The Marquette Food Co-op has purchased Marquette Baking Company, continuing a legacy of providing high-quality, unique European-style bread and baked goods to the community.
The Co-op intends to replicate the bakery’s original recipes, maintaining the excellence and integrity of the product customers have come to know and love. Breads will be made daily by hand, with some recipes utilizing a long fermentation process that results in a complex flavor profile and texture. The bakery also will continue using organic ingredients, as well as wild yeasts and local flour, when possible.
Quality ingredients, traditional techniques, highly trained staff, and a dedication to providing customers with freshly baked goods has made MBC a stronghold in the community for more than a decade. The Co-op, with a similar mission of providing access to natural, organic, and local food, will work hard to uphold the bakery’s reputation with continued service.
“It’s exciting to think that the nearly 6,000 owner households of the Marquette Food Co-op now own their own bakery as well as the grocery store,” said Matt Gougeon, the Co-op’s general manager. “We’re very fortunate for the opportunity to keep this beloved business in our community and believe the Coop has the capacity to grow it even further.”
The purchase agreement was signed May 26, with operations set to resume in the coming weeks. To start, MBC bread will be sold solely through the Co-op’s storefront. In time, when recipes and systems are learned and perfected, the retail space on Baraga Avenue will reopen, offering a selection of breads, baked goods, prepared foods from the Co-op’s deli, packaged grocery items, coffee, and drinks. Local wholesale accounts, including restaurants and grocery stores, will also be reestablished and/or added as production increases. The bakery is expected to employ several individuals, including skilled bakers, who are scheduled to undergo 400 hours of training support from the previous owners.
Comments