“The items we offer are integral parts of beloved Chicago dishes, like the Chicago-style hot dog, Maxwell Street Polish, and corned beef sandwiches, just to name a few,” she relates. “Additionally, because we’ve been around so long, people know they can count on us for quality; you don’t stick around for 110+ years without it.”

The enviable longevity of S. Rosen’s, Alpha’s sustained growth and innovation, and people-focused operational philosophy are a few of the reasons why Alpha Baking Co. is Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery’s 2024 Bakery of the Year. 

Beginnings

The oldest brand in the Alpha Baking family, S. Rosen’s began in Chicago, founded by namesake Sam Rosen in 1909. The baking bug had bitten the young German at an early age—he received his Master Baker’s Certificate in the country when he was only 12. The next year, he came to the U.S., eventually founded his own bakery in New York City at the tender age of 15, and soon made a name for himself.

In his early twenties, Rosen moved to the Midwest and bought the coincidentally named New York Baking Co. on Chicago’s northwest side. He renamed the company after himself, S. Rosen’s, and launched his now-famous rye bread. In the early days, the loaves were delivered before dawn by drivers in a horse and buggy, placed in wooden breadboxes positioned outside grocery stores.

Sam’s son Don Rosen joined the company in 1945 and took the reins after his father retired in 1961. Then, Don’s son Steve joined in 1974 and still serves as vice president of general manager, keeping it a Rosen family business even after the Alpha acquisition.

Lawrence Marcucci, Alpha Baking CEO, also comes from a baking family—he began working in the business in the summer during his high school years starting in 1969 and continued the work when he entered college.

“When I graduated from college in 1976 our family bakery was starting to develop and sell frozen dough, so it was a very interesting time,” he relates. “I got the opportunity to be a part of that so I took it. That business was growing geometrically every month, albeit from a very small amount, but it was new and challenging.”

Soon after, Marcucci and his cousin, Mike, struck out on their own.

“We bought a bakery that was struggling in Michigan and that was basically, the start of Alpha Baking 48 years ago,” he shares.

Soon after, Alpha added to its family of bakeries by with the purchase of S. Rosen’s Baking Co.

“With these two iconic Chicago bakeries now under their belt, Alpha Baking quickly scaled up their operations and began their trajectory of growth which would eventually lead the company to own and operate six bakeries across the Midwest,” Powell says.

Alpha’s other brands include:

• Kreamo Bakers, La Porte, IN, in 1979
• National Baking Cop, Chicago, 1997
• Natural Ovens Bakery, Manitowoc, WI, 2007

Powell reports over the years, Alpha has acquired an artisan bread, bun, and roll facility in Grand Rapids, MI; a sweet-good facility in Chicago, further expanding its capabilities and production capacity. In the face of the acquisitions, expansion, and continued innovation, Powell says, the Rosen family remains part of the recipe.

“When it’s your name on the bag that people buy, it’s easy to take quality seriously and make it a focal point of what we do,” she relates. “Sam’s great grandchildren are also continuing the legacy and are in several key positions within the company.”

In addition to its brands sticking around for up to 115 years, Powell says the company benefits from the “institutional knowledge” of family members and other staff staying on board for decades.

“Some of our top leadership team have been with us for thirty, forty years. In today’s world, longevity and consistency like that is not the norm at companies, but it’s something we’ve been blessed with,” she says. “Additionally, with it being a family affair, there’s simply a different level of pride that goes into the work day-in and day-out. When it’s your family’s name on the bag, it’s easy to take the quality of your products personally.”

CEO Marcucci himself has been in the baking business, at the same organization, since he was in his teens.

“Once my career in baking got rolling I don’t think I ever envisioned doing anything else,” he says.

Pride in Products

In addition to Sam Rosen’s legacy living through family members still with the company, Powell says his baking talents also are integrated into the product in a very literal way.

“What separates the history of S. Rosen’s from many companies is that our history is literally still alive, and making delicious bread in the form of a traditional rye starter,” she says. “Sam Rosen’s original rye starter has been meticulously fed and maintained for over a century and adds a distinct old-world flavor to our rye breads.”

Powell explains Alpha’s current brands include two retail-facing lines. The Natural Ovens brand offers consumers health-conscious options, including a Keto-Friendly Bread. Then, the S. Rosen’s portfolio includes classic rye breads, wide-pan items, and rolls and buns—including the signature poppy-seed hot dog buns.

Courtesy of Jenni Spinner

“Our poppy seed buns are truly a staple of the city—you’d be hard-pressed to find a hot dog stand in Chicago that doesn’t use our buns,” Powell boasts. “They are specially baked to be durable and have a strong hinge to support the many toppings that make up a Chicago-style dog. It’s why we’re the hot dog bun at 95% of Chicagoland hot dog stands.

Alpha continues to work with a variety of customers across numerous categories, according to Powell, from small local delis to large supermarket chains.

“While quality is at the heart of everything we do, regardless of customer, each division, and certainly each customer as well, has their own unique set of needs that we try to address as best we can. One of our strengths is our ability to react quickly, which allows us to respond to our customers’ ever-changing needs in almost real-time.”

Raising a toast

One of the more unique products in Alpha’s line is its S. Rosen’s cocktail ryes. While the company has been producing for decades the bite-size loaves of bread (popular for use finger sandwiches and other snack recipes geared toward entertaining occasions) to sell in the Chicago area, Powell reports they have recently grown to attract the attention of consumers outside the Windy City region.

“We’re thrilled that they’ve found such success and been so well embraced by the rest of the country as well,” she says. “Cocktail rye season really kicks off in the fall when tailgating and football parties are in full swing and runs all the way through the beginning of the year, when people are hosting friends and family for the Big Game and need easy hand-held appetizers to feed everyone. We really see it peak between Thanksgiving and Christmas, where it’s an integral part of many family recipes that have been around for years.”

The cocktail ryes are among the products manufactured at the Manitowoc, WI bakery (originally Natural Ovens). The facility—nestled in the Wisconsin countryside—was originally built in 1988 and features an eye-catching stained-glass window that depicts the surrounding scenery and a baker pulling fresh bread from the oven. Since Alpha acquired the facility, it has upgraded the facility with an updated bread oven and a line producing gourmet buns, alongside the equipment making the cocktail ryes.

While Alpha Baking does not have the market on cocktail rye totally cornered, there are very few producers that make any similar products. As a result, Powell states, many consumers are attached to the S. Rosen’s loaves.

“They’re truly a unique item that doesn’t have a great substitute option available, making them irreplaceable to so many,” she shares. “We’re happy to supply this one-of-a-kind item to customers around the U.S. and, in some small way, be a part of their family traditions and holiday celebrations.”

The cocktail rye might date back decades, but Alpha continues to innovate—they recently added Tuscan Herb Cocktail Bread, which is the same size and shape as the cocktail ryes, but it uses a white dough that mixes in Italian herbs like rosemary and parsley.

“Cocktail Ryes truly shine around the holidays, but we’re hoping the Tuscan Herb, with its more versatile flavor profile, can find a way into customers’ kitchens year-round,” Powell suggests.

Last thoughts

Marcucci shares that despite a long list of challenges Alpha Baking has faced over the years—among them the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks that impacted its airline business, and the COVID-19 pandemic, which severely affected its foodservice customers—the company has endured by making necessary changes, and learning from past experience.

“We have lived through two bouts of inflation,” he reports. “The first one in the 1980s was a very hard learning experience—I would say that Alpha weathered this more recent inflation period much better because of all the historical knowledge and perspective we possessed from the 1980s. A lot of us that lived through the 80’s were still here to coach the newer team members.”

Down the road, Alpha has its sights set on expanding its reach into more grocery retailers across the country, Powell reveals, particularly with the cocktail loaves.

“While they’ve seen incredible growth across the U.S. over the past few years, there are still pockets where we’re looking to grow the item so that everyone can enjoy these delicious loaves,” she says.

Marcucci says Alpha also keeps places top priority on providing “top-notch” breads, and on pleasing its clientele.

“What we do we do because of them and that is what keeps us sharp and at the top of our game,” he says. “We work on producing a quality product at a good value to keep our customers happy.”

“Though electric-powered delivery trucks instead of horses and buggies now make our store deliveries,” Powell states, “one thing that hasn't changed is our dedication to making the world's best bread.”