Milling & Baking News - December 4, 2018 - 10

Business

Private equity firm acquiring
artisan bread baker in Canada
MISSISSAUGA, ONT. - Private equity firm Swander Pace Capital has added to its growing portfolio of baked
foods businesses with the acquisition
of Bäckerhaus Veit. Headquartered in
Mississauga, Bäckerhaus Veit bakes
artisan, European-style bread, rolls,
buns and soft pretzel products for retail and food service customers across
North America.
Financial terms of the transaction
were not disclosed.
Bäckerhaus Veit was founded in
1987 by Sabine Veit, chief executive officer. Ms. Veit's family roots date back
to the Stuttgart region in Germany.
"Bäckerhaus Veit has built a tremendous business by staying true to

the foundations of traditional artisan
bread making," said Heather Smith
Thorne, managing director at Swander Pace Capital. "The company has
built enduring relationships with its
customers and suppliers, and it is able to
recreate
high-quality
products derived from
old-world recipes, allowing it great success
in today's modern marketplace. This achieve- Veit
ment is a testament to
the leadership of Sabine and her talented team, as well as the technological advantages afforded by a newly
built, best-in-class baking facility."

Canadian bakery transforms to
become The Mad Bakers
JOLIETTE, QUE. - The Mad Bakers - formerly known as Signature
Passion - has completed a rebranding effort that was announced earlier
this year. Under The Mad Bakers,
Signature Passion branded products will continue to be sold alongside the company's other bakery
brand, O'Forno.
The bakery made the name change
to align with its new company outlook.
"We rebranded as The Mad Bakers so that our name speaks to what
we do and who we are," said MarcAndre Pouliot, president, The Mad
Bakers. "The name immediately
resonated with us - our leaders are
very creative, driven, and are, well
... mad bakers. We want to appeal to
the spark of fun and madness in us
all, from millennials to baby boomers and all foodies in between."
Based in Joliette, The Mad Bakers

creates artisan bread, rolls and pastries for Canadian and American
markets. The products are free from

THE MAD BAKERS

artificial ingredients, preservatives
and allergens such as nuts, peanuts
and sesame.
To support the rebrand, The Mad
Bakers invested C$2.5 million into a
new automated ciabatta bread line

Flowers Foods to close Lepage
baking plant in Vermont
THOMASVILLE, GA. - Flowers
Foods, Inc. will shutter its baking plant
in Brattleboro, Vt., early next year.
"Employees at Lepage Bakeries
Brattleboro, L.L.C. have been notified that the bakery will discontinue production on Jan. 4, 2019,"
said Paul Baltzer, vice-president of
10 / December 4, 2018

Milling & Baking News

communications at Flowers Foods.
"The action will affect 66 employees

who work in production, engineering and administration. The bakery
does not have the production volume

Ms. Veit said Swander Pace stands
as "the ideal partner" for Bäckerhaus Veit as it enters its next phase of
growth.
"They have vast understanding
and deep experience in this space,
not to mention a long history of giving companies the advice and backing they need to succeed," she said. "I
am looking forward to working with
the Swander Pace team to continue
to build strong partnerships, grow
awareness of our products and capabilities, and expand our distribution
footprint across North America."
The acquisition of Bäckerhaus Veit
continues Swander Pace's recent trend of
acquiring companies in the baked foods
industry. The private equity firm in recent years has acquired Voortman Cookies and Pineridge Bakery. Swander Pace
sold Pineridge to Aryzta AG in 2014. MBN
that meets its unique specifications
for a gentler kneading and lamination process. The new production
capabilities allowed the bakery to increase its capacity and offer new loaf
sizes and ciabatta flavors.
"Our customized equipment allows us to create wonderful gourmet
bread, with no artificial preservatives or added sugars, on an industrial scale," Mr. Pouliot said. "The
automation allows us to offer artisan-style bread at screaming value to
our customers. We have also added
an MRP software system to ensure
that our operations remain in step
with the increased capacity."
In addition, the company invested
in packaging, with new designs and
oven-safe bags for certain products.
With these resources in place, Mr.
Pouliot believes the outlook for The
Mad Bakers is bright.
"Internally, we have the team and
equipment in place for exponential
growth, and we are really excited
about what the future will bring for
the company," he said. MBN
necessary to operate the bakery efficiently and remain competitive.
Lepage will continue to maintain a
shipping department at the facility to
handle intercompany shipments."
Flowers acquired the 70,000-squarefoot facility in 2012 as part of its purchase of Lepage Bakeries. The plant is
known as the Country Kitchen bakery.
Country Kitchen bakery has been
located at the site in Brattleboro since
1992. MBN
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Milling & Baking News - December 4, 2018

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