Semifreddi's Bakery facts for kids
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| Private | |
| Industry | Bread |
| Founded | 1984 |
| Headquarters |
Alameda, CA
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Area served
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San Francisco Bay Area |
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Key people
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Tom Frainier, President and CEO; Mike Rose; John Tredgold |
| Revenue | ~15 million |
| Owner | Tom Frainier (aka Chief Boot Licker), Barbara Rose, and Michael Rose |
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Number of employees
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~125 |
Semifreddi's Bakery is a special bakery located in Alameda, California. They make delicious, high-quality breads and pastries for the whole San Francisco Bay Area. The name "Semifreddi" is Italian and means "half-frozen."
How Semifreddi's Bakery Started
In 1984, Eric and Carole Sartenaer opened a small bakery in Kensington, California. It was only 450 square feet! In January 1987, Barbara Frainier, who was one of their first employees, took over the business. She ran it with her husband, Michael Rose.
A year later, in 1988, Barbara's brother, Tom Frainier, joined the team. Tom had a special business degree called an MBA from Berkeley. He left a big job at Clorox to help his sister and brother-in-law bake bread. To save money, they all lived together in a small apartment in Berkeley.
Tom became the President and CEO of Semifreddi's. Under his leadership, the bakery grew quickly across the San Francisco Bay Area. They always focused on making high-quality, European-style artisan bread and pastries.
Semifreddi's Bakery Today
Semifreddi's Bakery was sold in 2024. It is now one of the largest bakeries in the Bay Area that makes artisan (specialty) wholesale bread and pastries. The bakery is located in Alameda, California. Semifreddi's and Acme are the two main bakeries in the San Francisco Bay Area.
In 2009, Semifreddi's moved into a much larger building. This facility is 33,000 square feet! The bakery is very good at recycling, handling 95 percent of its waste. They work all day, every day, all year long.
Semifreddi's uses over 25 different recipes. They bake more than 50 different kinds of artisan breads and pastries. Each week, they bake and deliver over 200,000 baguettes, rolls, and loaves of bread. They also make 40,000 pastries and cookies every week! Semifreddi's sells its delicious products to grocery stores, restaurants, and cafés all over the Bay Area.
Delicious Baked Goods
Semifreddi's bakes many French and Italian style breads and pastries. This includes long, thin baguettes, large loaves of bread, and batards (which are shorter, wider baguettes). They also make tasty French-style pastries. Besides bread and pastries, Semifreddi's bakes croutons, cookies, and various seasonal sweets.
