United States Bakery, better known as Franz Family Bakeries, is a bread and pastry manufacturer headquartered in
Portland, Oregon
Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...
, United States. Franz Bakery was founded in 1906. U.S. Bakery also owns the
Northwest
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west— ...
regional bread brands Williams', Gai's, and Snyder's.
History

In collaboration with Engelbert Franz of Franz Bakery, W.P. Yaw of
Yaw's Top Notch Restaurant invented the diameter
hamburger
A hamburger (or simply a burger) consists of fillings—usually a patty of ground meat, typically beef—placed inside a sliced bun or bread roll. The patties are often served with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, bacon, or chilis ...
bun in the late 1920s. Though others are credited with creating a bread product to use for the first hamburgers known to the world, Franz is credited for inventing the hamburger bun in its current worldwide accepted form.
Acquisitions
United States Bakery has a long history of growth through acquisition.
In 2006, the Williams' factory, which had operated on the same site near the
University of Oregon
The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...
(UO) since 1908, was closed and the site sold to UO, which eventually built its current basketball venue,
Matthew Knight Arena
The Matthew Knight Arena (MKA) is a 12,364-seat, multi-purpose arena in Eugene, Oregon, United States. It is home of the Oregon Ducks men's & women's basketball teams, along with the volleyball team, replacing McArthur Court. All teams compet ...
at that location.
Williams' relocated to a new plant in the
Glenwood area of neighboring
Springfield.
[ It was the first new bakery the firm had built from the ground up since 1906.
In 2013, United States Bakery paid $28.85 million for Hostess' Sweetheart, Eddy's, Standish Farms, and Grandma Emilie's brands.
]
Guinness World Record
In July 2006, Franz baked a hot dog bun
A hot dog bun is a type of soft bun shaped specifically to contain a hot dog or another type of sausage.
The side-loading bun is common in most of the United States, while the top-loading New England–style hot dog bun is popular in that r ...
long, breaking the Guinness World Record
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...
for the World's longest hot dog
The world's longest hot dog is a world record dating back to at least 2001. The current Guinness World Record was set in Paraguay in July 2011, with a hot dog that measured in length.
Previous world records
* Sara Lee Corp. made a long hot d ...
. The previous record was just over and set in 2005.
See also
* List of food companies
This is a list of food companies, current and past businesses involved in food production or processing.
Africa
* All Joy Foods
* Bakers (bakery), Bakers
* BOS Ice Tea
* Cevital
* Choppies
* Clover Industries, Clover
* Colcom Foods
* Distel ...
References
External links
Franz Family Bakeries
(official website)
United States Bakery profile
from Hoover's
D&B Hoovers was founded by Gary Hoover and Patrick Spain in 1990 as an American business research company that provided information on companies and industries through their primary product platform named "Hoover's". In 2003, it was acquired b ...
Historic images of Franz Bakery
from Salem Public Library
{{Authority control
Manufacturing companies based in Portland, Oregon
Bakeries of Oregon
Food and drink companies established in 1906
Food and drink companies based in Portland, Oregon
Privately held companies based in Oregon
1906 establishments in Oregon