St Pierre has unveiled its plans to strengthen infrastructure and protect its supply chain in a volatile market, with an investment of more than $10 million. 

St Pierre Bakery, which launched into the US market in 2014, opened its first US office in November 2021. Based in Cincinnati, the US hub is home to a 10-strong team working across the United States to further distribution of the award-winning brand.

In collaboration with its distribution partner, Lipari Foods, St Pierre increased its in-country stock holding supply from 12 weeks to 20 weeks at the end of last year. The additional investment will bolster this, ensuring the brand’s impressive 98 percent fill rate continues throughout 2022.

David Wagstaff, VP, North America comments, “Supply chain challenges are obviously top of mind for retailers—and with good reason. Working with St Pierre gives our customers a unique advantage because we ship the product frozen, we have an extended shelf-life on a premium product and our fill rates averaged 98 per cent in 2021. There are few bakery suppliers who can offer that reliability.

“Our investment will enable us to double our capacity and storage in the US, opening a new warehouse in Michigan and further increasing our in-country stock holding by the end of April, ready for the summer season.” 

The appointment of David Wagstaff to VP, North America in 2021, has seen the brand recruiting on both sides of the pond to establish a dedicated US team. Part of St Pierre Groupe, the business employs more than 80 people globally with 25 colleagues solely dedicated to building St Pierre in the American market—including the 10 team members based in the United States. 

Wagstaff continues, “The size of the opportunity justifies the investment. St Pierre is the number one brioche brand in America and brioche, as a category, delivers a significant $470 million to the US bakery sector—up from just $90mn in 2018. St Pierre has delivered double-digit growth consistently for five years, is worth more than $100mn and is growing at the same rapid rate as the category we created—yet, there is still so much potential for growth.

“We work in partnership with retailers, offering them innovative merchandising solutions and bespoke marketing support which means we are driving footfall to the ISB and increasing basket spend. That is vital to retailers as we continue to move forward in the wake of the pandemic.”

St Pierre has recently confirmed its team will be in attendance at Expo West in March and IDDBA in June. After launching its online trade hub in 2021, the brand is now encouraging retailers to keep abreast of news, merchandising solutions and up-to-date bakery insights via www.stpierretrade.com. 

The brand’s merchandising rack program has also been highlighted for investment, with new formats to provide greater in-store experiences set to be revealed later this year. St Pierre’s Eiffel Tower racks were shown to increase sales by more than 50 percent during a trial in 2017. Since then, the brand has invested in 6,000 units across America, with plans to increase this number by a third in 2022—with no cost to its retail partners. 

To find out more about St Pierre Bakery, visit www.stpierretrade.com. 

Related: 2019 Bakery of the Year: St Pierre Groupe