Semifreddi’s Bakery is an

Alameda An alameda is a Avenue (landscape), street or path lined with trees () and may refer to: Places Canada *Alameda, Saskatchewan, town in Saskatchewan **Grant Devine Dam, formerly ''Alameda Dam'', a dam and reservoir in southern Saskatchewan Chile ...

-based

artisan An artisan (from french: artisan, it, artigiano) is a skilled craft worker who makes or creates material objects partly or entirely by hand. These objects may be functional or strictly decorative, for example furniture, decorative art ...

bakery A bakery is an establishment that produces and sells flour-based food baked in an oven such as bread, cookies, cakes, donuts, pastries, and pies. Some retail bakeries are also categorized as cafés, serving coffee and tea to customers who ...

that serves the entire

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

.Girard, Kim.''The Future of Food''. BerkeleyHaas Magazine, 2012.Fietelberg, Jerilyn. ''Rolling in Dough at Semifreddi’s''. Piedmonter, 1996.Johnson, Elain. ''The Bread Rush''. Sunset Magazine, 1994. The name Semifreddi means “half-frozen” in Italian.

Beginnings and early history

In 1984, Eric and Carole Sartenaer, ex-

Cheese Board Collective The Cheese Board Collective in Berkeley, California, comprises two worker-owned-and-operated businesses: a cheese shop/bakery commonly referred to as "The Cheese Board", and a pizzeria known as "Cheese Board Pizza". Along with Peet's Coffee, the ...

members, opened shop in a 450-square-foot “hole in the wall” bakery in

Kensington, California Kensington is an unincorporated community and census designated place located in the Berkeley Hills, in the East Bay, part of the San Francisco Bay Area, in Contra Costa County, California. In the 20th century it was considered part of Berkeley ...

. In January 1987, Barbara Frainier (one of their first employees) took over the business with her husband Michael Rose. In 1988, Tom Frainier (Barbara’s brother) joined the Semifreddi’s team. In order to save money, Tom, Barbara, and Michael, lived together in a small flat in Berkeley, California.Mitchell, Eve. ''Former Clorox manager now supplies bread to Bay Area''. Bay Area News Group, June 24, 2012. Tom, who holds an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

from Berkeley’s

Haas School of Business The Walter A. Haas School of Business, also known as Berkeley Haas, is the business school of the University of California, Berkeley, a public research university in Berkeley, California. It was the first business school at a public university i ...

, left an upper management position at

Clorox The Clorox Company (formerly Clorox Chemical Company) is an American global manufacturer and marketer of consumer and professional products. As of 2020 the Oakland, California based company had approximately 8,800 employees worldwide. Net sales ...

to join his sister and brother in law, both UC Berkeley alumni, in the bread and pastry-making business.McEver, Katherine. ''Bread Circuses''. The East Bay Monthly, 1993, Vol. 24, p. 18.Kilduff, Paul. ''The Fresh CEO''. The East Bay Monthly, 2012, Vol. 42, p. 22. When asked about his

exit strategy An exit strategy is a means of leaving one's current situation, either after a predetermined objective has been achieved, or as a strategy to mitigate failure. An organisation or individual without an exit strategy may be in a quagmire. At wors ...

, Frainier replies, “death.” After Frainier took the helm as President, CEO, and self-proclaimed, “Chief Boot Licker,” Semifreddi’s rapidly expanded throughout the San Francisco Bay, while maintaining its emphasis on baking high-quality, European-style artisan bread and pastries.

Present day

Semifreddi’s has become one of the largest artisan wholesale bread and pastry bakeries in the Bay Area. It is located in

Alameda, California Alameda ( ; ; Spanish for "Avenue (landscape), tree-lined path") is a city in Alameda County, California, located in the East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), East Bay region of the Bay Area. The city is primarily located on Alameda (island), Alam ...

.Our Story
''Semifreddi’s''. Semifreddi’s and

Acme Acme is Ancient Greek (ακμή; English transliteration: ''akmē'') for "the peak", "zenith" or "prime". It may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Acme'' (album), an album by the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion * Acme and Septimius, a fictional ...

are the two major players in the San Francisco Bay bread industry. In 2009, Semifreddi’s moved into a 33,000 square foot facility, where the bakery recycles 95 percent of its waste. It operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for all 52 weeks of the year. The bakery utilizes over 25 different recipes and bakes more than 50 different artisan breads and pastries. In a typical week, Semifreddi’s bakes and delivers over 200,000 baguettes, rolls, and loaves and 40,000 pastries and cookies a week. Semifreddi’s sells to grocery stores, restaurants, and cafés throughout the bay area.

Baked goods

Semifreddi’s bakes French and Italian style bread and pastries, which includes baguettes, loaves, batards, and French style pastries. They also bake croutons, cookies, and various seasonal sweets.Products
''Semifreddi’s''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Semifreddi's Food and drink in the San Francisco Bay Area Cuisine of the San Francisco Bay Area Companies based in Alameda, California 1984 establishments in California American companies established in 1984 Bakeries of California