Baking & Snack - September 2024 - 42

ASPIRE BAKERIES
Left: Cookies travel
through an ambient
cooling tower after
coming out of
the ovens.
Right: Cookie dough
pucks are loaded
into bulk packaging
after being frozen.
Although the turnover rate is starting to return to prepandemic
levels, the bakery still has labor hot spots, especially
in places where the company is expanding. The company
employs more than 4,000 people, 123 in Newark.
" Baking is not an industry of choice yet, " Yu said.
" It probably was 50 years ago, 40 years ago. We think
even 15 years ago the skilled hourly population was robust.
We saw that slip a little bit before the pandemic.
And those labor shifts are a continuous challenge, so
we've been managing that. The team has done a tremendous
job of trying to address that across the United
States and Canada. It's all about engagement; it's all
about leadership. "
The Otis Spunkmeyer teams have a pre-shift huddle
every day to discuss important topics like safety. The
company also values communication, including sending
employees surveys and engaging in ongoing training.
" We found that a constant touchpoint with our people
- while that sounds obvious - that engagement has really
driven performance and retention, " Yu said.
That includes a call center where workers can ask
about benefits and more.
" There's a lot of different avenues where we enable our
associates to have very close contact with our bakery
leadership at all points, " Yu pointed out.
The bakeries have online Alchemy training as well as
other company programs to help employees get up to
speed on procedures, which is especially helpful for new
associates, Sandvold said. He talked about the core fundamentals,
or company pillars.
" Those pillars are small teams where we use problem
solving, root cause analysis methods as well as hazard
identification and elimination, " he explained. " We use
that platform to engage people and involve them in the
problem-solving process to eliminate hazards and make
each bakery the safest place it can be. "
42 Baking & Snack September 2024 / www.bakingbusiness.com
There's also supervisor training as well as continuous
skills development in which best practices are documented
and shared with employees so everyone understands
expectations and how each procedure promotes
safety. Engagement and worker retention are top focuses.
" We have an onboarding training program where we
established structure to aid our associates and communicate
expectations and make sure they're supported and
listened to, " Sandvold said. " You don't want to start in
an organization and be left on your own to figure it out. "
Inflation and supply chain are ongoing issues, as the
Otis Spunkmeyer team constantly monitors the cost and
availability of raw ingredients like eggs, sugar and chocolate.
Teams work together to stay ahead of any problems.
" We've been working together very closely, collaborating
with our entire business whether it's our procurement
team, supply chain team, finance team, an effort
led by Beau making sure we're addressing these issues
every single day, " Yu said. " It's how we do business. "
Because inflation is impacting businesses and consumers
alike, they are cognizant of that when it comes to
pricing, Netzer said.
" The key right now with inflation and the labor issue
is not just with us but with our customers, especially
with the QSR restaurant space, " he said. " They have an
equal if not more of an issue facing them from a cost
structure. It's about being in front of it and providing solutions
to our customers. "
The company looks for creative ways to deliver value.
For instance, with the higher price of chocolate,
the brand is providing ideas to alleviate costs, like providing
non-chocolate items such as the new Lemon
Burst cookie.
" We leverage our portfolio and provide solutions for
our customers so they can deal with this serious situation
with inflation, " Netzer added.
http://www.bakingbusiness.com
Baking & Snack - September 2024

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