Editor’s Letter: March 2010

We introduce the Bakers Journal to the baking industry in Canada,
confident that it has a specific work to do and a real service to
render. It is our purpose to supply master bakers in all sections of
the Dominion with an interesting, instructive and progressive journal
that will meet the present-day demands.

We introduce the Bakers Journal to the baking industry in Canada, confident that it has a specific work to do and a real service to render. It is our purpose to supply master bakers in all sections of the Dominion with an interesting, instructive and progressive journal that will meet the present-day demands.

“Broadly speaking, our policy will be the greatest good for the greatest number, keeping in mind all that tends to greater efficiency and higher standards throughout the craft.

“Commercial baking is one of the key industries, closely associated with our home life and far-reaching in its varied activities. Due, in a large measure, to the development of production and merchandising methods and a more general dissemination of scientific knowledge it has grown to a prominent position.
“The Bakers Journal is at your service.”

With those words, founder and publisher W.E. Floody dedicated the very first issue of Bakers Journal in July 1938. Yes, you read that correctly. We’re actually 72 years old, but in the early 1960s the magazine shut down for two years due to difficult economic conditions.

Seventy or 72 … it’s not much of a difference. What really matters is Mr. Floody’s last line about being “at your service.” That’s the key to success in any partnership.

Service, dedication, loyalty, trust … these are concepts often taken for granted or ignored altogether in today’s hyper-competitive global economy. At this magazine, we believe the industry we cover is more than a subject to be scrutinized and analyzed. We believe that our success is in direct correlation to yours, that we would not be here without you. We also believe that what you do is of vital importance to the health of Canada’s people – and its prosperity.

Indeed, the baking industry has faithfully served Canada through good times and bad, through war and peace. In the 1940s, at the height of World War II, an ad in this magazine read: “The Canadian Baker has become a key man in the national effort for Victory. He is not only baking more bread – he is doing it under the stress and strain of trying wartime conditions. This loyal army of Canadian bakers is turning our vast wheat crops into the nation’s No. 1 energy food … We salute you for your valiant efforts in helping to win the war!”

With the sluggish economy of the past couple years, I’m sure many of you feel as if you are engaged in a war for the survival of your business. It’s so easy to get caught up in the day-to-day struggles of managing or working in a bakery business, to get so lost in the details and e-mails that your outlook is, well, only piecemeal. That’s why we’re proud to bring you this special 70th anniversary issue, in which we’ll take a look at the big picture of how the baking industry got to where it is today. In doing so, hopefully we’ll remind you of why you got into this business in the first place.

Given its ancient origins, it’s difficult to conceive of an industry that has evolved more rapidly than baking, especially in the past 70 years. In fact, at the turn of the 20th century, only a small percentage of consumers were buying bread – most made their own. By the time the 1960s rolled around, that number had skyrocketed to 95 per cent as commercial bakeries came to prominence. And since that time, the industry has only gotten bigger and better.

To those who made this happen through their hard work and innovation, we salute you for your valiant efforts, and, as always, we’re at your service.

Happy reading.