the leading cookie makers in the country. The Kellogg Company acquired the Mother's Cookies trademark and recipes in December 2008 and brought the brand back to West Coast grocery store shelves on May 14, 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Archway Cookies</span> American cookie manufacturer

Archway Cookies is an American cookie manufacturer, founded in 1936 in Battle Creek, Michigan. Since December 2008, it has been a subsidiary of Lance Inc., a snack food company, which in turn merged with Snyder's of Hanover to form Snyder's-Lance. Archway is best known for its variations of oatmeal cookies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buddy Valastro</span> American pastry chef

Bartolo "Buddy" Valastro Jr. is an American baker, reality television personality, and businessman. He has taken his small, family-owned bake shop, Carlo's Bakery, and turned it into a baking and restaurant empire. Valastro is best known as the star of the reality television series Cake Boss, which ran on the TLC cable channel from April 2009 until April 2020. He has also starred in Next Great Baker (2010), Kitchen Boss (2011), Buddy's Bakery Rescue (2013), Bake You Rich (2013), Bakery Boss (2013), Buddy vs. Duff (2019), Buddy vs. Christmas (2020) Buddy Valastro's Cake Dynasty (2023-present) and Legends of The Fork (2023-present)

Trish Karter is an American entrepreneur and the founder of the Dancing Deer Baking Co.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Insomnia Cookies</span> American global bakery chain

Insomnia Cookies is a chain of bakeries primarily in the United States that specializes in delivering warm cookies, baked goods, and ice cream. Based in New York and Philadelphia, it was started in 2003 by Jared Barnett and Seth Berkowitz, both students at the University of Pennsylvania. The company has more than 265 stores, mainly located throughout the continental U.S., with international locations in Canada and England. Many stores are located in close proximity to university campuses and cater to students who want to order cookies late at night.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DecoPac, Inc.</span> US cake decorating product company

DecoPac, Inc. is a supplier and marketer of cake decorating products headquartered in Anoka, Minnesota. DecoPac supplies bakeries, professional cake decorators and cake decorating enthusiasts across the United States, Canada, and Europe. The company was formed in 1982 as an internal supplier of cake decorations for McGlynn's Bakery stores.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baking mix</span> Dry foodstuff used in baking

A baking mix is a mixed formulation of ingredients used for the cooking of baked goods. Baking mixes may be commercially manufactured or homemade. Baking mixes that cater to particular dietary needs, such as vegan, gluten-free, or kosher baking mixes, can be bought in many places.

Joanne Chang is an American chef and restaurant owner. She is the owner of Flour Bakery in Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts and James Beard Foundation Award winner for Outstanding Baker, 2016. In announcing the award, Devra First of the Boston Globe wrote that Chang was "on her way to becoming the Susan Lucci of the Beards." She is known for her sticky buns. In 2021, Chang appeared as a judge on Netflix's Baking Impossible.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lotus Bakeries</span> Confectionery company founded in Belgium

Lotus Bakeries NV is a Belgian multinational snack food company founded in 1932. Based in Lembeke, Kaprijke, the company's best known product is Speculoos. Other Lotus brands include nākd, TREK, BEAR, Kiddylicious, Peter’s Yard, Dinosaurus, Peijnenburg and Annas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dawn Foods</span> American wholesale manufacturer and distributor of food products

Dawn Foods is an American wholesale manufacturer and distributor of breads, baked goods, mixes, and other food products. The company is based in Jackson, Michigan and operates globally.

Tzurit Or is an Israeli-born pastry chef. She is the founder of the Tatte Bakery & Café located in the Greater Boston area and Washington, D.C.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Askatu Bakery</span> Bakery in Seattle, Washington, U.S.

Askatu Bakery is a Latino- and woman-owned bakery in Seattle's Belltown neighborhood, in the U.S. state of Washington. As an "allergen-free" bakery, Askatu offers gluten-free and vegan options, and avoids eggs, nuts, and wheat. Established by Estela Martinez in 2019, the business has also been a vendor at the farmers' market in the University District. Askatu has garnered a positive reception.

References

  1. 1 2 Weaver, Alex E. (2015-12-22). "How Dancing Deer's CEO Handles the Mad Holiday Rush". BosInno. Archived from the original on 2016-10-10. Retrieved 2016-10-07.
  2. Abrashoff, D. Michael (2005). "Chapter II: CEO Trish Karter makes the Deer Dance". Get your ship together: how great leaders inspire ownership from the keel up. Portfolio. p. 37ff.
  3. Donlan, Vicki; French Graves, Helen (2007). Her Turn: Why It's Time for Women to Lead in America. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 81. ISBN   9780275999247 . Retrieved 2016-10-07.
  4. "Self-Rising Survivor". Wheaton Quarterly. Archived from the original on 2010-05-28. Retrieved 2016-10-07.
  5. Spiro, Josh (2010-04-02). "How a Social Mission Guides This Business". Inc. Retrieved 2016-10-07.
  6. Perman, Stacy (2005-12-13). "Baking Principles into the Business; How Dancing Deer, a small Boston bakery, rose up to become a multimillion-dollar business -- without losing its socially responsible core values". BusinessWeek.
  7. Thompson, Nadine A.; Soper, Angela (2007). Values Sell: Transforming Purpose in to Profit Through Creative Sales and Distribution Strategies . Berrett-Koehler Publishers. p.  79. ISBN   978-1576755204.
  8. Mainwaring, Simon (2011). We First: How Brands and Consumers Use Social Media to Build a Better World . Macmillan. p.  47. ISBN   978-0230120532 . Retrieved 2016-10-10.
  9. Chesto, Jon (2012-12-28). "Corporate gift strategy contributes to rising sales at Dancing Deer Baking Co". Boston Business Journal . Retrieved 2016-10-10.
  10. Woolhouse, Megan (2010-06-26). "Dancing Deer executive leaves post". Boston.com . Retrieved 2016-10-22.
  11. "Dancing Deer Corporation files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy". BKData. June 13, 2024. Retrieved June 14, 2024.
  12. Monahan, JC (2015-02-05). "Bar Harbor: Dancing Deer - A Boston Connection". WCVB-TV . Retrieved 2016-10-22.
  13. "2013 sofi™ Gold Award Winners Announced!". www.specialtyfood.com. Archived from the original on July 4, 2009. Retrieved October 13, 2013.