Charles Entenmann, Automated and Expanded Popular Bakery Business – Dies at 92

American business has lost a legendary business figure as Charles Entenmann passed away. He was 92.

Charles Entenmann, Automated and Expanded Popular Bakery Business

As a third generation member of the family that started and eventually franchised the Entenmann’s brand of sweet baked goods, Charles played a big role in growing the business far beyond its original conception. Today, Entenmann’s success still relies on those ingrained family values, traditional recipes and quality ingredients that made the original Entenmann’s such a successful bakery business.

Entenmann’s Announce Sad News

Writing on Facebook, Entenmann’s explained the sad news to their 1.7 million-plus followers with a statement:

“Today we honor the life of Charles Entenmann, who recently passed away at the age of 92. Charles and his brothers helped franchise their family’s Long Island, NY bakery into the household sweet baked goods brand that we all know and love. The love baked into every bite of Entenmann’s comes from the heart of the Entenmann family, and we will continue to build on the legacy his family established more than 120 years ago.”

Hundreds of followers soon left heartfelt messages on the post, thanking Charles for his work and reminiscing about their favorite Entenmann’s products while growing up. The messages are still being posted, and demonstrate the incredible goodwill that Entenmann’s has cultivated amongst their customers throughout the United States.

The story of the Entenmann family’s success really shows how possible it is to start off as a small family-owned business and eventually grow into an iconic American brand.

From Family-Owned to National Icon

Originally founded as a home delivery bakery by Charles’ grandfather William Entenmann, the beginnings of the Entenmann’s brand are as humble you could imagine. William was a baker from Germany, who started the home delivery business after briefly working at a bread factory upon his arrival in the States.

William delivered his baked goods in a horse-drawn cart, and eventually his son William Junior would both figuratively and literally take the reins of the family business. The popularity of Entenmann’s products was beginning to boom around the New York area, and after William Junior’s passing in 1951, his wife Martha and their three sons began supplying supermarkets with Entenmann’s products.

From there, the scope of Entenmann’s continued to grow, with Charles and his two brothers Robert and William at the forefront of the expansion. Four years ago in 2018, Entenmann’s celebrated their 120th year, which must have been a true delight for Charles to have witnessed.

Image: entenmanns

This article, "Charles Entenmann, Automated and Expanded Popular Bakery Business – Dies at 92" was first published on Small Business Trends