Lorenzo Servitje, a Founder of the World’s Biggest Bakery, Dies at 98

[JSngry]

His death was announced by the company, a Mexican conglomerate whose trademarks now include Wonder Bread, Sara Lee, Entenmann’s, Thomas’ English muffins, Brownberry, Boboli and, in Britain, New York-brand bagels.

“Today, if you buy Arnold bread in the East or Orowheat in the West, Freihofer in Pennsylvania or Mrs. Baird in Texas, Stroehmann’s in the mid-Atlantic or Old Country in Arizona, not to mention Roman-Meal, Sun-Made and Francisco sourdough, it’s Bimbo,” Aaron Bobrow-Strain wrote in “White Bread: A Social History of the Store-Bought Loaf” (2012).

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/06/business/lorenzo-servitje-a-founder-of-the-worlds-biggest-bakery-dies-at-98.html?emc=edit_th_20170207&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=25913738

 

 

[mjzee]

Really the story of a conglomerate, although the guy knew baking.  All of the names listed above were independent companies eventually gobbled up by Bimbo.

[JSngry]

Used to be able to drive past the Mrs. Baird's bakery off of Central and smell the bread baking  in the early AM. MMMMMM!!!!

[mjzee]

I hear ya.  When I was younger, my family would sometimes drive up the Major Deegan to visit an aunt in Riverdale, and we'd drive past the Stella D'Oro factory.  The smell was of baked goods mixed with that anisette flavoring they often used.  Yumm!  I'd also sometimes walk past the local bakery in my neighborhood in the early morning hours - the smell was unbelievable.  I think NYC now has laws calling this air pollution and making bakeries use filters to not let the smell into the atmosphere, which seems a particular kind of barbarism.

[Dmitry]

Wonder  Bread was a sad revelation when I first came to this country. It tasted like cotton. 

We don't generally buy big name baked goods, I prefer local bakery-made products..other then the Oreos, which my kids like.

Bread is a killer, I've gained so much weight from it. I do love it though. Nothing like freshly-baked bread from a neighborhood bakery, some good local mortadella,  mustard with seeds. I've got to drop 15 pounds. Not easy.

[rostasi]

 

[JSngry]

Oh, you wanna go there, eh? Ok!