Baking & Snack - February 2022 - 41

Operationally, the company's investment in the
new bakery also provides greater opportunities for
expanding its customer base.
" Automation allows us to be in places where we
couldn't have been before because we're so much
more cost effective than in the past, " Ms. Figgins
said, " We can be so much more competitive particularly
in the specialty food channel. "
She pointed out that the investment in technology
transformed Partners from a small cracker
producer to a mid-sized food business that can
supply the major players in the industry at the
right cost and volume.
" We're in between big and small, " Ms. Figgins
said. " There are mega companies, but very few
medium companies and quite a lot of small companies.
We're in that medium zone. "
More than 90 people work on three 8-hour
shifts, five days a week. Overseeing the daily
operations along with Ms. Figgins and Mr.
Maestretti are Ted Slabaugh, plant manager; AJ
Rendon, quality assurance manager; Katy Borgen,
R&D manager, and Margaret Stanberry in human
resources.
The BRC AA-certified facility houses three bakery
departments with a locker room, pan storage area,
warehouse/shipping department and two floors of
Robotics bolster capacity and dramatically reduce labor in
the packaging department.
Partners family remembers
their inspirational founder
Marian Harris, who started
Partners 30 years ago, passed
away in September 2021. Her
children, Cara Figgins and Greg
Maestretti, described her as a
respected restaurateur, recipe
innovator, a steward of iconic
businesses and a pioneer in the
specialty cracker segment.
" She was always at the right
place at the right time, " recalled
Ms. Figgins, the company's
president. " She could identify the
next food trend before anyone
else. My mom has done that over
and over. I don't know how that
worked in her brain so well, but
boy, was she good at seeing those
trends. "
After founding Partners, A
Tasteful Choice Company, Ms.
Harris recruited Mr. Maestretti,
who has a degree in physics
and promised to help his mom
for a few weeks, but he ended
up staying with the company
as it grew like gangbusters and
expanded three times.
Now he's the company's
chief operating officer who
oversaw the opening of the new
150,000-square-foot plant in Des
Moines, Wash., which he designed
over the past few years.
Likewise, Ms. Figgins, a lawyer,
also committed to work for a short
period - initially three years -
for her mom. However, as the
high-energy business blossomed,
she remained with the company
for the past 28 years. Ms. Figgins
also noted that several veteran
employees have worked at
Partners for more than 20 years.
Today, the second-generation
family owners are focusing on
diversifying the business and
taking new product development
to the next level.
" We will continue to honor
our mother's memory and her
entrepreneurial spirit by making
our foods from scratch with
integrity and responsibility, "
the two children observed in a
statement last year.
www.bakingbusiness.com / February 2022 Baking & Snack 41
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Baking & Snack - February 2022

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