How Alpha Baking handles the sesame situation

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How Alpha Baking handles the sesame situation

30 Oct 2023

Joanie Spencer

Since 2008, Joanie Spencer has covered the retail and wholesale sides of the baking industry.
Serving associations such as the American Society of Baking (ASB) and BEMA, Joanie is also in demand as an industry presenter on bakery operations and trends. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communication from Rockhurst University and a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri.

When she’s not running or playing soccer, Joanie spends her time with her husband and 11-year-old son.

CHICAGO — Since the early 2000s, Alpha Baking Co. has made significant investments in alternative fuels and electric vehicles, setting the pace for sustainability in the industry. It started with an experiment around how to run trucks on vegetable oil waste, with findings presented at the American Society of Baking’s BakingTECH conference. Although the concept didn’t take off, it sparked brainstorming on what’s possible, leading to dialogue between baking and trucking industry leaders.

“We invested a lot of time, money and effort,” said Bob McGuire, VP and director of logistics. “And it wasn’t about the ROI; it was about finding a solution that could take hold. We learned to ask the smart questions and think about other alternative energies.”

In 2013, Alpha was the first baking company to deploy an all-propane classified fleet, followed by an all-electric step van, and they’re still running today.

Through his work with the Alpha fleets and his leadership with the American Bakers Association’s logistics committee, McGuire has positioned the bakery at the forefront of sustainability and alternative energy strategies.

“It’s been a good ride, if you will,” he said. “We’ve done well for investing in the future in that way.”

This year, however, the biggest challenge by far has been the US Food and Drug Administration’s ruling on sesame as the ninth allergen. For a company producing that many bread, bun and roll SKUs, it’s a potentially crippling change. But Alpha’s fierce commitment to food safety has driven the team to do whatever it takes to segregate lines that run sesame-topped products.

Todd Thornberg, VP of manufacturing, has been focused on the sesame issue for more than a year. Because sesame is a bit like glitter — it winds up everywhere — Thornberg reconfigured production to have sesame products run on dedicated lines in two facilities. This helps control changeovers and enables product tracking for allergen purposes. And ultimately, it could lead to those longer runs needed to support robotic automation.

That said, even with these efforts, non-sesame products that are made in the same facility with a sesame line include on-package warning to that effect. But if the company knows there’s risk of a severe allergic reaction, it will turn down business, especially for a school foodservice account.

“We do a lot of school business, and you can’t take that risk. So, all our products for schools are made in facilities that don’t handle sesame at all.” — Todd Thornburg | VP of manufacturing | Alpha Baking Co.

“We do a lot of school business, and you can’t take that risk,” Thornberg said. “So, all our products for schools are made in facilities that don’t handle sesame at all.”

Then there are supply chain-related changes that all bakeries are learning to deal with while still reeling from the COVID reality that no one can predict the future. But those lessons have sharpened the bakery’s focus on the future and heightened the need for internal collaboration and longevity.

“Our people not only care, but they also have an intimate familiarity with every facet of their job,” said William Houston, VP of IT and administration services. “We collaborate constantly, always bouncing ideas off each other. This is our life, not just a job. And above all, it’s a team effort.”

There have been certain points on the industry’s timeline where bread has fallen, perhaps alarmingly, out of favor. But the past five years have proven that bread is, in fact, back.

“It’s back in a big way,” Gill said.

Undoubtedly, premium buns play a role in that, whether it’s a high-end brioche bun or that iconic steamed hot dog bun adorned with poppyseeds that make an unforgettable dining experience. And Alpha Baking is here for it.

“That’s our lot in life,” Larry said. “That’s what we do.”

This story has been adapted from the August | Q3 2023 issue of Commercial Baking. Read the full story in the digital edition here.

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