La Brea Bakery has lately been gearing up for a number of new initiatives, including its part in the Share Our Strength No Kid Hungry campaign, a “farm-to-table” bread line, new gluten-free breads and dedication to non-GMO ingredients. In order to catch up with this flurry of activity at La Brea Bakery, we reached out to Kristina Dermody, brand president, ARYZTA, Los Angeles, parent company of La Brea Bakery.

 

Douglas J. Peckenpaugh: What is the Share Our Strength No Kid Hungry initiative?

Kristina Dermody: No child should grow up hungry in America, but one in five children struggles with hunger. Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign is ending child hunger in America by ensuring all children get the healthy food they need, every day.

 

No Kid HungryDJP: How does the La Brea Bakery Always Enough program help the No Kid Hungry initiative?

KD: Through the #AlwaysEnough campaign, La Brea Bakery is helping No Kid Hungry end child hunger in America by ensuring that all children get the healthy food they need, every day. During the months of October through December, a portion of all La Brea Bakery sales will be donated to Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry initiative.

 

DJP: How will La Brea Bakery promote its participation in this program?

KD: Consumers will be able to support this cause through the purchase of La Brea Bakery breads and foods at grocery stores across the country. La Brea Bakery is officially kicking off the #AlwaysEnough campaign at the Food Network & Cooking Channel New York City Wine & Food Festival (NYCWFF) presented by FOOD & WINE, taking place October 15–18. 2015. NYCWFF is a charity event, with 100 percent of the net proceeds benefitting Food Bank for New York City and the No Kid Hungry campaign.

 

DJP: Tell us about La Brea Bakery’s new farm-to-table bread. Will this be a national launch? Why is it important to build a connection to farmers into the La Brea Bakery story?

KD: For more than 25 years, La Brea Bakery has been the standard for quality, artisan bread. We are always looking to be innovative and offer the best bread on the market—both in taste, but also in quality ingredients. We are extremely proud of the new Reserve Line. The farm to table movement is something we not only see as a trend, but something that we believe in at our core. By partnering with Wheat Montana, a wheat farm in Montana, we have been able to source the highest-quality grains and create a new line that is truly unique to the market.

 

DJP: Gluten-free is also on the horizon for La Brea Bakery. What was involved in developing the gluten-free bread lines, and what types of products will you offer?

KD: Many of the gluten-free bread options on the market don’t taste very good. We wanted to create gluten-free bread that was delicious, by being moist and flavorful, and fill a void consumers currently experience in the marketplace by giving them bread that is true to what bread should taste like. Our gluten-free bread is made with only the highest-quality ingredients and created with the same dedication to the artisan traditions and uncompromising standards that La Brea Bakery has held constant for 25 years. Currently it is available in two flavors: Multigrain Artisan Sandwich Bread and White Artisan Sandwich Bread, and is starting to roll out in the Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Washington and Oregon markets.

 

DJP: We’ve also heard that La Brea Bakery has a goal of going non-GMO.

KD: We have changed the way people eat bread since day one by creating high-quality breads through our dedication to artisan tradition, and we have long had a commitment to responsible sourcing, so the shift to non-GMO ingredients makes sense for us and our consumers.