The Original Cakerie

When the largest privately owned dessert manufacturer in Canada reached capacity in its Delta, British Columbia plant, it looked east to Ontario, at the heart of the North American market.

To facilitate the shipping of frozen decorated cakes, this 130,000 SF facility had a Variable Retention Time (VRT) freezer, the largest of its kind at the time, with 1000’ of conveyer in eight different cells at -10˚F.

Thanks to close coordination, the project was completed in 11 months from groundbreaking to saleable product, despite a winter with unusually high snow falls.

It received a gold rating from the American Institute of Baking (AIB) due to sanitary design practices that exceeded AIB and GMP standards, and production rates were higher than expected immediately upon start-up.

Maidstone Bakeries

Maidstone Bakeries was a joint venture between Tim Hortons and Cuisine de France to commercialize a cutting-edge technique that “flash freezes” par-baked donuts, fritters and crullers as soon as they leave the fryer. The facility supplied sweet baked goods and baguettes to the network of popular Tim Hortons franchises across Canada and North America.

This fast-track design-build project went from planning to completion in less than 12 months.
A 31-acre site was developed as well as a 230,000 SF facility which included a 40,000 SF storage freezer and 40,000 SF office space.
Site preparation, adjoining caissons/foundations, expandable building design, and mechanical/electrical system sizing all provided flexibility to allow for future expansion.
Dennis Group was involved in two subsequent expansions which increased the size of the facility to 400,000 SF.

La Brea Bakery had overextended the production capacity of their west coast facility and was on a fast track program to expand sales in the eastern United States.

Dennis Group was engaged as a partner to assist La Brea in their efforts to increase the production capacity by constructing a new facility on the east coast. Complete interior fit-up, MEP and construction management design-build services were provided for a new bakery facility.

The Swedesboro facility houses the largest automated artisan bread production line in the world. The project involved the fast-track fit-up of a 190,000 square foot facility including a 20,000 square foot storage freezer and 7,500 square feet of office space.

Major accomplishments of the project included complete design with smooth integration of production systems supplied by equipment manufacturers located in four countries. The facility has been designed and constructed to allow for easy capacity expansion in the future.

Sheetz Brothers wanted to develop a new commissary facility including a bakery and ready-to-eat area to produce products that would be delivered fresh daily to the company’s 350 locations across six states.

Dennis Group provided complete turn-key site development, facility, process design and construction management design-build services for Sheetz Brothers’ Kitchen new commissary facility in Claysburg, Pennsylvania. The project involved the construction of a new 140,000 SF commissary facility in conjunction with a 28,000 SF expansion to the existing Sheetz Distribution Center, as well as, other campus improvements.

Major accomplishments of the project included complete facility construction, process installation and commissioning in less than 12 months. This successful project was completed on schedule and exceeded expectation in many areas of design and performance. The facility has also been designed for future expansion to both the bakery and “ready-to-eat” areas.