Many of you are loyal Butter Braid® Pastry fans. You’ve been following the company and the founding family since the very beginning, so you know a lot about the brand. You know that the company was started in the small, farming community of West Bend, Iowa. Also, that it was started by Ken and Marlene Banwart. You know that each of our pastries are braided by hand with love. And you know that, together with our Dealer Network, we’ve helped raise over $245 million for thousands of great causes. There are still some facts about the Butter Braid brand that maybe even our most dedicated customers don’t know.
1. Butter Braid Pastries were featured on 2 TV shows
The Butter Braid brand and their parent company, Country Maid, Inc., were on an episode of How It’s Made in 2014 and Manufacturing Marvels in 2015. The episodes showcase the unique production process in manufacturing Butter Braid Pastries. You can find the segments on the Country Maid website: https://www.countrymaid.net/.
2. The previous 3 Butter Braid Pastry manufacturing locations are the names of our conference rooms
Butter Braid Pastries weren’t always made in the high-tech manufacturing facility they are today. Ken and Marlene first started producing the pastries in the basement of their family home in 1991. Once the business outgrew the basement, the Banwart family renovated their two-car garage, and it became the new production area. By the end of 1992, the business was moved to a renovated building in town called the “Hatchery.” A few years later, the business would move one final time to its current location. But, to remember where we came from, we named each of our conference rooms after the previous three Butter Braid Pastry manufacturing locations: the “Basement,” the “Garage,” and the “Hatchery.”
3. Butter Braid Pastries didn’t originally have a filling
It’s true. The first pastries Ken and Marlene sold at the local farmer’s market didn’t have any filling. After the Banwarts started selling and marketing the pastries on a larger scale in 1991, Ken came up with the idea to add the sweet, fruit flavors that you love to the pastries.
4. Our pastries were sold in over 50 retail stores until 2002
When Ken and Marlene initially started the business in 1991, they sold their pastries to local grocery stores. By 1992, their pastries were in more than 50 stores all over the state of Iowa. In 2002, the pastries become a “fundraising only” product in order to support schools and organizations across the country and to fulfill the Butter Braid brand mission of “sharing the good.”
5. Our most popular flavors? Cinnamon and Strawberry & Cream Cheese
For the past few years, Cinnamon has been the overwhelming crowd favorite. With its thick, gooey cinnamon filling inside layers of buttery, flaky dough, it’s no wonder people love this pastry. However, lately Strawberry & Cream Cheese has overtaken our Cinnamon pastry by a slim margin. The perfect balance of tangy cream cheese and sweet strawberries nestled in layers of buttery dough is what makes Strawberry & Cream Cheese a best seller! Whatever your favorite flavor, get yours at a fundraiser near you! Just enter your zip code and get in contact with your local Butter Braid Pastry dealer here: https://myfundraisingplace.com/dealers.
We hope you enjoyed learning some new facts about the Butter Braid brand. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to stay up to date on all the latest Butter Braid Fundraising news and events.
