When it came time for Urth Caffe to find a new and bigger location, they settled on a 30,000 square foot facility in Hawthorne California. The goal of the expansion was to build a commissary to centralize operations and to produce product to feed to its various locations. In order to choose the proper large scale production equipment and layout for the new commissary, Urth Caffe turned to Michael Eggebrecht, President of Artisan Baking Resources, a bakery and equipment consulting company. Urth chose Eggebrecht to head this project due to his extensive industry background, years of bakery design experience and his developed formulas to be able to calculate the necessary square footage needed to produce the desired amount of bread and pastry.

The new facility needed a bakery, central kitchen and coffee roasting space while also planning to add another retail location. Urth Caffe left it up to Michael to choose the proper layout and fill the space with the best quality equipment at the best value. Urth Caffe needed plenty of equipment that was able to increase production and meet the very specific needs of their recipes in order to produce consistent results at large quantities. With that in mind, Eggebrecht knew exactly who to contact for Urth’s equipment needs.

Michael previously worked with Empire Bakery Equipment on various other projects and knew that they were a reputable company with high quality equipment at a great value. Urth Caffe didn’t just need equipment, they needed an equipment company they could partner with who had the experience and resources to support them and the equipment for years to come. Michael Eggebrecht could not think of a better company than Empire Bakery Equipment to fulfill the needs of Urth Caffe on this massive project.

For their high-quality artisan breads and large country loaves, Urth Caffe turned to Empire’s Ultimate-LF Stone Hearth Modern Bread Oven that offers a heavy cement-lined vapor tube oven needed to achieve Urth Caffe’s desired quality in their large country loaves. “The state of California requires some additional permits on equipment which threatened to delay installations,” said Eggebrecht. “Luckily, Empire took the time to get their equipment ETL listed and already completed which saved Urth Caffe thousands of dollars and long delays.” The extra time Empire took to make sure permits and restrictions were taken care of in advance further solidified Michael’s choice to use Empire as the equipment supplier on this project.

In addition to the Ultimate LF, Urth Caffe also needed multiple rack ovens, dough mixers and proofer/retarders. Empire’s LFR-2G Double Rack Oven, ideal for high volume bakeries and suited for a wide range of bakery products was the perfect rack oven for Urth. When it came to a mixer that could withstand the high volume and demands of Urth Caffe, Eggebrecht recommended Empire’s Hi-Capacity Removable Bowl Mixer with the ability to produce up to 660 pounds of high-quality consistent dough.

Urth Caffe’s headquarters and central commissary in Hawthorne is up and running and producing large quantities of quality and consistent product. Urth Caffe is one of the busiest coffee houses in the nation, seeing more than 1,500 guests per day! The decision to partner with Michael Eggebrecht and the team at Empire Bakery Equipment mean they can keep up with their high demand with the confidence that they will be supported today, tomorrow and well into the future.