Baking More Bread in the Same Time

At The Women’s Bakery, our goal is for each bakery to become self-sustaining and profitable. 

So how do we get there? Each bakery must increase bread sales while also monitoring and fine tuning expenses. As sales increase, we cannot just add more staff - we need to simultaneously improve our baking strategies. Program Managers at each bakery were tasked with determining ways to streamline the baking and packaging process, in order to become more efficient. 

Improved processes include moving towards a more efficient, assembly line baking process. Investment in upgraded equipment, such as dough dividers, allow bakers to produce more bread in less time. Motivation from the Program Managers, including friendly competition between bakeries to bake the most bread and incentives, has created an environment that encourages efficiency. 

And it’s working! Bread sales in Rwanda have increased at our bakeries, despite the pandemic. Thanks to these improvements and the incredible #strongwomenbakingbread who are determined to expand bread production, our bakeries are that much closer to profitability.