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Dancing Deer Baking Co.

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Dancing Deer Baking Co
Company typePrivately held company
IndustryBakery
Founded1994 in West Roxbury, Boston, Massachusetts, US
FounderSuzanne Lombardi, Ayis Antoniou, and Trish Karter
Headquarters
Boston, Massachusetts
,
United States
Area served
United States and Canada
Key people
Frank Carpenito, CEO
ProductsCakes, Cookies, Brownies, Baking Mixes and Gift Baskets
Number of employees
75-225 (seasonal)
Websitedancingdeer.com
Footnotes / references
[1]
A stack of Dancing Deer brownies

Dancing Deer Baking Co. is a New York based bakery that sells kosher-certified cookies, brownies, cakes and baking mixes in the specialty/natural products, food service/travel/hospitality, business gifts and direct-to-consumer marketplaces. A variety of Dancing Deer products are also available in grocery chains and specialty food stores across the United States and certain parts of Canada, including nationally recognized Whole Foods Market.[2]

The company is noted for producing all-natural, preservative-free products.[3]

History

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Dancing Deer was incorporated in 1994[1] by three founders, Suzanne Lombardi, a baker who originated many of Dancing Deer's recipes, Ayis Antoniou, a business strategist and Trish Karter, an artist and businesswoman.[4]

The company started out in a former pizza parlor in West Roxbury, Massachusetts on a busy street corner with a couple of convection ovens. At that time, their specialty was cakes, sold primarily to cafes and restaurants. In 1996, they brought out a line of packaged consumer goods under the Dancing Deer label.[5][6][7] The company reported revenues of more than $10 million by 2007.[8]

In 2008, the company made a strategic decision to focus on growing the corporate gift portion of the business. Dancing Deer has the ability to print the corporate logos on gift tins and boxes and cookies can be imprinted with corporate logos. Revenues from corporate gifts represented about 15% of annual revenues in 2008 and by late 2008 this was up to over 18%.[9]

In September 2010, Karter stepped down from her role as CEO of the company to pursue a life outside of baking.[10] Frank Carpenito became CEO in 2010 and left the position in July 2016.

In 2024, Dancing Deer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.[11]

Company name

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The name for the company came from Lombardi's grandmother, Erma Shaw, who owned a gift shop and antique store named Dancing Deer in Bar Harbor, Maine. The company also borrowed recipes including the famous Deep Dark Gingerbread Cake.[12]

Awards

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In 1998, the NASFT or National Association for the Specialty Food Trade awarded Dancing Deer the gold Sofi Award for Outstanding Cookie of the year for their signature Molasses Clove Cookie. Sofi stands for Specialty Outstanding Food Innovation and honors the outstanding specialty foods and beverages of the year in 33 categories. It is considered to be the Food Industry's equivalent of the Oscars.[13]

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References

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  1. ^ a b Weaver, Alex E. (2015-12-22). "How Dancing Deer's CEO Handles the Mad Holiday Rush". BosInno. Archived from the original on 2016-10-10. Retrieved 2016-10-07.
  2. ^ Abrashoff, D. Michael (2005). "Chapter II: CEO Trish Karter makes the Deer Dance". Get your ship together: how great leaders inspire ownership from the keel up. Portfolio. p. 37ff.
  3. ^ Donlan, Vicki; French Graves, Helen (2007). Her Turn: Why It's Time for Women to Lead in America. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 81. ISBN 9780275999247. Retrieved 2016-10-07.
  4. ^ "Self-Rising Survivor". Wheaton Quarterly. Archived from the original on 2010-05-28. Retrieved 2016-10-07.
  5. ^ Spiro, Josh (2010-04-02). "How a Social Mission Guides This Business". Inc. Retrieved 2016-10-07.
  6. ^ Perman, Stacy (2005-12-13). "Baking Principles into the Business; How Dancing Deer, a small Boston bakery, rose up to become a multimillion-dollar business -- without losing its socially responsible core values". BusinessWeek.
  7. ^ Thompson, Nadine A.; Soper, Angela (2007). Values Sell: Transforming Purpose in to Profit Through Creative Sales and Distribution Strategies. Berrett-Koehler Publishers. p. 79. ISBN 978-1576755204.
  8. ^ Mainwaring, Simon (2011). We First: How Brands and Consumers Use Social Media to Build a Better World. Macmillan. p. 47. ISBN 978-0230120532. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
  9. ^ Chesto, Jon (2012-12-28). "Corporate gift strategy contributes to rising sales at Dancing Deer Baking Co". Boston Business Journal. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
  10. ^ Woolhouse, Megan (2010-06-26). "Dancing Deer executive leaves post". Boston.com. Retrieved 2016-10-22.
  11. ^ "Dancing Deer Corporation files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy". BKData. June 13, 2024. Retrieved June 14, 2024.
  12. ^ Monahan, JC (2015-02-05). "Bar Harbor: Dancing Deer - A Boston Connection". WCVB-TV. Retrieved 2016-10-22.
  13. ^ "2013 sofi™ Gold Award Winners Announced!". www.specialtyfood.com. Archived from the original on July 4, 2009. Retrieved October 13, 2013.
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