Bluffton Bread Company logo courtesy Bluffton University Public Relations
When president Jane Wood wanted to start a student-run business at Bluffton, the Bluffton Bread Company was born. According to Jeanna Haggard, assistant professor of food and nutrition, students have been heavily involved in the project, from designing the logo to developing the recipes to doing the labels and packaging.
Katie Kline, a senior dietetics major, was one of the first students to begin working on the project. Over the summer, she, along with senior Brianna Sinn, worked on developing the different flavors of bread and making standardized recipes. Kline estimated between the two of them, they spent seven to 10 hours a week on the project last summer.
Students are involved in the marketing and business side as well. According to Melissa Green, associate professor of business, students in her Consumer Behavior class will do focus groups with community members, faculty and staff, and students to determine who is interested in buying the bread and improvements that can be made to it. Jason Swartzlander, professor of accounting, will help his cost accounting class look at the cost of the bread.
Katie Kline, a senior dietetics major, was one of the first students to begin working on the Bluffton Bread Company. Photo by Aubrey Bartel
“The hope of this is that this will become a project that is open to all students on Bluffton’s campus,” Green said. “I think that there’s ample opportunity for students to become involved, and we want them to become not only involved but to put forth a strong leadership role in this.”
Green believes the Bluffton Bread Company provides an opportunity for students to learn the concepts in the classroom and then get the chance to practice it, something Kline is already experiencing.
“I like the involvement, and I feel like it’s a really good way to get students to do hands-on stuff and really get into the food service aspect of my major,” Kline said. “I’m also learning a lot on the business side. I didn’t realize how much business stuff went into it as far as production and needs and what consumers want, which I find very interesting.”
Associate Professor of Business Melissa Green photo by Aubrey Bartel
Haggard has noticed students having the opportunities to work with other students from different departments has been something students have enjoyed the most about this project.
“I think it gives them hands-on experience running the business and working with other departments,” Haggard said. “They’re getting firsthand knowledge of the labor it takes to run a business, to get it up and going and the marketing and production involved behind it.”
Kline said the types of bread available for sale are asiago cheese, pumpkin and banana walnut, with chocolate peppermint bread coming for the Christmas sale. According to Haggard, bread will be available to buy at the Harvest Dinner Nov. 15 and the Blaze of Lights Nov. 30. The current plan is for bread to be available at specific times on an online store off of Bluffton’s website, similar to online shopping, beginning finals week in December.
