The Rising Cost of Grain Based Foods
Back on December 18, 2007 the cover story for The Economist magazine was: “The End of Cheap Food.” If you are like most of the readers of this website, you are now painfully aware that, at least for grain based foods, this can most assuredly be the new reality. But how widespread will this run up in food costs be? If you consider the wide number of food products that are ‘grain-based’ you suddenly realize how much of an impact rising grain prices are going to have. Certainly the cost of bread an…
Posted on: 2008-02-26 14:32:26
US Wheat Market Update: Jan 04, 2008
When we wrote our last wheat market update in the fall of 2007 we were eying the end of the year as a possible break in the relentless rise of US wheat prices. In fact, at the time we were advising people who could, to book their flour needs through the end of the year. The end of the year has come and gone and with it any possible break in wheat’s bull market run.
The situation remains largely unchanged, and in fact, the first two days of wheat trading in the US have resulted in limit up …
Posted on: 2008-01-07 11:21:08
Wheat Prices - Sept 13, 2007
As many of you will have realized by now flour prices have increased to historic highs. Here in the United States this has been driven by wheat prices that are currently (September 11, 2007) well over $8.00 per bushel for both Hard Red Winter and Hard Red Spring, the principle wheats used in the production of bread. You will find a general article on commodity pricing here. However, with this article we hope to give you some insight into what is driving wheat and flour…
Posted on: 2007-09-12 19:53:52
Amato's Bakery
Portland, Maine is like most coastal New England towns in that it has a long history. It was originally founded by the British in 1632 as a fishing settlement under a different name. Four times in its history the city has been completely destroyed by fire, most recently in 1866, after which it was rebuilt in brick and took on the look it has today. In 1902 an Italian immigrant by the name of Giovanni Amato started baking a soft loaf of bread and began selling it to dock workers on Portland’s wat…
Posted on: 2007-09-11 18:28:46
Balthazar Bakery: Style
In the course of my work I travel to the New York City area quite frequently. When eating out I like to figure out whose bread is being served with my meal. Bakeries such as Sullivan St, Pain Quotidien, Amy’s, and Balthazar all have styles unique to themselves. The New York wholesale bread market is like most competitive markets in which a small number of bakers are chasing after a finite number of customers, and most of you would probably say that accurately describes your market. The most su…
Posted on: 2007-05-04 18:08:58
Seven Stars: Providence, Rhode Island
There is a great book called “How Buildings Learn” and it explores and examines what happens to buildings after they are built. A structure is built to fit a particular need, be it for offices or housing, and, often it is built on a site that requires compromises to fit within the given community. A bakery often undergoes a similar evolution from the it original conception to a bakery that comes to conform to the constraints put on it by its location, its customers, its owners and its bakers. …
Posted on: 2007-04-30 19:29:17
Commodity markets and the price of your flour
Related article: Wheat Market Update: 14 09 2007
Here at straightgrade.com we feel that it is incredibly important for owners, managers, and purchasers to be aware of the forces that drive ingredient costs (that’s why we give you access to commodity market data right on the frontpage of straightgrade.com). But it’s not all that surprising that most owners/managers who operate small to medium sized bakeries (and some rather large on…
Posted on: 2007-04-30 19:21:58
Unit Costing
On the production side of your business there is an almost overwhelming number of techniques, tools, and tricks you can employ to turn out a first rate product that keeps your customers coming back and can satisfy your desire to produce the best bread you can. Most of you will no doubt be spending much of your time perfecting your processes and methodologies to improve not only the quality of your breads but to streamline (read: ‘make more profitable’) your production. It appears to us, based on…
Posted on: 2007-04-30 18:30:39
Anarosa's in Newburyport, Mass.
Not long ago I visited Anarosa’s, a small bakery in Newburyport, Mass. Opened
in Aug, 2001 by Bill Malatesta and Jane Kenny they quickly had to deal with a problem
that most bakeries, big and small, face at one time or another. Not only was demand for
their existing products growing but their customers were asking for a wider variety. The
production space at Anarosa’s is extremely limited and any new products were going to
have to fit within their already tight schedule. The solution…
Posted on: 2007-04-30 18:26:41
Witherspoon Baking Co.: Diversify your business model.
In any business, whether you are selling computers, cars or bread, the need to diversify your business model is critical to building a robust and sustainable operation. Today’s bakeries, and customer’s perceptions of what bakeries should offer, have evolved into multifaceted concepts making diversification simple and necessary. You can offer whole grain breads, organic pastries, sandwiches and soups, a wi-fi internet access, the list goes on. One bakery that has not only diversified fully but wh…
Posted on: 2007-04-30 15:39:23
