Cake is a form of sweet food made from flour, sugar, and other ingredients, that is usually baked. In their oldest forms, cakes were modifications of bread, but cakes now cover a wide range of preparations that can be simple or elaborate, and that share features with other desserts such as pastries, meringues, custards, and pies.
A bagel, also historically spelled beigel, is a bread product originating in the Jewish communities of Poland. It is traditionally shaped by hand into the form of a ring from yeasted wheat dough, roughly hand-sized, that is first boiled for a short time in water and then baked. The result is a dense, chewy, doughy interior with a browned and sometimes crisp exterior. Bagels are often topped with seeds baked on the outer crust, with the traditional ones being poppy or sesame seeds. Some may have salt sprinkled on their surface, and there are different dough types, such as whole-grain or rye. Bagels are eaten toasted or untoasted.
Sliced bread is a loaf of bread that has been sliced with a machine and packaged for convenience. It was first sold in 1928, advertised as "the greatest forward step in the baking industry since bread was wrapped". This led to the popular idiom "greatest thing since sliced bread".
An English muffin is a small, round, flat yeast-leavened bread which is commonly sliced horizontally, toasted, and buttered. Toasted English muffins, which are often used in the United Kingdom and United States as a breakfast food, may be served with sweet toppings or savory toppings. English muffins are also used as the bread in a variety of breakfast sandwiches, and are an essential ingredient in Eggs Benedict and most of its variations.
Wonder Bread is a brand of bread which originated in the United States in 1921 and was one of the first to be sold pre-sliced nationwide in 1930. This led to the popular phrase "the greatest thing since sliced bread". The brand is currently owned by Flowers Foods in the United States.
A rusk is a hard, dry biscuit or a twice-baked bread. It is sometimes used as a baby teething food. In some cultures, rusk is made of cake, rather than bread: this is sometimes referred to as cake rusk. In the United Kingdom, the name also refers to a wheat-based food additive.
The Sara Lee Corporation was an American consumer-goods company based in Downers Grove, Illinois. It had operations in more than 40 countries and sold its products in over 180 countries. Its international operations were headquartered in Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Texas toast is a toasted bread with butter, and often garlic, that is often made from a type of packaged bread that has been sliced at double the average thickness of most sliced breads. The Texas toast loaf itself is often more squarish compared to most sliced breads which have a more curved side and top. While Texas toast bread can be used in the same manner as ordinary bread slices such as in sandwiches, it is especially useful for dishes involving liquids, such as barbecue sauce, or where extra thickness could improve the product, such as French toast. In addition, the often increased thickness of the slices of Texas toast lets it retain moisture and softness better than regular sliced bread. It is usually a white bread although there are whole wheat varieties. Producers of Texas toast in the United States include Franz Bakery, Mrs. Baird's, and Safeway/Lucerne Foods.
Grupo Bimbo, S.A.B. de C.V., known as Bimbo, is a Mexican multinational bakery product manufacturing company headquartered in Mexico City, Mexico. It is the world's largest baking company and operates the largest bakeries in the United States, Mexico, Canada, Chile, Peru, Colombia, El Salvador and Spain, and has some of the widest distribution networks in Mexico and the United States. It was also the ninth largest company of Mexico by revenues in 2013.
Sunbeam Bread is a franchised brand of white bread, rolls, and other baked goods owned by the Quality Bakers of America cooperative. The bread products are produced and distributed by regional bakeries.
A saltine or soda cracker is a thin, usually square cracker made from white flour, yeast, and baking soda, with most varieties lightly sprinkled with coarse salt. It has perforations over its surface, as well as a distinctively dry and crisp texture.
Roman Meal Company was an American bread company with headquarters in Fargo, North Dakota. Founded in Tacoma, Washington, in 1912, the company focused on whole-grain products, including bread, hot cereal, and snack bars.
Flowers Foods, headquartered in Thomasville, Georgia, is a producer and marketer of packed bakery food. The company operates 47 bakeries producing bread, buns, rolls, snack cakes, pastries, and tortillas. Flower Foods' products are sold regionally through a direct store delivery network that encompasses the East, South, Southwest, West, and the Northwest regions of the United States and are delivered nationwide to retailer's warehouses. It has made acquisitions of a number of bakeries and other food companies over the years, continuing through to the present day. As of February 2013, it had grown to be the "second-largest baking company in the United States".
Schmidt Baking Company is a bakery in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. The company makes Schmidt's Blue Ribbon and Schmidt's Old Tyme Breads and, as a licensee of the Quality Bakers of America Cooperative, bakes and distributes Sunbeam Bread in its territory.
Bimbo Bakeries USA 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.
Merita is a brand of breads that was produced by Hostess Brands and now produced by Flowers Foods, available throughout the Southeastern United States until November 16, 2012, when Hostess's management decided to liquidate Hostess. The company gave as their reason for this action that they had been crippled by a strike by BCTGM, the bakers' union. Union spokespersons attributed the company's situation to poor management over a long period of years.
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.
