Knowing when it’s time to pull the trigger on a $1 million-plus expenditure can be tricky. It’s part cold hard data and part instinct, but it’s always about anticipating the demand. 

“You can see and feel what’s coming,” said Baldo Dattolo, president and chief executive officer of Anthony & Sons Bakery. “Equipment investment is all about foresight.”

The Avocado Bread Co. has accelerated the need for more equipment and even more urgently, more space. Anthony & Sons is ready to invest in building an off-site freezer space to warehouse more than 1,000 pallets of finished product. Dattolo noted that with the company’s current on-site warehousing and distribution system, 15 trucks can arrive in one day, and loading them can become a bottleneck with drivers waiting for an hour. 

“This will improve shipping and distribution, and that will catapult us to the next level,” he said. 

In about a year, Dattolo anticipates that demand for the avocado bread products will justify a new oven, cooling and freezer system. 

“We’ll have 1,000 additional stores taking the avocado bread, so we know we’re going to have the capacity to support an investment,” he said. “We’re so close to buying an additional oven, cooling and freezer system to accommodate the new business, but we’re not quite there yet.”

This article is an excerpt from the May 2024 issue of Baking & Snack. To read the entire feature on Anthony & Sons Bakery, click here.