"An Association of retail bakers and allied companies
working together to make a strong baking industry"
President's Letter
Are you ready for the Summer,
Are you ready for a good Pie? Have you lined up your participants for the pie eating contest? Great press can be had for bakeries willing to hold some messy qualifiers in their shops. The heat tells us that summer is here, so Coney is only a sun burn away. It is a great bargain thanks to our allied sponsors and a lot of fun for you bakery staff, please join us June 22nd.
Even with the crazy weather, we had an impressive showing for BakeMark’s presentation at Pebble Creek golf course. Thank you BakeMark for another few inches around the waistline. Busken’s newest yogurt concept store might help for guilt-free indulgence. We had a preview of their Yagoot store after the meeting. It’s tart, tasty and located in Rookwood Commons.
Welcome to the board Clem Schmidt, Dennis Smith and Rebecca Lewis! We remain a strong active board by the willingness of our members to serve. Mike Van Fleet, our New Vice President will be my successor in the fall of next year. Believe me Mike, time goes by fast. The secret to a successful Presidency is just two words, “Mary Ann”. Practice them now and you will do fine. Our Board has been busy planning our winter workshop, ideas are ALWAYS welcome. We have built a nice reputation as an informative regional show. Let us continue building in this tradition!
With regret I am informing you that our past president Teri Scheff’s father just passed away. Our condolences Teri, our thoughts and prayers are with you,
Greg Gottenbusch
President GCRBA
Wheat Crisis
A note from RBA President Lynn Schurman:
It feels like bakers are in crisis mode right now trying to deal with price increases and the downturn in the economy. I know that rising prices and worries about losing sales make it hard to think about new products or promotions, but I'm worried that as we go through these strange times, we will forget that we also need to be thinking creatively about improving and building our business.
The school board I have been on for 20 years went through a six year cutting budget so we brought in a strategic planner who has challenged us to think about how we can do a better job. When we talk about chang he won't let anyone talk about things we don't have-we can't say we don't have the time, or we don't have the money -we need to focus on what we do have and what we CAN do.
As I am thinking about my bakery and what we need to do, his words are echoing in my mind. What can we do to make our bakeries more efficient? How can we make more of a profit or at least make a profit based on everything that's happening? What will you do to stay competitive and grow this year? Is this the push that we need to act more like profitable businesses by figuring out what products we are making money on and which ones we aren't? What do you think?
