Bakery Franchise Announces “National Bread Challenge” in November

Great Harvest Bread Co. Locations to Trade Free Fresh-Milled Loaves for any Processed Bread

Loading media player...

Great Harvest Bread shows how they make "Bread. The Way It Ought To Be (TM)."

DILLON, Mont.--()--The average American scarfs down 53 pounds of bread per year, to the tune of more than $20 billion in annual revenue for the bread industry. The problem: It’s the wrong kind of bread.

To address the issue, Great Harvest Bread Co., which makes bread fresh-milled from whole grains every day at its more than 200 bakery franchises around the country, announced the National Bread Challenge. Timed to take place during November’s National Bread Month, consumers can bring in any processed store-bought bread they have at home and receive a free, hand-made loaf of any Great Harvest Bread.

  • The challenge will take place during store hours at participating Great Harvest Bread nationwide locations on November 10, 11 and 12, 2016. All unopened or opened store-bought bread loaves will be exchanged on those dates only for a loaf of fresh, hand-made Great Harvest Bread.
  • As usual, any bread not sold by Great Harvest within 24 hours will be donated to local food banks and charities, along with every unopened loaf of trade-in bread.
  • Consumers are encouraged to share their National Bread Challenge experiences on social media using #BreadSwap.

Since 1976, Great Harvest Bread bakeries make bread from scratch with whole grains shipped directly as wheat berry from select farms in Montana’s Golden Triangle. Every day flour is milled fresh from the wheat berry at each local Great Harvest bakery. Generally a five-hour process, the baking begins every day as early as 2:30 a.m. Every loaf is kneaded by hand, baked and served fresh to all guests who enter at all three dayparts – breakfast, lunch and dinner.

According to Great Harvest Bread Company CEO Mike Ferretti, while fresh milling wheat has become a recent trend in the bread industry, this has been an essential, non-negotiable Great Harvest Bread practice since its inception in 1976. The National Bread Challenge is a way for new customers to experience what the company stands for: Bread. The Way it Ought To Be™.

“The milling is what sets the bread apart from the processed food that Americans have grown accustomed to,” Ferretti said. “At Great Harvest, we not only mill flour from the wheat berry every day, but we use pure, simple ingredients. Our signature bread – Honey Whole Wheat – is made from just five high-quality ingredients: fresh-ground whole wheat flour, water, yeast, salt and honey – no nitrates or preservatives. So our fresh, hand-made bread not only tastes better, it’s also healthier for you.”

Company President Eric Keshin says the idea behind the National Bread Challenge is to allow consumers’ taste buds to decide if they should abandon the same processed bread they’ve settled on for decades.

“To kick off National Bread Month, we’re putting our money where your mouth is,” Keshin said. “People are ‘settling’ for supermarket bread. Once they taste our bread, they won’t go back. That’s the point of the National Bread Challenge.”

About Great Harvest Bread Company

Pete and Laura Wakeman founded Great Harvest Bread Company in 1976 after they put themselves through Cornell University by selling bread to local farmers in the nearby towns. The company has since spent the past 40 years perfecting the combination of ingredients to make the freshest and authentic breads and pastries, as well as the newer sandwiches, grain bowls and soups, growing to over 200 locations, all of which continue to mill their own Golden Triangle wheat every morning from scratch. Providing local communities with authentic breads and pastries made fresh daily, the brand is now growing through franchising with a new bakery-café model ideal for multi-unit ownership. Open during three parts of the day—breakfast, lunch and dinner— the menu has grown beyond a wide variety of soft, delicious breads to include soups, sandwiches and grain bowls. To learn about franchising opportunities with Great Harvest Bread Company, go to https://www.greatharvest.com/franchise.

Contacts

Fishman Public Relations
Mike Garabedian, , 847-945-1300
mgarabedian@fishmanpr.com

Release Summary

Great Harvest Bread Co., which makes bread fresh-milled from whole grains every day at its more than 200 bakery franchises around the country, has announced the National Bread Challenge.

Contacts

Fishman Public Relations
Mike Garabedian, , 847-945-1300
mgarabedian@fishmanpr.com