KANSAS CITY, KS — The year was 1993, and Mark Friend and Fred Spompinato were working for a bakery in a warehouse district of Kansas City, KS, when they realized they had a better way to make bread.
“The bakery was actually down the street from where we currently operate,” said John Friend, Mark’s son and current president of Kansas City, KS-based Farm to Market Bread Co. “They were making frozen sourdough that was shipped out on train cars. But it was the beginning of the artisan movement in the US, so Mark and Fred wanted to make fresh bread their own way, with a commitment to quality and without compromise.”
That’s how Farm to Market started, and three decades later, this family-owned company holds true to Mark and Fred’s original vision. As the bakery stands on the cusp of commercialization, it’s scaling up right down the street from where that dream began.