FOOD FOR THOUGHT'S NEW IDEA: SUPPLY RESTAURANTS

MINA WILLIAMS

SANTA ROSA, Calif. (FNS) -- Food for Thought, a three-unit operator here, has a bread-baking reputation so entrenched that it has begun to supply restaurants here in the heart of northern California's wine country.

"The area restaurants were anxious to come on board," said Joe Rogoff, general manager. "Very few of the area restaurants bake their own bread, yet they want to offer their customers freshly baked, specialty items. For them, on a small scale, it is just not effective to do their own baking."

The key to Food for Thought's ability to produce enough bread for its own sales plus the wholesale business is its production schedule. The company operates 22 hours a day, employing a three-deck oven in a 21,000-square-foot unit. The bakery is allocated a 20-by-50 foot space that includes a prep area, ovens, a walk-in cooler and storage. Twelve bakers are on staff, and Food for Thought delivers to area restaurants on a set schedule.

In-store, the bread is merchandised at a full-service bakery counter staffed by six counter personnel. Dozens of varieties of breads are offered -- five to six kinds of rustic breads, Parisian baguettes, sourdough, Challah and all types of rolls. Pastries, which are produced at another Food for Thought unit, also are available. The chain uses its third location for central processing of items offered in its service cheese sections.

The natural food operator uses organic flours in its baking, which is another key selling point with customers and restaurants.

Another key to the operation's success is a lot of organization and its baking production staff. "We hire good people," said Rogoff. "Since we bake at night, we get good, responsible people who are culinary oriented. Making bread is an art and a craft."

Food for Thought is one of a growing number of retailers who report they are supplying bread for the food-service industry, particularly indpendent restaurants.

As reported in SN (6/22/98), the in-store bakery of a Williamsburg, Va., unit of Food Lion bakes a dozen loaves of its popular Italian bread every week for the Courtyard Cafe. The local restaurant uses the loaves as part of its signature dish, a chicken salad platter.