Cudahy-based Angelic Bakehouse is under agreement to be sold to Columbus, Ohio-based Lancaster Colony Corp.
Angelic makes breads, rolls, wraps and other baked goods using sprouted grains, which the company says are healthier than traditional bread dough. It has been growing rapidly as consumers become more focused on fresh and healthy foods.
Lancaster Colony makes specialty food products, including the T. Marzetti Co. line of dressings and dips, Flatout flatbreads and New York Bakery garlic breads.
Angelic was sold by James and Jenny Marino, the husband-wife team who purchased it in 2009, moved it to Cudahy and grew it from eight employees to 55 full-time and 20 temporary employees today. In 2015, Angelic made about 4 million products. Its annual revenue is about $12 million, Lancaster said.
“We weren’t technically looking for a partner at all,” said Jenny Marino, president and chief executive officer of Angelic. “We were just exploring some options to accelerate our growth. In that process, this opportunity presented itself and it was really a partnership that we just couldn’t say no to.”
The Marinos will continue in their current roles managing the day-to-day operations of the bakery, though Jenny will no longer be president and CEO. Angelic will remain in its current facility and all of its employees will stay on board. It will also keep its branding, recipes and packing the same, she said.
“They will most likely expand on our plant and continue to make new hires and grow,” Marino said. “It’s just a really positive transaction for everybody involved.”
The Cudahy facility is 22,000 square feet, with room to triple in size, Marino said. With Lancaster Colony’s capital and marketing expertise, Angelic is likely to grow in the near future.
“I would anticipate within the next 12 months that it will be pretty robust and we will continue to add shifts,” she said. The company currently runs between four and six all-day shifts per week.
“I don’t see added locations in the near term. I see expansion on the current site, which is great for the city of Cudahy, which has just been amazing to us. I’m really pleased that all our operations are staying here,” Marino said.
While it already has its products in Costco and Target stores nationally, the acquisition allows Angelic to expand to other national retailers like Kroger and Walmart, she said. Lancaster is focused on the perimeter of the store, in the deli and produce sections, which Marino said is perfect for Angelic products.
