Bakery to create 400 jobs in DeKalb

Minority-owned Sugar Bowl Bakery to invest $37M in Tucker facility.

One of the largest minority-owned bakeries in the country plans to open its first East Coast location in DeKalb County, creating about 400 new jobs, Gov.

Brian Kemp’s office announced Friday.

Sugar Bowl Bakery, based in the San Francisco area, is expected to invest $37 million in its new Tucker facility over the next five years, according to a news release.

The business was started in 1984 by five brothers who immigrated to the U.S. from Vietnam. It began as a family-owned neighborhood coffee shop but expanded to become a major bakery, producing palmiers, madeleines, brownie bites, fritters and more. Now its baked goods are sold in stores around the world.

“Sugar Bowl Bakery is one of the great American success stories, and we’re excited to welcome this internationally known, family-owned bakery to Georgia,” Kemp said in a statement.

More than 30,000 Georgians

work in food production jobs, placing the state fifth in the U.S. for food and beverage manufacturing employment, Kemp’s office said.

Decide DeKalb, the county’s economic development arm, worked closely with the state to bring Sugar Bowl to the Tucker location, said Randi Mason, a spokeswoman for the agency. She said Decide DeKalb has discussed offering incentives to the business, but she could not comment on the specifics because they are still being finalized. The Decide DeKalb board would need to vote on the incentives at a future meeting, she said.

The bakery is set to move into an existing facility at 3301 Montreal Industrial Way in the Northlake area. The new positions available will include bakery management, production, quality assurance, maintenance and sanitation, the governor’s office said. The governor’s office did not say what the approximate wages will be or when the new location will open.

The company’s director of sales and strategy said last year that Sugar Bowl has 400 employees and two facilities in California.

“Sugar Bowl Bakery has had much growth and transformation since my brothers and I decided to pursue our American dream in San Francisco 36 years ago,” said Andrew Ly, the co-founder and CEO of the company. “This is another major milestone in allowing Sugar Bowl Bakery to fulfill its mission of bringing people joy through our delicious foods.”

DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond and Tucker Mayor Frank Auman also said they are pleased with the bakery’s decision to open a location in Tucker.

“We are grateful that the Ly family’s new facility will be in our community that welcomes people from around the world,” Thurmond said in a statement. “DeKalb County’s highly trained, diverse workforce makes our community a great place for business.”