Bread and Cie

What Bread and Cie does

Bread and Cie is a privately held, San Diego-based artisan bakery and bistro café operating from a single flagship location at 350 University Avenue in the Hillcrest neighborhood. Founded in December 1994 by Charles and Dori Kaufman — the company's self-claim is that it was the first artisan bakery in San Diego — the business employs 51–100 staff and runs 364 days a year, producing stone-hearth European artisan breads via a 24-hour non-retarded fermentation process using organic whole-wheat flour. Chris Jurca became a partner in 1999.

The company's core products fall into three integrated revenue streams served from one production base: (1) a retail café offering a full bistro breakfast and lunch menu (specialty sandwiches at $11.50, panini at $12.95, daily soups, salads, pastries, and beverages) with dine-in, patio, take-out, and home delivery; (2) a B2B wholesale division, established in 1995, supplying artisan breads, pastries, croissants, and viennoiserie to San Diego restaurants, hotels, and markets with 7-day delivery; and (3) full-service catering for business meetings, office parties, and family gatherings (48-hour notice, flatware/utensils included). Distribution channels include the flagship café, three San Diego farmers markets (Hillcrest, La Mesa, Little Italy), a ToastTab-powered direct online ordering portal, and DoorDash/GrubHub delivery.

The go-to-market is hybrid direct-to-consumer (café, farmers markets, online ordering) plus B2B (wholesale) plus use-case (catering). Pricing is uniform unit-based across the menu (no subscriptions or tiered SaaS-style pricing). The wholesale channel is differentiated by the 24-hour, non-refrigerated dough development cycle and proprietary recipes developed over three decades, including unique SKUs such as Lemon Pugliese, Fig & Anise, and Jalapeno & Cheese breads, alongside organic whole-wheat sourdoughs. The company is operated as Bread and Cie Wholesale, LLC (California), is founder-controlled, has no disclosed external investment, no parent company, and no disclosed revenue.

Name

Bread and Cie

Legal name

Bread and Cie Wholesale, LLC

Website

https://breadandcie.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1994

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Bread and Cie is a privately held San Diego artisan bakery and bistro café, founded 1994, operating a flagship Hillcrest café, a B2B wholesale division serving local restaurants, hotels, and markets, full-service catering, and three farmers-market stalls.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Artisan Bakery & Café

NAICS

Retail Bakeries (311811), Bread and Bakery Product Manufacturing (31181), Limited-Service Restaurants (722513), Commercial Bakeries (311812)

SIC

Bakery Products (2050), Retail-Eating Places (5812), Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810)

akta.pro primary industry

Cafe-Bakeries (Bakery + Coffee/Foodservice) (THAFAFAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Bread & Pastry Specialty Stores (CRAHAGAC), Retail Bakeries (Bread & Daily Bakery) (THAFAFAA), Cafe-Bakeries (Coffee + Pastry Focus) (THAFADAG)

Keywords

• Artisan bakery
• European stone-hearth bread
• Café and catering
• Wholesale bakery supply
• Hand-made pastries

Headquarters

HQ city

San Diego

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Café Retail (Dine-in, Take-out, Delivery): On-site dining, patio seating, online ordering for counter pick-up, and home delivery via DoorDash and GrubHub. The café offers a full bistro breakfast and lunch menu including specialty sandwiches, salads, soups, pastries, and beverages.
2. Wholesale B2B (Restaurants, Hotels, Markets): Since 1995, Bread & Cie Wholesale has baked rustic European artisan breads on stone-hearth ovens for leading San Diego restaurants, hotels, and markets. Hand-made pastries, sweet baked goods, croissants and vienoisserie are also available wholesale. Products are baked fresh and delivered 7 days a week.
3. Catering: Catering for business meetings, office parties, daily lunch at work, family gatherings, and special occasions. Orders include all necessary flatware, napkins, and utensils. Orders require 48 hours notice. Office delivery available via GrubHub.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Bread and Cie is a San Diego-based artisan bakery and café that bakes and sells rustic European stone-he hearth breads, hand-made pastries, and viennoiserie, while operating a bistro café serving breakfast and lunch and providing full-service catering. The company runs a retail café in Hillcrest and a wholesale division (since 1995) supplying restaurants, hotels, and markets throughout greater San Diego with fresh-baked artisan breads and pastries delivered seven days a week.

Product overview

Bread and Cie is a San Diego-based artisan bakery and café founded in December 1994, claiming to be the first artisan bakery in San Diego. The company operates as a single café location in Hillcrest and a wholesale division supplying restaurants, hotels, and markets throughout the greater San Diego area. Their core offerings include rustic European stone-hearth breads (French, Sourdough, Brioche, specialty batards and loaves in various flavors), hand-made pastries (croissants, muffins, danishes, cookies, and seasonal items), a bistro café serving specialty sandwiches, salads, and soups, full-service catering with 24-48 hour notice, and wholesale bakery products delivered 7 days a week. The café is open daily 7:30am-4:00pm except Christmas and New Year's Day.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• The Café (Dine-In, Take-Out, and Delivery) A bistro-style café in Hillcrest, San Diego offering indoor and patio dining, take-out, and home delivery of artisan breads, pastries, specialty sandwiches, salads, soups, panini, and beverages. Open 364 days a year (closed only Christmas and New Year's Day).
• Catering Services Full-service catering for business meetings, office parties, daily workplace lunches, family gatherings, and special occasions. Orders include flatware, napkins, and utensils, and require 24-48 hours notice. Office delivery is available via GrubHub.
• Wholesale Bakery Division B2B wholesale supply of artisan breads, pastries, croissants, and viennoiserie to San Diego restaurants, hotels, and markets, with fresh-baked products delivered seven days a week.
• Artisan Bread Line (Retail and Wholesale) Rustic European stone-hearth breads in varieties including French Baguettes, Artisan Batards, Brioche, Challah, Ciabatta, Focaccia, Dinner Rolls, Hamburger Buns, Pullman Loaves, Sandwich Rolls, Ficelles, Epi, Flatbread, Boules and Rounds, with flavor varieties such as Black Olive, Caramelized Onion, Fig & Anise, Jalapeno & Cheese, Levain, Seedy Multigrain, Rosemary & Olive Oil, Corn Rye, and Sourdough.
• Hand-Made Pastry Line (Retail and Wholesale) Hand-made pastries including Scones, Muffins, Crumbonnes, Croissants, Turnovers, Cinnamon Rolls, Breakfast Breads, Bear Claws, Danish, Mini Pastries, Brownies, Biscotti, Cookies, Macaroons (gluten-free), Granola, and Paradise Bars (gluten-free).
• Special-Order Pies and Cakes Pre-order specialty pies and cakes including Apple Rhubarb Raspberry, French Apple, Blackberry Miroir, Mango Mousse, Tiramisu, Pecan, Pumpkin, and Flourless Chocolate Cake. Orders require 48 hours notice, with three-day advance notice required for all pie orders during the winter holidays.
• Café Food and Beverage Menu Bistro breakfast and lunch offerings including specialty sandwiches ($11.50), Panini ($12.95), housemade soups (Cup $5.75 / Bowl $7.50), salads ($6.95–$13.75), quiche, French toast, and beverages including espresso, loose leaf tea, and fresh-squeezed juices. Sandwiches pair with a soup or baby green salad add-on for $4.95.

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature1 record

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• La Brea Bakery: Los Angeles-based artisan bread bakery that grew from a single bakery into national wholesale and retail distribution — a comparable scale-up path for Bread and Cie's wholesale business.
• Boudin Bakery: San Francisco-based artisan sourdough bakery with a flagship café and wholesale distribution to grocery and foodservice — directly comparable to Bread and Cie's stone-hearth, café-plus-wholesale model.
• Le Pain Quotidien: Bakery-café chain serving European-style breads, pastries, and bistro fare — operates the same hybrid café + retail bakery model that Bread and Cie runs at a single Hillcrest location.
• Tartine Bakery: San Francisco artisan bakery-café known for European-style breads and pastries with multiple locations; highly comparable positioning to Bread and Cie's European artisan bread and Viennoiserie café.
• Great Harvest Bread Co. Franchise-based artisan bread bakery-café concept with wholesale and café retail — comparable artisan positioning, though its franchise model contrasts with Bread and Cie's independent ownership.
• SusieCakes: California-based bakery-café specializing in American classics (cakes, cookies, bars) plus coffee service — directly comparable café bakery format operating in Southern California markets.

Broad incumbents

• Panera Bread: National bakery-café chain serving soups, salads, sandwiches, and baked goods; comparable menu architecture but at massive scale, representing the broad-incumbent ceiling for Bread and Cie's category.
• Whole Foods Market: National natural/organic grocery that stocks third-party artisan baked goods including Bread and Cie's products (per company 'where to buy' page) — functions as a retail distribution channel rather than a direct competitor.
• Trader Joe's: Specialty grocery retailer that carries private-label baked goods and competes for the same weekday/quick-stop bakery occasions that Bread and Cie's café and wholesale serve.

Emerging players

• Sprinkles Cupcakes: Specialty bakery-café with cupcake-forward menu and limited retail footprint; partial overlap as a single-category bakery-café concept, but narrower product scope than Bread and Cie.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/with_replies
• Facebookfacebook.com/BreadAndCie

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Bread and Cie