Baking & Snack - March 2020 - 130

NEW PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT

FRESH OUT OF THE OVEN
Little Shop of Bagels brings its product directly to consumers' kitchens with Wake-N-Bagel.

The frozen bagels come
four in a box and are
baked by consumers in
their own homes.
Little Shop of Bagels

Consumers living in Ashland, OR, have enjoyed the smell
of fresh bagels wafting from the Little Shop of Bagels for
more than 25 years. Others have gone out of their way just
to have a taste or included the bakery on their travel agenda. "Wake-N-Bagel was born from that long-distance demand," said Angelina McClean, vice-president of WakeN-Bagel. "Francesca, the owner, wanted to find a way to
give our consumers that fresh-out-of-the oven experience
no matter how far away they are."
Wake-N-Bagel is Little Shop of Bagels' first line sold
in specialty and natural foods retailers. The frozen bagels
come four in a box and can be thawed in the refrigerator and baked by consumers in their own home ovens.
The company currently has three Wake-N-Bagel flavors available - Classic Plain, Hiker (Everything) and
Savory Onion - with a suggested retail price from $7.99
to $8.99.
While the bagels are frozen, they are made the traditional way and contain no preservatives but incorporate
organic and high-quality ingredients. "We have never
skimped on quality or authenticity, and the same can be
said for our frozen line," Ms. McClean said. "There was
certainly a lot of testing and troubleshooting, but once
we got it right, we were ecstatic. We developed a specific
method to produce our frozen bagels and achieve results
up to our high standards."
Little Shop of Bagels has been producing its Wake-NBagel from the original bakery, and Ms. McClean said
that has been a challenge due to limited space. With the

130 Baking & Snack March 2020 / www.bakingbusiness.com

production increase, the company moved to a larger
1,400-sq-ft facility in Medford, OR, which has proven to
require just as much time and effort. "It has its own challenges - funding, permits, etc. - but things are moving
along great, and we are so excited to be up and running
in our new dedicated space," she explained.
In addition to a new facility, the bakery created new
websites for Wake-N-Bagel and Little Shop of Bagels.
It has also promoted its product and shared updates on
Facebook and Instagram accounts. "The response has
been great," Ms. McClean said. "The product is moving,
and we have been receiving emails and phone calls from
people who love our new bagels so much that they went
out of their way to let us know. That's when we knew we
really had something good here."
Currently, Wake-N-Bagel can be found across
Oregon, but the next step for Little Shop of Bagels is
moving the product out to distributors in the western
half of the US. The company exhibited the product at the
Specialty Food Association's Winter Fancy Food Show in
January to make more connections with retailers and increase its market reach.
"We have big plans and high hopes for this product,"
Ms. McClean noted. "Our bakery has a lot of popular
flavors that we would love to expand on with our frozen line. We see Wake-N-Bagel becoming a major brand
in the frozen breakfast foods market and the natural
foods market."
- Karlee Renkoski

http://www.bakingbusiness.com

Baking & Snack - March 2020

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