Tasty Baking Company Poised for Growth, Ripe With Innovation
Tastykake employees take tremendous pride in Tasty Baking Company's rich heritage and bright future. Unquestionably, our products represent the industry benchmark for consistent taste, quality, and freshness. The idea of small cakes, pre-wrapped fresh at the bakery and conveniently available at the local grocer, was uniquely appealing to Americans.
 Back in 1914, a Pittsburgh baker, Philip J. Baur and a Boston egg salesman, Herbert T. Morris went into business in Philadelphia to produce baked goods using only the finest ingredients delivered fresh daily to the bakery. They insisted on farm fresh eggs, Grade A creamery butter, real milk, cocoa, spices, and natural flavorings from the far ends of the earth.
The products were so good that Morris' wife, after trying some of the samples, said they were "tasty," so they eventually named the business Tasty Baking Company and came up with the catchy name, Tastykake.
At ten cents a cake, Morris sold $28 worth the first day, $222 the first week. The work paid off. By the end of 1914, gross sales were $300,000.
Machinery was built, employees were hired, and routes were expanded. Chocolate Juniors were the first new product developed, then they put in electric ovens for cupcakes. By 1918, sales reached $1 million. By 1930, with the introduction of Butterscotch Krimpets and the expansion to five buildings, Tastykake was selling $6 million worth of these new snack cakes. Krimpets and cupcakes were the two best sellers at two packs for a nickel.
In the '30s, as Americans looked toward economy, Tasty Baking Company came up with a revolution - individually packaged lunchbox-sized pies. A modern concept today with the "grab 'n go" culture. And at a nickel apiece, they became immediate hits. The apple led to peach and lemon and blueberry, and the rest, as they say, is history.
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 Over the years, Tastykake has become a true Philadelphia success story.
Tasty Baking Company's gross annual sales are in excess of $280 million. But for all of us, we have our sights set much higher, and have a concrete plan in place to overcome the challenges that lie ahead.
The bakery industry is facing numerous challenges, but we're confident we're going to turn things around in a number of concrete ways. We will continue to increase shareholder value through leveraging our tremendous Tastykake brand, and increase sales through our company's core routes, new initiatives and strategic partnerships, and by finding partners to put our products on a larger direct store delivery system. We also are empowering our managers, owner-operators and all other employees to take ownership of their functions in the bottom-up approach. Finally, we are going to be a much more customer-diverse organization, working with our customers, and consumers to deliver what they tell us they want. With all these changes underway, we believe we will be a company that will be a formidable competitor in the years to come.
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