Baking & Snack - December 2024 - 8

editorial
The freedom to try something new
It's always nerve-racking jumping into something new.
Sometimes, however, the need is too great, and a new
venture is necessary. Other times, it's an opportunity
born from the question " why? " or " why not? " The Rotella
family's latest ventures - Rotella's Cold Storage and Ag
Alchemy Animal Nutrition - both sprouted from either a
need or an opportunity to do things differently. Lou Rotella
III, chief operating officer, and John Rotella, general manager,
of Omaha, Neb.-based Rotella's Italian Bakery, were
simply ambitious enough to try.
This is a family trait, just like their strong work ethic,
persistence, commitment to service and attention to detail.
Both their father, Lou Rotella Jr., chief executive officer,
and their grandfather, Lou Rotella Sr., had ambitions
for the family business. Lou Rotella Sr. turned his father's
bakery into one of the most successful commercial bakeries
in the United States. Lou Rotella Jr. reached nationwide
distribution by moving to frozen inventory.
Today, the fourth generation continues to build
on that momentum. While the Rotellas have
been bakers for more than a hundred years,
cold storage was something they had dabbled
in with a 3,500-pallet onsite frozen warehouse.
This year, after dealing with third-party storage
facilities that negatively impacted business,
the Rotellas opened their own 20,000-pallet
cold storage facility to bring everything in-house.
Ag Alchemy Animal Nutrition is a jump into
an entirely new category that came about when John
Rotella wondered if the company could do more with its
bakery by-product than just sell it for feed. While producing
dog treats is very similar to cookies, there was still a
PUBLISHING STAFF
Group Publisher
Publisher
Media Sales Representative
National Account Executive
Inside Sales Specialist
Senior Director of Marketing
and Promotions
Sales Enablement Specialist
Mike Gude
James Boddicker
Josh Buttshaw
Tom Huppe
Lauren Juliana
Kathi D. Gilleland
Whitney Hartman
Audience Development Manager Dustin Pickman
Audience Development Specialist Carlea Chance
Director of Digital Media
Digital Advertising Manager
Advertising Manager
Advertising Coordinator
Design Services Manager
Senior Design Consultant
Senior Graphic Designer
Promotions Manager
Jon Hall
Carrie Fluegge
Nora Wages
Kayley Kerns
Elisabeth Spillman
Becky White
Brian Peterman
Jim White
Editor
Executive Editor
Managing Editor
Features Editor
Associate Editor
Digital Media Associate Editor
Contributing Editors:
EDITORIAL
Charlotte Atchley
Dan Malovany
Keith Moore
Michelle Smith
Lucas Cuni-Mertz
Taryn Parker
Donna Berry
Allison Gibeson
Corporate Headquarters
4801 Main St., Suite 650, Kansas City, MO 64112
Phone: (816) 756-1000; Fax: (816) 756-0494
E-mail: BakingSnack@sosland.com
Internet: www.bakingbusiness.com
BAKING & SNACK is distributed free-of-charge to qualified readers with managerial responsibilities in the baking
and snack food industries. SUBSCRIPTIONS: To apply, log on to www.bakingbusiness.com and select Magazine
Subscriptions. For non-qualified readers, US and Canadian subscriptions are accepted at $36 per year. Foreign
subscriptions (from outside the territory of the US and its possessions and Canada) are accepted at $72 per year.
BAKING & SNACK assumes no responsibility for the validity of claims in items reported. ©2024 Sosland Publishing
Company, a division of Sosland Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents
without written permission is prohibited. Printed in USA
8 Baking & Snack December 2024 / www.bakingbusiness.com
learning curve in nutrition development and the high level
of testing and sanitation necessary for companion animal
nutrition. However, taking that leap and scaling that
curve has led to Rotella's being able to turn 10% to 15% of
the company's bakery by-product into a completely new
revenue stream. It's all because John Rotella was willing
to pursue the question of " why not? " and his father was
willing to let him try it. John Rotella pointed out that a
big part of growing up in the company was that his father
was never afraid of failure, and they were encouraged to
try new things, even if they didn't work out.
" My sons knew that we always would try their ideas, " Lou
Rotella Jr. explained. " And then if it's better, we'll do it the
new way. If it's worse, we won't do it that way, and if it's the
same results, we'll still keep their idea because then they own
it. I always encouraged my kids to come talk to me, even if
it's bad news because we can always get things worked out. "
That mentality has led to generation after generation
of Rotellas expanding the family business to a new level
of professionalism and into new categories. With those
ideas, the company has been able to serve its customers
better and support its workforce.
At Baking & Snack, we're trying something a little new in
2025. Your February issue will come with a new look that
we believe will better serve you, the reader, as we deliver
the information you need to do business and bake better.
It has been more than 10 years since the last time we refreshed
the look of this publication, and a lot has changed
since then. We hope the new design will feel fresher and
more suited to today's wholesale baking industry.
- Charlotte Atchley, Editor
catchley@sosland.com
CORPORATE
Chairman and CEO
President
Chief Financial and
Administrative Officer
Chief Operating Officer and
Executive Editor
Charles S. Sosland
L. Joshua Sosland
Staci Greco
Meyer Sosland

http://www.bakingbusiness.com http://www.bakingbusiness.com http://www.bakingbusiness.com

Baking & Snack - December 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Baking & Snack - December 2024