Oser Communications Group

1 6 SNACKING NEWS April 2019 Rubicon Bakers: Changing Lives One Delicacy at a Time BY ROBIN MATHER For more than 25 years, Rubicon Bakers – based in Richmond, California, northeast of San Francisco in Contra Costa Couny – has given homeless people, recovering substance abusers and ex-cons a second chance. It's working, for both the bakery and its more than 200 employees. 'Twasn't always thus, though. When current CEO Andrew Stoloff first learned of the bakery, the one-time investment baker and restauranteur was called in to help the non-profit social service agency called Rubicon Programs to sell the bakery. Finding a buyer was difficult, since few were interested in the sale conditions: maintain its social pur- pose of hiring people who couldn't find work elsewhere, and try to deal with the bakery's outdated, almost antique, equip- ment. Richmond has been seen as one of the most violent and impoverished communi- ties in the country. That, too, made the bakery unappealing to potential buyers. Stoloff tried for a while to help sell the bakery. But in the end, he fell in love with it and its mission, and bought the bakery in 2009, using his own money. He con- verted the bakery, founded in 1993, into a for-profit enterprise. It still contributes a portion of profits to Rubicon Programs, and it reached profitability in 2010. Rubicon now markets its cakes, cup- cakes and cookies to stores nationally. Cakes and cupcakes are marketed as ready to consume, while cookies may be sold to retail outlets as ready-to-bake. Last year, the company created a certi- fied line of vegan desserts, including a double-layer chocolate blackout cake with chocolate filling and frosting; a vanilla cake; and cupcake versions of both. Every Peet's Coffee across the U.S. offers whole-grain bars sweetened with brown sugar and honey; Rubicon Bakers created the soft bars especially for Peet's. The hands that make, package and mar- ket those products belong to people who've endured some of life's toughest breaks. Sometimes their troubles are self- inflicted, but sometimes they are not. Long-time employee Sheila Young- Eberhart says she had just about given up on everything when she overdosed on heroin the day she was released from jail. "I never thought I'd be the manager of anything," she says. Like many Rubicon employees, she started in the packaging department and has risen steadily in re- sponsibility. "It was so empowering to have a job, and to work and to have an honest living and to be a productive mem- ber of society. The environment is so pos- itive here, it makes you want to do good, to better yourself." Seeing people who've fallen on hard times recover stability in life is part of what made Stoloff fall in love with Rubi- con Bakers. "We've helped lots of people restart their lives," Stoloff says. "Everyone deserves a clean slate." Above and Beyond Employee Assistance While employees at Rubicon are paid $9 to $24 an hour, all receive typical em- ployee benefits. But Stoloff instituted an- other benefit for employees. He noticed that some employees used a payday lender down the street from the bakery to cover unexpected expenses such as utility bills or college tuition. These predatory lenders, which charge very high interest, can quickly turn a $250 loan into a debt of $500 or more. That troubled Stoloff. So he began an interest-free loan pro- gram for employees, who can now repay relatively small amounts over time. Few employees have defaulted, he says. The company also hosts regular staff lunches where employees cook for each other. The family feel that these programs create has lasting effects for its employees. Unlike many in the food service trade, where high employee turnover is a fact of life, Stoloff values employee retention. His employees appreciate that. "That's what life is about for me," says baker John Bedford. "Giving a sense of di- rection to other people. It's reaching out to those who are in need, as someone reached out to me when I was in need." Rubicon Bakers is a certified B corpo- ration, which means it's a for-profit com- pany that professes a mission to do social good. Its social service mission, while ad- mirable, won't excuse business failures, however. Says Stoloff, "Customers want excellent products, and they may not care about your mission." n Crunchy Granola Goodness in a Portable Snack BY LORRIE BAUMANN Crazy Monkey Baking's Granola Cookie Crunch comes from a mom who had a de- gree in dietetics and an urgent desire to give her own kids a snack that she could feel conscientious about giving them and that they'd enjoy too. She started with an oatmeal cookie that her kids enjoyed and went to work on the recipe to come up with a product that was a bit more oat and a little less cookie but still delicious. Her kids loved it. Their friends loved it. "My kids really liked it, and that's the beauty of children – that they'll be hon- est," said Teresa Humrichouser, that Ash- land, Ohio, mom. "We are a chocolate family, so I knew that if I put chocolate in it, there was a pretty good chance they would eat it." It was a bonus that she could take it along in her mom-van, and the kids could nibble on it during their rides with- out leaving behind a mess of crumbs in the car. "Our lives are so busy, so, as a mom, I can have this in my minivan as I pick the kids up from practice," she said. Humrichouser's friends encouraged her to take her Granola Cookie Crunch to the local farmers market, where, every week- end for two years straight, she sold out. Local grocery retailers saw what was hap- pening, and a few of them approached her and asked her if they could carry her prod- uct in their stores after the farmers market season had ended. Humrichouser started looking for a commercial kitchen. She found a 350 square-foot facility that had been vacated by a pizza kitchen. "It was a few minutes from our house, and it was a small kitchen that we could move into and get it licensed because it had been used for food service in the past," she said. Three years later, she moved out of the former pizza shop and into a 1,000 square- foot facility. Then in January, 2017, she moved into a 7,500 square-foot bakery, where eight employees make small batch after small batch of her Granola Cookie Crunch in four year-round flavors as well as occasional seasonal flavors. "With this move, it has allowed us to be in a location that suited us for bringing on larger cus- tomers," she said. The move has also fa- cilitated supplier audits and food safety planning and documentation to qualify for national distribution to grocers who sell the products in either the granola, healthy snack or cookie sections of their shelves. Crazy Monkey Baking has also just been certified as a woman-owned busi- ness, and Humrichouser offers contract manufacturing services to other companies that have a granola formula but not a fa- cility. "Even after all this time, baking is still my greatest passion," she said. "I don't get to do it that often any more, that that's what I love working with most in the business." Crazy Monkey Baking is now offered in Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip and Dark Chocolate Chip, Mint Chocolate Chip and Cranberry Almond flavors in 1.25-ounce bags that are smart-snack approved for schools. They retail for 99 cents to $1.49. Those four flavors plus White Chocolate Cranberry are also offered in 7.5-ounce bags along with a rotation of seasonal fla- vors that includes Cinnamon Pecan in the winter, Lemon Coconut in summer and Pumpkin Seed & Spice in the fall. Addi- tional special-edition flavors also appear occasionally. "We have a variety of fla- vors, so there's some variety to appeal to the kids and adults alike," Humrichouser said. All of the products are wheat free and made with 100 percent whole grains. Oats are naturally gluten free, and the products are sweetened with honey, mo- lasses and evaporated cane sugar. A serving of the Dark Chocolate Chip fla- vor Granola Cookie Crunch contains 8 grams of added sugars and 6 grams of fat along with 3 grams of protein and 150 calories. "There is fat in oats and in whole grain cornmeal and in flax seeds, but it's all healthy fat," Humrichouser said. "When you have the real ingredi- ents without the fats stripped from them, you're going to get those good, healthy calories in the fat." For more information, visit www.crazy monkeybaking.com. n

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