3rd Quarter 2011 Newsletter

Sales on the move

With new customers coming in every day, the sales team is thriving all over the south- east. We have sales representatives in Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida, and we also serve the Virginia and Alabama areas! All of our reps are very knowledge- able on all of our products and services. We are pleased to welcome the Wild Wings chain throughout North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia thanks to Dave and Angelia Bates. We also welcome many new Greystone Healthcare Management locations throughout Florida with the help of Kim McKinney. These Greystone locations are a variety of hospital facilities. We are very pleased to welcome them to the Masada family and hope to have a long lasting relationship with them, as well as all of our customers. In 2011, we have added 6 new employees to our Sales Department. They are already in full swing, bringing in new clients every week. Since the sales team is working hard to expand out customer base, the other departments at Masada are working to keep up with them! There are many new upgrades coming in every department, and we are very excited to share them with you as well.

New distribution center opening soon!

We are very excited about our new Distribution Center opening August 1st, 2011. The Distribution and Inventory Management Depts will move to the new center, while our Production Dept and Administration will expand within our headquarters. The new location will allow distribution to operate more efficiently and will free up enough space at headquarters to add a 2nd full production line. We are on schedule to open this new line at the end of 2011.

DID YOU KNOW?

In 1997, Kansas wheat farmers produced enough wheat to make 36.5 billions loaves of bread, or enough to provide each person on Earth with 6 loaves of bread.

Please welcome our new Safety Manager!

When working with large machinery, many accidents can happen. This is where our new Safety manager, Mike Faklaris, comes in. Mike has 30 years experience in the safety business and 15 years experience in food safety. He was brought to Masada because we are growing so quickly that we want to make sure all of our employees, from the production line to the drivers, are well aware of the safety issues that can arise. The biggest company accidents are strains, cuts/abrasions, bruises/ contusions, and slips/falls. Being aware can make preventing accidents much easier. His plans include training each department in the hazards and what can be done to prevent them. We want people to think, “how can I do this safely?”, not just “how can I do this?”. He has been here since May 2011 and we have already seen a decrease in accidents! Mike started his career in safety after a dear friend lost his leg due to an accident resulting from improper safety procedures. He even makes his children wear safety goggles and ear plugs while cutting the grass! They jokingly call him Mr. Safety. If you see something that you feel or looks unsafe, please call or text Mike at (404) 408-9896. We will also be adding suggestion boxes to all the break rooms where you can leave an anonymous message if you would like.

DID YOU KNOW?

Napoleon gave a common bread its name when he demanded a loaf of dark rye bread for his horse during the Prussian campaign. “Pain for Nicole,” he ordered , which meant “Bread for Nicole,” his horse. To Germanic ears, the request sounded like “pumpernickel,” which is the term we use today for the traditional loaf.

The Ciabatta

When Koby Stein went to Italy two and a half years ago, he brought back a family recipe for the Ciabatta loaf. We now use the same quality ingredients and processing as were taught by the bakers in Italy. There is a lot of love and passion to the baking of this unique bread. Traditionally, Ciabatta is hand-made and baked in a hearth oven. The hearth is a stone oven that allows the to Ciabatta to stay in its natural form by not putting into a special shaped pan. The Ciabatta was developed in 1982 in Italy and was brought to the United States in early 1990’s. There are many varieties, and we offer a 3×6 plain and 3×6 parmesan, as well as 4×4 plain, rosemary, sun-dried tomato and parmesan. The Ciabatta has a crisp crust, a somewhat soft, porous texture, and is light to the touch. Please contact your sales rep if you would like to try our very special Ciabatta.

Promotion within

We are please to announce the promotion of Lynda Sithisom to Customer Service Supervisor. The office is a very fast paced environment and Lynda has shown a willingness and ability to handle many responsibilities in her tenure here at Masada Bakery. She is a hard working mother of three who has put a lot into Masada, making sure the office is run smoothly without incidents. Becoming more organized will assist in every department. The office is responsible for all orders and making sure the drivers have all of the needed paperwork to make deliveries as efficiently as possible. She is thrilled about her new position and knows it will be a challenge for her. We want to wish her luck and great success in the future.

New Equipment for production

As we grow, our production capacity needs to grow with us. We are progressing with a plan to add new equipment by January 2012. The new equipment includes a 2nd tunnel oven, spiral cooler, packaging machine and conveyer system. The new production line will bring many benefits to the production team, which we all look forward to seeing. The expansion will help create a more efficient production environment. We will also have greater peace of mind that in the event of equipment breakdown, we have a firm backup plan in place! We expect our production to run more smoothly on those busy days, which will help us get our trucks out on the road faster and our fresh breads delivered to your kitchens early. We are very excited about the new equipment and look forward to sharing the benefits with all of our customers.

DID YOU KNOW?

Each American consumes, on average, 53 pounds of bread per year and one bushel of wheat will produce 73 one-pound loaves!

Key Players

Alan Fishman, Office Manager

What is your official position?

I am the Office Manager at Masada Bakery, which is a pretty generic sounding title. Most of my time is spent planning our daily production, working with Neil to coordinate operations, serving as point of contact to Five Guys Foods (as well as frozen customers), and working on our new software implementation.

How long have you worked for Masada?

I have worked at Masada since March of 1999, more or less right out of college. There have been a lot of changes since then because the company keeps bigger and better. But what has stayed constant is the fast paced nature of the business and the importance of reacting quickly to our customers’ needs.

What is you favorite part of working for Masada?

The People. There are a core group of individuals at Masada who have been working side-by-side for many years (and some for well over a decade). You just know that you can count on the person next to you!

Susie Grindstaff, Atlanta Sales Rep

What is your official position?

My official position is Sales Representative, Unofficial Empress of the Universe

What is your favorite part of working for Masada?

My favorite part is meeting some wonderful, delightful people that I call on…Chefs especially!

How long have you worked for Masada?

I have been with Masada since 11/5/2007

How would your describe the people here at Masada?

I think that we have such an international group of employees …that has been just wonderful to meet people from Mexico, Iraq, Israel, Russia, the good ol’ USA…where else???

But how interesting we all are with the different languages, customs and personalities…but all wonderful human beings making us all the same on the human level .Through every- one’s hard work and persever- ance, this company has shown consistent growth for the last 30 years.

Editor: Michelle Watrin mwatrin@masadabakery.com
If you have anything you would like considered for future newsletters, please email Michelle.