Baking & Snack - September 2024 - 44

ASPIRE BAKERIES
Otis Spunkmeyer is also offering customers smaller
cookies to help with price point.
" We're providing solutions without looking like, 'Oh,
they shrunk the product.' Be intentional. Offer a smaller
size on purpose and offer it to consumers in multiples, "
Netzer said.
Built to last
The upgrades Otis Spunkmeyer has made to the
79,000-square-foot Newark bakery as well as in Chaska
and Cayce, SC, are about building in capacity while
maintaining flexibility to serve customers.
" To have the ability in our facility to pivot and supply
a large QSR that's launching something is very critical
for us, " Netzer said. " We want to play in that space,
which is more important today because they couldn't
innovate during COVID. There's a huge tidal wave of innovation
that's hit the marketplace, and we've got to be
ready for it. And that requires flexibility with scale. "
The company has a network approach to production
with six bakeries making Otis Spunkmeyer products.
Many produce the same baked goods, but each one has
slightly different capabilities.
" Our supply chain team in conjunction with Beau
are constantly developing business plans as part of the
growth plans so we have the capacity, " Yu said. " That
started in 2019. We didn't predict the pandemic, but we
had a five-year plan at that time, and we are refreshing
those five-year views now. We are going to continue to
invest in the Otis Spunkmeyer network. We're fortuCookie
dough is manually loaded onto a conveyor that takes it to a
hopper where it will be extruded, cut and placed into trays.
Small ovens have an
outsized impact
Otis Spunkmeyer has been placing
ovens in restaurants and other
spots for more than 40 years, and
the program is still going strong.
The ovens are free for customers
who buy Otis Spunkmeyer cookie
dough.
" I look back at the legacy of Otis,
and what's fascinating to me and
what I love about it is it was the
pioneer of fresh-baked cookies, "
said Beau Netzer, president of
foodservice for Aspire Bakeries.
" It's all about fresh baked. And
it all started brilliantly when we
created the Otis Spunkmeyer oven
that we still offer today. "
He explained that committing
to baking desserts is a significant
step operationally for not only
restaurants but certainly other
venues. The Otis Spunkmeyer
oven can help anyone get in the
fresh-baked cookie business.
" We're placing ovens at an
incredible rate right now, " Netzer
said, noting that thousands of
ovens are placed into businesses
every year.
The small tabletop units that are
about the size of a toaster oven
have gone into hotels, banks,
chain restaurants, airport lounges,
44 Baking & Snack September 2024 / www.bakingbusiness.com
nursing homes and more.
Tammy Wong, director of R&D/
commercialization, joked they are
about as simple to use as a child's
Easy-Bake Oven because the temperature
is pre-set, which means
users only need to worry about the
time they bake, which depends on
the size of the cookie.
" You just switch it on for 30 minutes
[to warm up], and it actually
fits three trays, which we provide,
parchment paper and everything, "
Wong said. " You can make up to
three dozen cookies, depending on
the size, and capitalize on the No.
1 reason consumers buy cookies
away from home: fresh baked. "
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