Innovation

First and foremost, they endorse localization throughout their supply chain to ensure economic growth of the region in which they are nestled. The Northeast region of the United States is home to a plethora of healthy grains, so rather than approaching their bread production in a cheaper, more commercialized manner, Bread Alone is dedicated to building relationships and uplifting the economy in which they do business.

This approach then shows up in the quality of the breads they produce. The inputs that go into creating the materials are quality controlled through localization of the supply chain, and the production methods are based off of traditional artisan practices. With the amount of technological innovation that exists in the food and beverage industry, Bread Alone could easily transition to become a more commercial bread producer, but quality comes first. While they do utilize new machinery for the mixing and baking process, the special secret of their products is the artisan baking techniques that shape and create their premium products. So while they embrace new innovations in the industry, their mission of offering simple and honest breads and foods remains consistent.

Bread Alone takes ownership of their premium breads and high-quality sourcing, while also taking responsibility for the part that their operations play in climate impact. Growing from its business values and emphasizing their “Baked by the Sun” slogan, Bread Alone uses their position to showcase how a business of scale can be more sustainable by being transparent about their journey towards 100% renewable energy sourcing by 2030.

Finally, all of these actions are ever-present in the culture of the organization. From the value of traditional bread production to the importance of supply chain relationships to everyday practices that lead to a more sustainable system, Bread Alone continues to work towards extensive communication that creates a resilient culture dedicated to its core values.

Pictured above: 196 KW solar array on the roof of Bread Alone HQ in Kingston, NY. This array powers 30% of their energy needs. Bread Alone has set a goal to reach 100% renewable energy by 2030. Photo source: Bread Alone Bakery.

Inspiration

Daniel Leader, Nels’ father, was a European-trained chef who had a deep appreciation for the pure, honest craft of baking fresh bread. When he decided to move his family from New York City to the Catskill mountains, he started Bread Alone with the sole intention of creating a business around artisan-style organic production. From its inception, sustainability has been built into the fabric of the business, what Nels refers to as a “beautiful legacy of sustainability” that he is personally looking forward to continuing to build in the future. This history is evident in every process that is carried out: the localization of the supply chain of ingredients, the emphasis on community engagement, taking on aggressive goals to mitigate their contribution to climate change, and continuously working to engage employees with the company culture around sustainability, to name a few. The Bread Alone family uses its history of baking pure, wholesome bread as a platform for showing how businesses of scale can be sustainable and values driven.

Overall impact

Utilizing traditional and artisan approaches, Bread Alone manages to continually grow their reach. Over 25,000 people come in contact with their products on a daily basis, their social media following is now 30,000 strong on their main social media outlets of Instagram and Facebook, and there are 250 employees dedicated to the core mission of upholding the tenets of regenerative food production. Their ability to think nationally and act locally has embedded their dual notion of maintaining their small-batch bread manufacturer quality while being a role model for businesses throughout the Northeastern United States.

Business benefit

Bread Alone has built their sustainability value into the core of the business, resulting in a number of corporate benefits. With the forces of an increasingly youthful workforce and the pull of ethically responsible companies, this sustainability core has driven a decrease in employee turnover. Bread Alone continues to work on bettering their company communications and employee engagement, but their dedicated work to engage employees with the daily sustainability business practices endorses a better company culture. Moving one step outside of the internal operations, their supply chain relationships and procurement strategies builds resiliency for their business operations. Emphasizing localization and renewable energy procurement continues to mitigate risks that would be inherent in business-as-usual practices and fossil-fuel dependency. In addition to the multitude of internal benefits, the sustainability core also resonates with the customers. Partnering sustainability with their core value of quality bread products, Bread Alone differentiates themselves in the marketplace by catering to customers that hold those same values and are willing to pay a small premium to support a company living those values.

Social and environmental benefit

As Bread Alone continues to use their position to accelerate their rooted family values of wholesome food and sustainability, their impact grows in both size and recognition. When we were given the opportunity to sit with Nels Leader, son of the Founder and current Vice President of Bread Alone, to discuss the innovative high points of the business, he shared with us two stories that resonated most with him:

The Bread Project

Earlier this year, Bread Alone launched a line of Nordic-style breads, baked with grains sourced locally in the Northeast region. Nels explained that launching this product line, which includes a traditional German Rye Brød (bread), Einkorn Brot, and Fruit and Seed Brød, was a particularly notable achievement, given the current Rye Bread import market. Locally sourced and baked rye bread products are hard to come by in grocery outlets in the states, and they are typically imported from Germany. The Bread Alone team sought to produce this style of bread using local rye, which thrives in the Northeast growing region.

Introducing this German style bread was a two-pronged initiative, creating a healthful product for customers and supporting the local grain economy in the Northeast. With this single product, Bread Alone utilized their business position to benefit economic and environmental dynamics through their sourcing strategies, as well as using their expertise to educate both employees and consumers about traditional, healthful products. The Bread Alone baking team demonstrates the commitment to innovation and product quality in every venture that the bakery takes on.

The Solar Project

Earth Day 2017 marked the announcement of Bread Alone’s intention to develop a solar array to be integrated at its production and retail facility in Kingston, NY. It was exactly a year later, on Earth Day 2018, that the project went online. Currently with the capacity of 196 KW, this solar array is able to cover roughly 30% of the facility’s energy needs. Though this feat is less than one-third of reaching their 100% renewable energy goal by 2030, Bread Alone opened the celebration up to the entire community to showcase this powerful memento of sustainability.

This project exemplified the progressive power that Bread Alone has, housing one of the largest solar arrays in the area as a standalone business. Of course this project houses extensive environmental benefits that are gained by deferring from fossil fuels, but the innovation was not exclusively physical. Nels expressed how something changed after this project was both announced and concluded. Sustainability has long been rooted in the culture and strategy of Bread Alone, but “the thought leadership in the business community in the Hudson Valley on sustainability issues” was ever-present after that celebration. Bread Alone took this opportunity as a leader to be transparent about their efforts towards renewable energy and encourage others to mobilize and do similar work.

Bread Alone continues to challenge themselves on their core business priorities, and these two project examples set the stage to showcase the kind of company Bread Alone is and aspires to be. Their commitment to giving 1% for the planet in philanthropic efforts, signing to be part of the climate reality campaign, striving for 100% renewable energy by 2030, and now announcing plans to move towards electric vehicles to continue the trend of emission reduction are just a few of their extraordinary efforts. Bread Alone has taken their simple motive of creating good and healthy bread products, and has created a corporate platform for doing their part in accelerating the sustainability momentum.

Interview

Nels Leader, Vice President