Toufayan Bakeries Inc. recently announced that it is expanding its presence in Florida with its recent acquisition of a 65,000 square foot facility that, until last month, was occupied by Archway Cookies. Trammell Crow Corporate Food Group out of Chicago, Ill., brokered the deal.

Company President Greg Toufayan anticipates the facility will continue operating as a bakery.

“Florida’s growth potential is what first attracted us to the state in the late 80s,” said Toufayan. “It was an excellent decision for our company. For a variety of other reasons, chief among them labor and overall cost of doing business, Florida has proven to be a great place for us in which to own and run a business.”

Headquartered in Ridgefield, N.J., privately owned Toufayan Bakeries opened a second plant in Orlando, Fla., in 1987. The Orlando site has expanded four times since then and now measures 225,000 square feet and employs 250. The new Plant City site is expected to initially employ 50 within 12 months.

Toufayan Bakeries is a national leader in the pita bread industry and has diversified into new lines of baked goods. Production plans at their new Plant City plant are still evolving.

The Toufayan family has been a leader in the pita bread industry for over 80 years. Its first bakery in the United States was a storefront in West New York, N.J. When Toufayan Pita bread was introduced into area supermarkets, sales skyrocketed and prompted the construction of a fully automated bakery in North Bergen, N.J., the largest Pita bread bakery in the Metropolitan New York area.

To satisfy the growing demand for Pita bread nationally, a second plant was opened in 1987 in Orlando, FlA., and enabled Toufayan to diversity into new lines of baked goods. The company delivers to markets all across the United States.