Baking & Snack - June 2005 - 37

ᮡ A complex series of cables were installed atop Gerard's flour silo at the
insistence of the local building inspector to insure against silo explosions.

"We are planning a 40,000-sq-ft baking operation on the site
and hope to create more than 100 new jobs for the area," Mr.
Hoerner said. He indicated that this county and region of
North Carolina have been hit hard with job losses mainly
because of the demise of tobacco and textiles.
Gerard's Bakery was lured to North Carolina by a
$100,000 grant from the One North Carolina Fund,
which helps the state recruit and expand businesses and
industries. According to Jan Critz, executive director of
the Surry County Economic Development Partnership,
elected officials in Surry County and Mount Airy offered incentive packages to Gerard's worth more than
$700,000. The deal, approved at the county's March 21
meeting, will include tax breaks as well as the acreage.
"This plant will ease production and transportation
costs, enhance market and distribution expansion and
ensure the freshest product possible to our East Coast
accounts," Mr. Hoerner said. Total investment is expected to be $7.5 million, and Gerard's plans to commission
the plant by January 2006.

PAUL LATTAN

which he accepted after a subsequent golf outing.
"This company has its roots in the right place," Mr. Hoerner said, "from its location, and its proximity and control
of its flour supply, to its philosophy of bread making and
commitment to customer service. While we produce in
significant quantities, the process is still an art. We all realize we are dealing with a living thing that breathes and gets
old. We don't make cookie-cutter bread here."
Those basic philosophies paid off big for the company,
which rapidly flourished in the Colorado mountain region,
maximizing the available space for its operation and its distribution. "We have competitors," Mr. Hoerner noted. "But
we focus on quality, flexibility and a willingness to listen
and offer new ideas to our customers. This puts us over and
above others that work on a mass-quantity, low-cost philosophy." The company sought to grow on its own accord
and avoided positioning itself as a commodity producer.
Since the initial investment, the company has needed
no further capital influx. "All improvements have been
self-funded," Mr. Hoerner said. That includes the
15,000-sq-ft second bakery that opened in
2002 at Livermore, CA, expanding its
operations to a 28,000-sq-ft facility two years later.
The company's latest
announcement was
the purchase of 10
acres in an industrial park near
Mount Airy in
Surry County, NC.

40 / BAKING & SNACK / June 2005

FORMULA FOR SUCCESS. A maker of close to 200 different types of breads for companies like Quizno's Subs, IHOP,
Red Robin and Red Lobster restaurants, and local retail and
mass merchandise customers, Gerard's Bakery finds its
market to be more than 99% food service. Its production is
approximately 10% fresh products and 90% frozen.
Fresh delivery in the greater Denver area goes to approximately 450 accounts on a daily basis. "There are
nearly 4 million people within a 75-mile radius of this
plant," Mr. Hoerner said. "However, with the help of the
California facility, we distribute products throughout
the contiguous states."
There are many contributing factors to Gerard's success, and Mr. Hoerner maintains a running list. It is a delicate formula, and everything must be kept in the proper
proportions, according to Mr. Hoerner - from keeping
costs down to maintaining flexibility for customers. "At
Longmont, it is very hands-on, both for operations and
management," he said. "This allows versatility and flexibility that our customers like and expect, and our lack

Baking & Snack - June 2005

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