ST. PAUL, MINN. — Saint Agnes Baking Co., a wholesale bakery that has served Minnesota since 1995, is halting production at the end of this week, according to an article in the StarTribune.
While the company has not disclosed why it is ceasing operations, several of its customers told the StarTribune that they have been told that the bakery will no longer be operational after Jan. 19.
“The bread is a very, very important thing when you are a sandwich-dominated restaurant like ourselves,” Tim Mahoney, owner of the Loon Café and president of the Warehouse District Business Association, told the StarTribune. “Bread makes or breaks a sandwich.”
In addition to restaurants, Saint Agnes provides products for U.S. Bank Stadium, which will host the Super Bowl on Feb. 4, as well as Xcel Energy Center, home of the Minnesota Wild hockey team.
Saint Agnes’ products include artisanal bread and pastries, as well as hamburger and brat buns. The company in its early years was known as Custom Bakery until current ownership purchased the bakery on West Seventh Street in St. Paul in 1995. At that time, the company was renamed Saint Agnes Baking Co. in honor of Agnes Rod, the grandmother of owner Gary Sande. In 2003, the bakery outgrew the West Seventh Street location and moved to its current site on Olive Street.
