BOULDER, CO — Returning to the helm of a company can be unnerving, to say the least. A lot had changed for Boulder, CO-based Rudi’s Rocky Mountain Bakery and for Jane Miller when she returned to the company as CEO, but they’d both grown in many ways. The market had completely evolved. Not only had there been a global pandemic and supply chain disruption, but the organic and gluten-free markets had taken a major shift into the mainstream that left Rudi’s feeling more like the underdog than the trailblazer it once was.
Miller had been on a journey of her own, riding a leadership learning curve that took her through two failed startups and one massive success, including the sale of Lily’s Sweets to The Hershey Co. She was a little older and much wiser … and ready to take on the challenge of bringing Rudi’s back into the fray, not only for its original, loyal customer base but also for the new organic and gluten-free demographic that wasn’t yet familiar with the brand.
“When I came back, the world had changed,” Miller said. “Rudi’s was still a relevant player, but the competitive environment had changed dramatically.”
The business was a quarter of the size it was when it was sold, but Miller doesn’t shy away from a challenge, especially when it involves something she cares for so deeply. She came back to Rudi’s in 2022 energized and ready to roll, and she’s injected that energy directly into the brand.
Any baker worth their salt must be skilled in the art of the pivot, and that’s the charge Miller is currently leading. While bread has spent years going in and out of favor with consumers bending toward whichever trend the wind blows, Miller is focused on bread as a centrifuge. However, she’s also focusing on white spaces like Texas toast and breakfast sandwiches, where organic and gluten-free bread has an opportunity to snag the spotlight.
“I don’t see competition as a zero-sum game. I see it as ‘game on.’” — Jane Miller | CEO | Rudi’s Rocky Mountain Bakery
“We are now the number one Texas toast brand in the natural channel,” she said, noting that Rudi’s breakfast sandwiches, made with its English muffins and gluten-free brioche buns, are also taking off.
“We’re national at Whole Foods, Sprouts and Kroger with amazing regional players, and we’re starting to spread,” she added. “We found a whole area where we could introduce Rudi’s to customers who didn’t know us, and I feel good about that.”
This time around, Miller is tapping into two things she loves the most. As Rudi’s reinvigorates the brand, she is leading an all-new team that’s ready to blaze new trails, igniting her fire for inspiring people to do their best work. And though the competition is tougher than it’s ever been, she’s learned something about herself since the last time she led Rudi’s: Miller loves to win.
“I think to bring a brand back, you have to have someone willing to say, ‘We can do this,’” Miller said. “We’ve had some crazy stuff happen in the past year, but this team has stepped up. That can’t really happen unless everyone, starting at the top, really believes in it. And when you like to win, you love competition.”
When Miller looks at where Rudi’s came from and where it’s heading, she sees magic. Competition breeds innovation, and here, it creates opportunities for people to develop new relationships with bread. That’s a place where everyone wins.
“I don’t see competition as a zero-sum game,” she said. “I see it as ‘game on.’”
This story has been adapted from the October | Q4 2024 issue of Commercial Baking. Read the full story in the digital edition here.
