Students on campus have come to know and love the popular items found in the bakery of the cafeteria and various dining venues on campus. Baked goods such as cookies, cakes, dinner rolls and bread are all made fresh daily by the bakers and student employees of the APU bakery.
Just recently, APU has decided to relocate the bakery originally found inside the east campus dining venue, the 1988 Cafe, to Glendora for more room and various opportunities.
“There is no space in the 1899 Dining Hall on east campus anymore. It was designed to feed 500 students and they are serving about 5,000 people from the dining hall kitchen now,” APU’s executive director of hospitality services Samuel Samaan said.
APU has been working for a couple of years to find a new location. When a local bakery in Glendora closed down, APU quickly took the opportunity to expand to the nearby building. APU will keep the name of the previous bakery, Glendora Cafe & Bakery.
“I worked in the bakery last year as well when it was located in the cafeteria on east campus. I am so excited to finally have a place to call our own,” student employee junior psychology major Baylie Allen said.
Besides additional room for the bakers at this new location, there will also be room for the public to enjoy and purchase. Surrounding residents can come in and enjoy their favorite baked goods made by employees of the APU campus. Apart from the baked goods, Peets coffee and free wifi will also be available.
“The previous bakery was very popular and it had a good reputation among the residents of Glendora,” Samaan said. “We hope to provide good service to the public and continue to give them the quality baked goods they love.”
The bakery is planned to open to the public Nov. 20. The employees at the Glendora Café & Bakery are expecting a great turn out of residents from the surrounding area as well as APU students.
“I am excited to see the bakery come alive with customers,” Allen said. “It is such a great way that APU can give back to the community.”
APU is unique not only for baking fresh items daily for each food venue, but also for bringing these freshly baked goods to the surrounding community in such a positive way.
According to an article written by University Relations, APU produces 650 dozen large muffins, 650 dozen hamburger buns, 600 dozen sandwich rolls, 250 dozen loaves of bread and 800 dozen cookies each week. Additionally, the bakery creates desserts for special occasions such as fruit tarts and gourmet-style cupcakes for events or banquets on campus.
The hundreds of items made weekly are delivered to the eleven food venues here on campus each day. Everything made and served on campus is made fresh daily with no preservatives added.
According to the same University Relations article, APU’s head bakers, Bruce Blair of Glendora and Dean Gotto of Covina, have a combined 76 years of experience as professional bakers. It is evident that they encourage their workers to bake with quality.
Most of the workers at the bakery are students, which creates another benefit from having the bakery off campus. It is an opportunity for students to work and learn new skills apart from the other hospitality jobs on campus. The students work at the wee hours of the morning (when some college students might still be awake writing papers) all to make sure the baked goods are ready at each venue daily.
“The environment is really relaxed and fun, which makes a six o’clock in the morning shift enjoyable,” freshman applied health major Lynzee Allen said. “You can’t beat the freshly baked muffins for breakfast.”
Although working at the bakery on campus entails early mornings prepping for the day, it can be very rewarding and educational for the students as well.
“Apart from helping in the kitchen students will also learn everything from A to Z of establishing a small business,” Samaan said. “I hope that everything they have been learning in the classroom can be applied through working here.”
The quaint and cozy environment of the Glendora Café & Bakery will attract many and serve the public along with the APU community. Visit and experience the bakery for yourself located at 229 West Foothill Blvd.