How to Scale Your Bagel Business: Lessons from the Trenches
In the ever-evolving world of bagels, scaling up isn’t just about making more dough. It’s about building resilient teams, adopting the right systems, and keeping the heart in what you do. Recently, a panel of successful bagel shop owners and operators shared their hard-earned lessons on growth, leadership, and navigating the challenges of expanding their businesses. Here’s what we learned.
Building the Foundation: Quality and People First
For Craig Hutchinson of Olmo Bagels, hospitality comes before bagel quality. “For all you that don’t like our bagel, that’s fine. All you have to do is just like us.” This ethos set the tone: scaling isn’t just about the product, but the people and experience.
This focus on team-building led to creative hiring methods, such as timed interviews, paying for second interviews, and a growth-based color-coded shirt system that visually tracks employees’ development.
The Practical Realities of Scaling: Dough, Distribution, and Equipment
Scaling operations means more dough, literally. Ethan Marks of Apollo Bagels described the transition from hand cutting and rolling to using an automatic divider rounder, drastically improving efficiency. With their Brooklyn hub, Apollo mixes dough centrally and sends it out, timing refrigerated deliveries carefully to each store (“We have a 16 foot refrigerated box truck…load the pizza box trays...and send those to the store”).
Meanwhile, the team at Black Seed Bagels learned that “location of your hub and spoke sets matter,” said Matt Kliegman. New York’s traffic and infrastructure added layers of logistical complexity when distributing fresh dough and bagels.
On equipment, Matt Kliegman emphasized, “Bagel formers and mixers. We’re still undersized on our mixers…they can get very expensive and you can get crazy ones.” Both teams cautioned against over-investing in equipment too soon: “When you invest like that on a capital perspective and things don't go to plan, scary situation.”
Contingencies, Fears, and Learning by Mistake
Scaling isn’t without risk. Messy situations, from equipment breakdowns to fires and even global pandemics, forced panelists to address fears head-on. From box trucks to bakery fires, thinking through contingencies became essential. The consensus: learning from mistakes, anticipating what could go wrong, and planning for backup options separates successful growth from disaster.
The Human Factor: Leadership and Culture
Good people are the backbone of any scaling effort. Matt Kliegman noted, “Hire great people who share your values…supervisors, store managers, area managers…enable you to grow.” Willingness to learn often trumped experience, particularly as each shop had unique methods and avoided “bad habits” from previous jobs.
Quarterly reviews, identifying superpowers (speed, trainability), and creating pathways for growth were recurring themes. That investment in culture helps mitigate friction between fast workers with poor attitudes and others, leading to more cohesive teams.
Branding, Creativity, and Consistency
With intense competition, especially in a city like New York, creative branding is critical. Matt Kliegman reflected, “There’s no reason not to kind of over-index in the brand.” But, ultimately, product quality remains king: “I still think quality number one, in my opinion.”
Specials and innovative menu items present marketing challenges. Ethan Marks explained, “One of the advantages…we have a really limited menu…it’s easy to keep the same at every location.” Creative events and collaborations can be promoted at a single store rather than chain-wide, leveraging social media and word of mouth to build buzz without overwhelming systems.
Final Thoughts: Scaling with Heart
At the end of the day, scaling a bagel business is a balance between operational excellence and human connection. It’s about anticipating what can go wrong, investing in systems and people, and never losing sight of the fun and creativity that drew people into the industry. As Black Seed Bagels and Apollo Bagels demonstrate, it’s possible to grow while maintaining quality, culture, and a loyal customer base, one bagel at a time.
Interested in more lessons on food business scaling? Listen to the full conversation for deeper dives into hiring, equipment upgrades, and navigating the challenges of growth in today’s competitive landscape.