Baking & Snack - November 2023 - 19

" YOU CAN'T BE A BREAD BAKER IN TEXAS WITHOUT
A BURGER BUN, WITHOUT TEXAS TOAST. "
Tasos Katsaounis, Bread Man Baking Co.
able to sustain its business by picking up 25 H-E-B supermarket
locations to supplement the baked foods on their
shelves during a period of peak demand. Additionally,
Mr. Katsaounis set up pop-up locations in front of closed
customer locations, restaurants mostly, selling bread.
" I learned important lessons quickly during COVID, "
Mr. Katsaounis said. " It's valuable to be able to diversify
yourself. Luckily, we managed that disruption. We
still grew that year. We had triple-digit growth during
COVID. "
Indicative of the company's continued growth, Bread
Man in December 2021 moved into a larger production
facility, giving the company 40,000 square feet of space to
meet customer needs and accommodate future growth.
The company currently operates three production
lines - one is devoted to artisan products, one to buns
and rolls, and one to pullman loaves. The lines feed
into 10 double Revent rack ovens. The facility has blast
freezing capability and a freezer large enough to hold 10
truckloads of products.
" We still have room for growth in this facility, " Mr.
Katsaounis said. " We're working five days a week with a
single shift right now. We expect a second shift to begin
on a limited basis before long. "
Mr. Katsaounis said the most recent quarter represented
another all-time high for Bread Man, and that
the company is hotly pursuing significant new business
opportunities.
" We are producing at our peak, and we are being considered
for higher volume business, " he said. " It was a
record quarter and it's very exciting. "
He said Bread Man is in the running for co-packing
opportunities for a consumer product.
" It's a French toast, and we're being considered to bake
the brioche, " Mr. Katsaounis said. " We are finding opportunities
from various areas coming to us. We have a
very agile group and production. We're at a stage when
we will look at everything so long as it makes sense. It
enables us to feed our creative side as bakers. "
To help accelerate growth, Bread Man partnered with
Vantage Partners TX LLC in 2019, which Mr. Katsaounis
said has assisted " all aspects " of the business, including
becoming its primary investor. Today, the company
serves foodservice customers across Houston and ships
frozen products as far away as Utah and Arizona to the
west and Florida to the east.
" The three pillars of our business are to focus on consistency
and quality, which is tough at scale for artisan;
customer service, building relationships and putting our
clients' needs at the forefront; and a culture in which
food safety is crucial, " Mr. Katsaounis said.
The company's baking plant is Safe Quality Food
(SQF) Program certified, which he said is an important
selling point when Bread Man pursues new accounts.
Even as raw material costs have escalated, Mr.
Katsaounis said Bread Man customers have worked to
minimize price increases.
" Foodservice is our predominant business, and restaurant
owners and hospitality groups seem to be the last
ones who want to raise prices, " he said. " There is a genuine
fear of losing business. Their costs are rising just as
much as anyone's. We don't see the demand change. They
still want 2021 prices or 2022 prices. We've done what we
can to try to be competitive with some of the other large
players in the market. We try, when possible, not to pass
along the cost increases, but we've had to raise prices. But
we have done it in minor increments over time, and we
have tried to do it skillfully but respectfully.
" Pricing always will be a conversation. Everyone is
looking for a reasonable price. We have seen a slight decrease
in margin. When you're in a commodity-driven
business, it becomes a balancing act. You have to find
that sweet spot. I don't want to go in immediately and be
reactionary. We have a relationship. We take it seriously.
You don't want to hit your customers with a 15% to 20%
increase overnight. "
While conventional products like buns and rolls have
been an important part of Bread Man's business, the
overall mix remains a 50/50 split between artisan and
conventional products. Mr. Katsaounis expects that ratio
to be maintained for the foreseeable future, even as the
company tries to keep growing rapidly.
" With what we have in our pipeline, there are four 'big
fish' we're going after, if we close the four deals, we'll still
be half artisan, " he said.
Asked whether he is glad he made the career switch,
Mr. Katsaounis said choosing to start a baking company
is not for those looking for extra leisure time, adding
that he has zero regrets about the change.
" I've never been happier, " he said. " My parents are still
alive - they live in Dallas. When I brought them here,
and they saw the wide-open warehouse, my mother
started crying. I was confused. She looked at me and said,
'This is exactly why we came to this country.' They knew
I had a good job before, but this means so much more. It
has been very exciting, nonstop. We have not seen a slowdown
period since we started the biz. I've never worked
harder in my life, but this is my passion. "
*
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Baking & Snack - November 2023

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