LEBANON, Tenn. (WKRN) — Every piece of sourdough bread served at Cracker Barrel restaurants across the country is baked in Lebanon, at Bay's Southern Bread.

"We have 11 of these ovens, each oven can make 180 loaves at a time. It takes about 35 minutes to make the bread," Bay's Southern Bread President Kevin Bay explained as he took News 2 on a tour of the facility.

Flour is shipped in railcars, and their sugar order comes in 2,000-pound bags, but the operation didn't start out that large.

"Mom and dad were in Newport, Tennessee, and they were having lunch. Mom had always made bread at home, and dad said, 'The bread that you're making at home would go well with the Cracker Barrel concept,'" Bay recalled.

Peggy and Charlie Bay lived in Mt. Juliet, and Charlie worked for Kenneth O. Lester Company, a food distributor for Cracker Barrel. The company's higher-ups got him a meeting with Dan Evins, the founder of the Lebanon-based restaurant chain.

"He took him a couple loaves of bread," Bay explained. "They played around with them, called him back a few days later and said, 'Can you make a couple more loaves? We're going to have a board meeting, and we want to serve at the board meeting.'"

And as they say, the rest is history. After three years of testing, Bay's Southern Bread went full-time with Cracker Barrel in January 1985. That partnership continues 40 years later. They now have the capacity to bake 22,000 loaves of sourdough bread a day.

"The business grew and grew and grew. We grew as Cracker Barrel grew," Bay said. "My grandkids are coming into the business now, the fourth generation. It's really rewarding to be around them."

Bay decided to move back home to join the family business right from the start. The roots run deep; the sourdough is from an old family recipe and starter that dates back generations.

"This starter that we use here can be traced back to my great-grandmother, and she passed in the early 60s. She was born in the 1880s," Bay said. "This starter has a very distinct taste to it, and it's very well liked."

Bay's great-grandmother, "Ma," is immortalized with a trademarked line of dinner rolls baked by the family's other company, Specialty Breads, LLC. Also located in Lebanon, they make and distribute bread products to school systems, restaurants and grocery stores in the Midwest and southeastern United States.

Bay attributes the business's success and longevity to patience, consistency and a committed team.

"Surrounding yourself with people who have the same desire to do what you're doing and be being OK to fail and learn from it," Bay said. "To come to work here, and then to be able to work with Cracker Barrel for the last 40 years, it's been rewarding."

If you want to try out the bread, for only $2 a piece, you can purchase sourdough, dinner rolls, croutons, and more right from Bay's Southern Bread on Hartmann Drive in Lebanon.

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/on-tour-middle-tn/family-business-in-lebanon-bakes-sourdough-bread-for-cracker-barrel-for-40-years/