Crown Bakeries, a manufacturer of fresh and frozen croissants, buns, bagels, biscuits, English muffins, sweet goods, and other baked products, congratulates President Yianny Caparos and Chief Development Officer George Caparos on their induction into the American Society of Baking’s (ASB) Baking Hall of Fame BakingTECH 2022 in Chicago. The Caparos brothers join Crown founder and CEO Cordia Harrington (ASB’s Baking Hall of Fame class of 2018) in this elite industry honor.
The Baking Hall of Fame is an initiative of the ASB recognizing industry innovation and entrepreneurial spirit. Individuals inducted into the Baking Hall of Fame are honored for their achievements in organizational growth and development, equipment design and innovation, advancements in ingredient technology and processing, or services related to the commercial baking industry.
The Caparos brothers started their careers in baking as teenagers working at their family’s bread and pastry bakery in Chicago. As entrepreneurs, Yianny and George made a big bet on themselves buying Gold Standard Baking in 2002, recognizing the emerging opportunity in croissants. Partnering with Arbor Investments in 2008, the Caparos brothers executed on an ambitious growth plan for Gold Standard Baking revolutionizing the breakfast category in baking by pioneering production techniques that enabled efficient high speed croissant manufacturing.
Most recently, the Caparos brothers partnered with Harrington and Arbor in 2019 at Crown Bakeries. Headquartered in Nashville, Tenn., Crown Bakeries has positioned itself as preeminent baker of high quality products across a range of specialty categories. Through a combination of organic growth and five acquisitions, Crown Bakeries has quickly grown to over 1,300 employees and nine facilities, offering a full suite of baked good products to leading foodservice, food manufacturing, and retail customers in the United States.
Commenting on the induction, Yianny Caparos stated, “This Hall of Fame recognition exemplifies just how fortunate I have been to work with phenomenal people. My teammates have my deepest gratitude and I’m incredibly proud to share this honor with each and every employee whom I have worked with over the years.”
Echoing the sentiment, George Caparos commented, “I am humbled to be recognized in our industry for our accomplishments. I offer a huge ‘thank you’ to all our team members, vendors, and customers.”
Crown CEO Harrington added, “Congratulations Yianny and George! You’re outstanding bakers, incredible entrepreneurs, and most importantly passionate advocates for our industry. I’m incredibly proud to call you partners and elated to see you get the peer recognition you deserve.”
Arbor co-founder and CEO Gregory Purcell concluded, “Arbor has had the privilege of working with Yianny and George for over 15 years, across three baking platforms. We’ve worked with many executives over 80 investments, but only a handful have served more than one ‘tour of duty’ with Arbor. This speaks volumes about the respect we have for the Caparos brothers not only as outstanding bakers, but incredible entrepreneurs. Congratulations on your induction into to the ASB’s Baking Hall of Fame.”
