Detroit, Mich.-area Metropolitan Baking Co. will add a 30,000-square-foot expansion to its Hamtramck, Mich., baking operation, the company announced in a release. In addition, the company will add 25 employees to its payroll to staff the expansion.
Metropolitan Baking president George Kordas, grandson of the company’s founder, said the company’s “fantastic” growth over the past several years produced the opportunity to grow the business.
The company was founded in 1945 and its products are distributed nationally, with fresh and frozen bread products served in Yankee Stadium and on the Las Vegas Strip, the announcement said. Increased sales opportunities are currently hampered by capacity constraints, the company added, and the new plant expansion will include bun and roll lines that will add 30-40% capacity. Metropolitan Baking recently expanded its shipping docks, refrigeration and freezer space, and this expansion will help the company fully utilize those spaces.
Metropolitan declined a potential grant from the Michigan Agriculture Commission and did not pursue other grant or tax incentives from local entities for this project, stating that the company did not feel it was right to take financial assistance when Hamtramck schools, infrastructure and public safety initiatives needed the funding more than the company did.
The company produces Coney Island “steamer buns and Pullman breads,” as well as wheat, white, rye, French, Italian, hamburger, hot dog, slider and brioche buns, and dinner, sub, Kaiser and onion rolls — under the Kordas brand name as well as several others.
