It’s always nerve-racking jumping into something new. Sometimes, however, the need is too great, and a new venture is necessary. Other times, it’s an opportunity born from the question “why?” or “why not?” The Rotella family’s latest ventures — Rotella’s Cold Storage and Ag Alchemy Animal Nutrition — both sprouted from either a need or an opportunity to do things differently. Lou Rotella III, chief operating officer, and John Rotella, general manager, of Omaha, Neb.-based Rotella’s Italian Bakery, were simply ambitious enough to try. 

This is a family trait, just like their strong work ethic, persistence, commitment to service and attention to detail. Both their father, Lou Rotella Jr., chief executive officer, and their grandfather, Lou Rotella Sr., had ambitions for the family business. Lou Rotella Sr. turned his father’s bakery into one of the most successful commercial bakeries in the United States. Lou Rotella Jr. reached nationwide distribution by moving to frozen inventory. Today, the fourth generation continues to build on that momentum. While the Rotellas have been bakers for more than a hundred years, cold storage was something they had dabbled in with a 3,500-pallet onsite frozen warehouse. This year, after dealing with third-party storage facilities that negatively impacted business, the Rotellas opened their own 20,000-pallet cold storage facility to bring everything in-house. 

Ag Alchemy Animal Nutrition is a jump into an entirely new category that came about when John Rotella wondered if the company could do more with its bakery by-product than just sell it for feed. While producing dog treats is very similar to cookies, there was still a learning curve in nutrition development and the high level of testing and sanitation necessary for companion animal nutrition. However, taking that leap and scaling that curve has led to Rotella’s being able to turn 10% to 15% of the company’s bakery by-product into a completely new revenue stream. It’s all because John Rotella was willing to pursue the question of “why not?” and his father was willing to let him try it. John Rotella pointed out that a big part of growing up in the company was that his father was never afraid of failure, and they were encouraged to try new things, even if they didn’t work out. 

“My sons knew that we always would try their ideas,” Lou Rotella Jr. explained. “And then if it’s better, we’ll do it the new way. If it’s worse, we won’t do it that way, and if it’s the same results, we’ll still keep their idea because then they own it. I always encouraged my kids to come talk to me, even if it’s bad news because we can always get things worked out.” 

That mentality has led to generation after generation of Rotellas expanding the family business to a new level of professionalism and into new categories. With those ideas, the company has been able to serve its customers better and support its workforce. 

At Baking & Snack, we’re trying something a little new in 2025. Your February issue will come with a new look that we believe will better serve you, the reader, as we deliver the information you need to do business and bake better. It has been more than 10 years since the last time we refreshed the look of this publication, and a lot has changed since then. We hope the new design will feel fresher and more suited to today’s wholesale baking industry.