Bake'n Joy Foods

Bake’n Joy Foods is dedicated to helping its retail partners by providing top-notch customer service and high quality products. What sets Bake’n Joy Foods apart from its competition? Officials at the North Andover, Mass.-based family-owned company believe it is their customer service to their retail partners, as well as the high quality of their bakery products. On-trend product development helps to keep the company on the forefront in offering products retailers need and want. In fact, they say that the privately-held company—founded by Abraham Ogan in 1941 when he used one small blender to deliver bread and donut mixes to local bakers—has long focused on meeting its customers’ needs to stay ahead of the curve in an extremely competitive industry. The bakery has developed into a hot spot as more and more merchants seek ways to entice consumers into their fresh sections. Having a broad selection of product—at a good price point that tastes great—creates an important value to the consumer, which is vital to a grocery store’s mission. Having a partner that delivers the ingredients to make those products conveniently and economically is paramount. “There is a lot you can say about our company that shows how different we are from the competition,” says Tara O’Donovan, Bake’n Joy’s marketing manager. “We have always been innovative in our product development, ahead of the curve in many instances, really.  Back in 1980, for instance, we recognized the trend in skilled labor shortages in the industry. That’s when we developed and brought to market the first ever thaw-scoop-and-bake frozen batters. In the mid-1990s, we were the first to develop predeposited muffin batters. There are many niche products we’ve developed over the years that were well-received—some with legs and some that fell by the wayside.” Helping its partners is the key to the company’s overall business approach. O’Donovan says Bake’n Joy has always lived by the belief that its number one responsibility is to make the job of grocery and convenience store retailers, as well as foodservice operators, colleges and hospitals, easier. “We understand that while our customers have skilled and trained bakers on site, many of the workers are not trained bakers, as was in the past,” she says. “We provide the products, like predeposited muffin batters, that make it easier for them to produce these items. We take our customers’ success very seriously and try to focus on it each and every time.” With success comes growth. Today, Bake’n Joy continues to grow at a rapid pace, increasing office space, distribution and production capabilities. Starting as a mix manufacturer in 1941, Bake’n Joy has expanded its product line to include mixes and bases, frozen scoop batters and doughs for muffins, cakes and cookies, FreshBakes predeposited muffin batters and PanFree predeposited batters for muffins, loaves and cupcakes. Bake’n Joy also places a big emphasis on its Boston Coffee Cake brand, which it acquired about six years ago. The company built a state-of-the-art bakery at its North Andover headquarters in 2010 to produce the signature coffee cakes, loaf cakes and dessert cakes. Last year, Bake’n Joy, now in its third-generation of family ownership, purchased a 92,000-square-foot warehouse in Ayer, Mass. Having the new distribution center, O’Donovan says, allows the company to further expand production facilities at corporate headquarters. There is no doubt that Bake’n Joy officials realize that getting larger is important, especially to the bottom line. But O’Donovan makes it clear that no one at the company takes anything for granted. Company officials pride themselves on the fact that Bake’n Joy is still nimble enough to provide the individual attention to each of its clients across industries. “We jump through hoops for our customers and flexibility is so important to our mission,” she says. “We want to work with our retailer partners to ensure we not only make their job easier, but to provide the tools they need to bake and sell their bakery items.” Quality is a big part of the equation. O’Donovan says the goal is to give retailers a product they will be proud to sell. “We have never scrimped on our ingredients and have always maintained the quality of our products,” she notes. “We mostly appeal to higher-end supermarkets, and we recognize the importance for them to offer the highest quality and most delicious products to their shoppers.” Support is also there for customers. O’Donovan says the Bake’n Joy marketing team is always available to develop the custom signage and literature to help sell the product through to the end-user. “We can customize the support we provide, and really want to help our retailers promote their items to increase sales and encourage return trips,” she adds. So what does the future hold for Bake’n Joy? O’Donovan says the sky is the limit, though she does not expect to change much in terms of customer service. Clean labeling, she says, is at the forefront right now, and Bake’n Joy is prepared. “We will always be looking for ways to make our customers’ jobs easier,” she says. “We’ll continue to stay ahead of the curve to ensure our customers have the products their customers are demanding. But we will never forget our emphasis on quality and customer service, no matter how much we grow. It’s first and foremost in our company mission, and it has served us well for almost 75 years. There is no reason to change now.”