BOISE, Idaho — In 1996, Alpicella Bakery was opened in Boise to fill the city's need for a wholesale french and sourdough bread producer. 22 years and two owners later, the popular bakery was bought by long-time family-owned Franz Bakery.
"Alpicella just fits who we want to be as an organization, they serve a need for the community, the provide a good quality product and we didn't have a french bread sourdough bakery outside of the Seattle market, and then it really kind of followed our platform of being family-owned, and really had the core values that we had which a good quality product, great people, and good service," said Rob Robinson, the general manager of Franz Bakery Idaho.
It's a company Franz followed and respected well before they acquired them within the last year.
"When we launched this market back in 2007, we identified and said there's a strong sourdough company. We tried the product, good product, a great quality product, had a good following," said Robinson.
Alpicella has mastered the art of making sourdough, but their brown and serve rolls are an absolute fan favorite that seem to fly off store shelves as soon as they're stocked.
"It's nice because it's a par-baked, it's not fully baked off yet, it's a great sourdough flavor. And then plus you get to throw it in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes, brown it up, and it comes out nice and hot, fresh rolls, so yeah, that is without a doubt, I know my household favorite," said Robinson.
But no matter how big Franz Bakery gets, they won't change anything about Idaho-grown Alpicella.
"It's a proud moment to say we have something that our competition doesn't have. We have something that was born here, raised here, and continues to grow in this marketplace. Being part of this Boise community, and not just the growth we've seen but just the overall community aspect of this area and the entire Treasure Valley, it just gives you a sense of pride," said Robinson.
A sense of pride knowing that Alpicella will always have the prestigious title of being "Made in Idaho."
"There's something that brought everybody here that made them love this community, and I think it's important that we hang on to those roots. And I see that, that's what Apicella is, it's just one more root that's ingrained into this community that we need to hang on to because Idaho is a special place. It's not only a place that a lot of people call home, they love it here," comments Robinson.
