1993
On Dec. 8, 1993 we pulled the first baguettes from our imported French ovens. Santé!
1995
In November 1995, Companion breads entered grocery stores around the greater St. Louis area.
1996
By April 1996,
total cumulative production reached 1,000,000 pounds.
1997
Presented with a
Leadership Award from Modern Baking Magazine for leading the artisan bread movement in the Midwest.
1998
By December 1998,
total cumulative production reached 5,000,000 pounds.
1999
In January
we were chosen to bake bread for the Pope’s historic visit to St. Louis.
2000
On Oct. 17, 2000 our
breads & pastries fed Al Gore, George Bush and the media at the WashU Debates.
2001
On Apr. 2, 2001
our Clayton Café opened to rave reviews.
2002
By February 2002
total cumulative production reached 15,000,000 pounds.
2003
On Sept. 17, 2003
the 250,000th customer was served in our Clayton Café.
2005
By August 2005
total cumulative production reached 20,000,000 pounds.
2007
In November 2007
USA Today declared Companion one of the Top 10 Places in the country to get bread.
2008
Growing on our success in Clayton, we opened the Ladue Café on January 2, 2008.
2009
In September 2009
we were named as the Official Baker of Farm Aid 2009.
2010
Wildly popular as a specialty item, our Bavarian Pretzels became a core product in January 2010.
2011
In September 2011
our Ladue Café served its 250,000th customer and Clayton served its 1,000,000th.
2012
By January 2012
total cumulative production had topped 50,000,000 pounds.
2013
On Dec. 8, 2013
we celebrated 20 years of sharing our passion for creating great bread with St. Louis.
2015
On Dec. 5, 2015
we began pulling bread out of the ovens in our
new 41,000 sq. ft. facility in West St. Louis.
2016
On Feb. 2, 2016
the doors to our new West St. Louis Café opened for business, offering a window (10 actually) into our
baking process.
2017
Our
community-focused Teaching Kitchen opened, sharing our passion for baking and food with St. Louis.
2018
On Dec. 8, 2018
we celebrated 25 years of sharing our passion for creating great bread with St. Louis.
2019
We served our 1 millionth customer in our Ladue Cafe.
2020
We shipped our 1 millionth case of bread since moving into our new facility.
2021
Founder, Josh Allen, presented a Ted Talk on “Changing Our Culture While Watching Our Waste.”
2022
Companion was issued a $75,000 Sustainability Grant to support our sustainability goals and composting efforts in local communities.
2023
We reduced our landfill contribution by 91% in just over five years.
