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Slow and steady but always ready: ancient bard and fabulist Aesop once quipped, "whatever you do, do with all your might." J.S.B. Industries, Inc. is doing just that with a creative new focus on healthy, fortified baked goods for children that leaves school foodservice programs wanting more.

Article Excerpt
Once upon a time, in a land not so far away (Boston to be exact), lived a father and his sons. Together they formed a known as J.S.B. Industries, Inc.--purveyor of branded Muffin Town products along with Aesop's Bagels. The story unfolds as this family-run company works to make a place for itself in the baking industry. J.S.B.'s 80,000-sq.-ft. facility produces more than 700 products, and sales are booming. Much like the tortoise in Aesop's famed fable, the company strives to take a slow and steady step forward every day, never looking back.

The Father and His Sons

J.S.B. is a kingdom of sorts, with Jack Anderson, president, reigning as the King of Muffin Town.

"When I first got out of the Army, I opened a fast-food operation in downtown Boston--a coffee shop called Sandwich World. We had a very good lunch business. One morning I made some muffins, and the next thing you know, we were selling 600 cups of coffee and lots of muffins. We had to open another store and another store. Then we opened a commissary to make the muffins for all of those stores."

And so the kingdom grew. Anderson named the new company J.S.B., with each initial representing the names of his sons--John, Scott and Brian. Family ties run deep at J.S.B., thus lending a sense of community to the company. Each son has varied strengths and talents, and Anderson has found a place for each of them.

Scott Anderson, vice president of operations and the youngest son, laughs as he remembers how he started at the company.

"I never really wanted to come into the business," he says. "My whole life I hated working at the bakery. I didn't like the long hours and the crazy days. Then, one day in college I decided I wanted to come back to the business. I liked the idea of being around my family and my brothers."

Scott took a six-month residence course at the American Institute of Baking in Manhattan, Kan. After completing the course, he fell in love with J.S.B. and realized that the learning process had only begun.

"I learned more in my first year working with my father than I ever did in college," he says.

Scott manages 140 employees and oversees production. He enjoys his job, noting how different the brothers' personalities are.

"I like working hands-on, being out on the floor and managing people. John is more of the logistics guy and does things from the outside, and Brian's more administrative and very smart with computers," Scott says.

John, the oldest son, confesses he wanted to play professional basketball before joining the company. As the vice president and general manager for purchasing and logistics, he has watched the company grow since its creation in 1978.

"To see how it's gone from scooping one muffin at a time to making millions of muffins a week is amazing," he says. "I've seen it grow from a retail level to a wholesale level and go from a no-name product to a product that has weight in the marketplace."

Brian, vice president and the middle son, agrees that the balance his father has achieved has made the difference. Brian heads management information systems (MIS) for the company.

"Technology has helped our company grow in size and in profit," he explains. The company is...