Heart and Soul of Our Communities - Big Boss Baking Company

Heart and Soul of Our Communities - Big Boss Baking Company

Big Boss Baking Company: Local Partners Assure Local Goodness.

If you’ve stopped by building F, The Market Shoppes throughout 2005 and most of 2006 at the Piedmont Triad Farmers Market in Colfax, NC during the weekend, you might remember Lavinia and Rodney Hensley.  There’s even a chance that you might have bought some of their brownies, muffins, cookies and granola made fresh out of their home.

Over time, Lavinia and Rodney were quickly creating loyal customers for their products, especially granola which would turn in to a big game changer for them.

As two former Food Lion associates, connecting with their local community has been a reason for their success.  In addition to their time working together at Food Lion beginning in high school, these entrepreneurs were involved in their community through their custom home building and real estate development businesses.  After a number of years, they decided that change was needed and decided to start a home-based bakery business that would eventually become to big for their kitchen.

Today Big Boss Baking Company is a private-label, branded granola manufacturer located in High Point, North Carolina operating out of a 10,000 square foot commercial bakery. Founded in 2010, Big Boss produces high-quality, 100% whole grain granola that is free of preservatives, dairy and artificial colors/flavors.  A larger manufacturing facility meant exciting opportunities by expanding in to retail, producing private label brands for grocery retail chains and other granola companies.

While attending an industry trade show in Concord, N.C., the couple ran in to Rick Brown, a Food Lion Corporate associate. Not long after that first meeting, Rick met with the Hensleys to discuss carrying Big Boss Baking Company granola products on shelves in Food Lion stores that can be found today.

The Big Boss Baking Company is a wonderful full circle story of two former Food Lion associates, who through their ideas, entrepreneurship and hard work have reinvented themselves into successful Food Lion vendors. Their initial breakthrough was local by connecting with their community, but that local success has grown into much larger win with Food Lion's Local Goodness – Heart and Soul of Our Communities.