H&F Bread Co. tripling in size, targets national distribution

The expansion focuses on the Southeast, including a potential partnership with Kroger
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Jerusalam bagel
Jerusalam bagel

Courtesy of H&F Bread Co.

H&F Bread Co., the Linton Hopkins-owned bakery that supplies bread and buns to many Atlanta-area restaurants, is expanding to a new facility at 1500 Marietta Boulevard in early November—a building that’s triple the size of its current space on Ellsworth Industrial. “We pride ourselves on offering great, natural products,” says general manager Roger Hodge. “There’s a huge need in the market.”

The relocation comes at a time of major growth for the company. The bakery currently sells 300 fresh products to local restaurants and food distributors but has its eyes set on about 20 flash-frozen items, enabling broader distribution around the country. Hodge also says the team is in talks with Kroger to sell frozen H&F bread throughout the region and hopes to make it available by the end of the year.

“There’s a thaw-and-serve hamburger bun and hotdog bun where you truly won’t know the difference between what was frozen and what was fresh. We tested it with chefs in the community,” Hodge explains. There are also ciabatta and baguettes that can be thawed and reheated for five minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit, he says.

“Great bread should not be limited to a select few. We want to put our products in areas where there is no fresh bread at all,” he says. The company is working with a group of restaurants in Destin, Fla., as well as U.S. Foods and some corporate restaurants.

The new bakery location will have space for a retail concept that Hodge expects “in the very near future.” It may serve local coffee, soups, salads, and sandwiches, as well as sell H&F biscuit and cornbread mixes.

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