In September, Chicago-area bread maker Highland Baking Co. will leave the fresh bread business after 37 years. In an email sent to clients on July 6, Highland’s owners blamed the “extraordinary shift in labor availability” that resulted from the pandemic, one that’s impacted nearly every corner of the hospitality industry.
“We are no longer able to maintain the level of service that our direct delivery customers deserve,” the letter reads, adding breads will now be distributed by Testa and Get Fresh produce companies.
There’s precedent for this: Gonnella Baking Co., known for furnishing French bread for Chicago’s Italian beef sandwiches (like Al’s Beef), ended fresh deliveries in February 2020, just weeks before the city first closed dining rooms due to COVID-19. The company now sells frozen breads that are baked at the restaurant using TurboChef ovens or other appliances.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: Eater Chicago
