Baking & Snack - May 2024 - 8

editorial
A little bit of science, a little bit of art
B
Baldo Dattolo, president and chief executive officer of
Anthony & Sons Bakery, Denville, NJ, is quick to point
out that when it comes to the family business, he likes
to back up his decisions with research and data. The
bakery's decision to develop a sliced bread with avocado
baked into the formulation didn't feel risky because
the research showed that consumers would respond
positively. After decades of growth in the popularity of
avocado on multigrain toast, it just made sense, said
Ben Rizzitello, vice president of sales and marketing for
Anthony & Sons.
Anthony & Sons has proven to be right. Only 1.5
years since the launch of The Avocado Bread Co.
brand, the signature bread is now sold in 5,000 retail
stores nationwide and growing, with no one
else making anything quite like it.
Dattolo has a similar approach to his capital
spending too. To justify capital spending
on new equipment or production lines,
Dattolo looks at projected sales to anticipate
at what point the bakery needs to invest to
support that growth.
" You have to see it ahead of time, " he said
about the company's investments. " You can see and
feel what's coming as far as sales. "
Examining the numbers and conducting the research
are critical to successful decision-making in business
and in this bakery. But in an industry that is just as much
art as it is science, instinct has to count for something.
Knowing when to pull the trigger on a capital investment
or a new product is not just about the science of cold hard
facts; it's also about the art of knowing when something
just makes sense.
When I visited Anthony & Sons earlier this year,
Dattolo answered so many of my questions with " Why
not? " because that's the innovative and passionate spirit
he has built this business on and developed through his
entire team. Very much still a family business, Anthony
& Sons lean on their Italian heritage and experience in
addition to the data during product development.
" Our family is into food, " he said. " We love the creativity
part, and that runs throughout everything we do. "
That creativity and passion and gut instinct are evident
in everything Anthony & Sons does, as you can
read in " A Passion for Innovation " on Page 22. It comes
through in their nimble R&D team that makes customers'
ideas realities, capital investment decisions to support
growing sales and the care the leaders show their
employees. Anthony & Sons is guided by the science of
data and the art of instinct.
- Charlotte Atchley, Editor
catchley@sosland.com
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