Evening star., 1924-06-02
PROGRESSIVE BAKER
HAS EYE TO BUSINESS
Declared Object Il to Increase
Trade Rather Than Price
Of Loaf.
OPINION OF BIG OPERATOR
Says No One Grabs Big Profits in
Raising Charges.
BY J. c. ROYLE.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
NEW YORK, June 2.--"No progress
sive big baker in the United States
wants to increase the price OF q loaf
o. bread" That IL the opinion OF
William B. Ward. who since his ac-
cession to the presidency of the Ward
Baking Company Is the biggest baker
In America. He declared in addition
that he was confident that he spoke
not only for his own company, which
controls nineteen plants in thirteen
large cities, but for the industry in
general.
NO far-sighted baker" he said,
desires to increase the price, because
he would far rather increase the VOL
ume Of his business. No one can
ouiid any profitable business by grab
bling high profit from one loaf. The
taste of the public tells the story. If
yoM can please that taste. the public
to buy IL in increasing quantities. If
you faii to please that taste, your pa
trons--the housewives of America
Immediately become your competitors.
Bread Baked in Homes.
The baking business Is the one
industry of which l know where this
Is true. Today 40 per cent OF the
IN the homes of America. II the
housewives who rule these homes are
not satisfied with your product or
your price they can and will produce
their own bread in competition with
yon. Therefore, the baking Industry
can never become a monopoly. no
mater now large baking companies
may grow, Tor no company can find
~ possibie TO grow or expand beyond
the point where the public IL serves
peiieves 1T deserves to grow
The last fourteen years have
SHOWN the most remarkable strides
In the making Of bread. Tn to 1910
ovens had been practically unchanged
since the days OF the flood. Now. un.
Ger a gravity system and operation
10 in raseiing ovens. baking 5000
ioaFes an hour, not a human hand
t1aches the ingredients from the time
theS are mixed until the finished loaf
is sealed and wrapped in a protective
covering.
The old idea of a baker visualized
tne scene or operations in cellar
which was forbidden after an inves-
tigation showing communicable dis
ease in more than 40 per cent of such
estimates. There are stil some of
tnese bakeries in existence. but it is
the Improvement of sanitary condi-
tions, in materials and in nourishment
that has turned the housewife from
home bread production to the bak-
erirs.
Takes Nothing ON Trust.
"As TO standardisa tion Of product,
the modern big baker maintains
chemical department. which takes
nothing on trust and which tests the
purity ard nutritive value of every
ingredient entering into the modern
loaf of bread. With all of this, no
two ioaves OF bread ever were ex-
actly alike
When -four is mixed with yeast
and other ingredients It is instinct
with life. Like a human being, il
given proper care and treatment. and
closely watched. IL turns out we'll. If
it turns out badly. Practice makes
rerfect, however. and through guam
tity production the quality of the
loaf Of bread Is being steadily ad
vanced.
weight or size mean little. Nouv-
present. There is not big baker to-
day who could not make bread and
sell it at a cheaper price. but the
bread so made. of -four. yeast. salt
nance of the present loaf. no matter
how large or how heavy the indi-
vidual loaf were made. There are
low and high grades OF -four and low
and high grades OF milk, eggs, yeast,
salt and shortening.
Comparison OF Quality.
"A loaf weighing a pound made Of
inferior ingredients may contain less
nourishment than one far smaller and
lighter. A quart of milk furnishes q
parallel example. One may buy a
quart of hish-grade. full cream milk
or a quart of skim milk. The bulk is
the same. but the food value shows a
remarkable difference. The public will
repeat on quality and that is what the
modern baker must give them"
With regard to the fluctuations in
the cost Of raw material. Mr.. Ward
said: THE cost Of flour does not tell
the whole story. Flour represents
less than 25 per cent of the cost OF
the ingredients OF a loaf of bread.
Another IS per cent of the total cost
is caused by selling and distribution.
Then there are the sanitary precau-
tions. represented by waxed paper and
other necessary products. The public
insist upon them. and properly, but
they are as legitimate q part Of the
cost of bread as flour and yeast"