The packaging area combines manual labor with automation.
 
Test twice, ship once

Although the bakery doesn’t currently manufacture fully baked product, it still ensures that the frozen product will bake consistently for every customer before shipping. Two LBC rack ovens are used to test bake each and every batch. Twice.

“This is a critical component for our customers because when they buy frozen pucks, they could go to any number of in-store bakeries across the country,” Mr. Ahlgren said. “They all need to bake consistently regardless of location or oven.”


The test bakes not only ensure the frozen product will hold up to the equipment but also that it will package properly, whether in a clamshell, box or resealable bag. “If they over-spread, they won’t fit into the package; if they under-spread, they’ll be too thick and won’t stack properly. We have a very tight spec, and everything is measured and monitored for spread and weight,” Mr. Hayden said.

Each batch is tested at the time it’s run and then again 24 hours later. “We’re on a positive release, which means everything that’s produced is on a hold until quality control releases it,” Mr. Hayden said. “Nothing leaves until it’s been tested twice. Nothing.”

The great wide open

In the storage freezer, cases sit in -10°F while they await release for shipment from the quality assurance department when both test batches are complete. “When we were designing this plant, the freezer grew three times,” Mr. Hayden recalled. “Because of how the building was set up, we started at 20,000 sq ft. Then it went to 25,000. Then we thought, ‘You never can have enough freezer space, so let’s go to 33,000.’ Maybe it will grow again, who knows?’ ”

Springdale is a sealed plant; no drivers are allowed into the facility (in fact, employees can’t enter the facility without confirmation of “good standing” status and cleared for a shift that day). Trucks back into one of three bays on the frozen shipping dock, where it seals up the trailer and a break locks it in to ensure a driver doesn’t prematurely pull away from the dock.

Outside the freezer is the great wide open. When designing the plant, South Coast built in flexibility to account for additional growth. Just one wall separates the main production area from where the next production room will house two more lines to mimic Line Nos. 1 and 2. But it doesn’t end there. “All we’ll have to do is knock out a wall, and we’ll be able to add an oven,” Mr. Schultz observed.

Mr. Hayden added, “We tried to think of everything.”

Standing in this open space, one can look around and easily glimpse the future. At the top of the wall of the warehouse space hang the Arkansas and California state flags. “We need to add more flags now,” Mr. Hayden said, referring to the integration of all the Rise Baking brands.

As Rise Baking continues on a growth trajectory — perhaps opening another plant on the East Coast — Springdale will continue to expand along with it, both inside the existing plant and on the empty lot. “We can double in size here,” Mr. Schultz said, suggesting that the plant should have significant baking assets within the next five years. With the opportunity to expand its current production and go greenfield right next door, the sky’s the limit for these cookie kings.