Welcome to the Crumb Alliance

We’re inviting St. Louis into the place where all the fermentation magic happens…and since we don’t have to load our goods onto the back of a truck and drive it out of South City, we can offer them to you at incredible prices. Come on down to our Early Bird Outlet on Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings for great deals on our freshly baked breads and sweets. Located at our South City Bread Factory...

Soft-pretzel lovers shouldn’t miss these, which are almost as big as a mini-loaf of French bread but still have that distinctive dark-brown crust and pretzel flavor. They’re salty, but not overly so. Be sure to share, if you can resist eating a whole one: Official serving size is a half pretzel. Read the full article…

I wanted to take a minute to comment on some of the chatter I’ve been hearing regarding the closing of our Central West End café. Some of it has suggested we “abandoned” the City. I really want to share the truth about our decision. In 2007, we chose to open a showcase bakery/café in the City of St. Louis in the Central West End. We invested nearly $750,000 in a location that had been abandoned...

Grilled Cheese Thursdays: Every Thursday, Companion’s lunch special ups the ante on a classic pair, teaming its thick and creamy tomato bisque with any of the bakery-cafe’s four grilled cheese sandwiches. Go Mediterranean with a mozzarella-basil-tomato, French with Brie-apple-apricot jam or old-school with the unabashedly simple- and unashamedly gargantuan- Cheese on Cheese… Read...

“You don’t see too many chefs encouraging diners to visit another person’s restaurant. That is, unless you’re Josh Allen, co-owner of Companion and creator of CollaBREADtive, a program that brings together eight St. Louis chefs to create custom breads and use them in special menu items to serve in their restaurants. The series…” Read the full article.

Design Speak, St. Louis’ online design community, strives to both promote design and St. Louis. They educate consumers about design trends, environmental issues and local events, promote emerging design talent in St. Louis, and expose St. Louis to outside design influences. Companion is proud to be displayed on the Design Speak website as the “Featured Project.” Read More…

​It doesn’t take much to change the face of baking in a city. For Companion founder Josh Allen, it started with a few watts. “I have a fond memory of stealing my sister’s Easy-Bake oven, so I was pretty good at baking brownies by the heat of a light bulb.” Growing up surrounded by his family’s food distribution business, Allen Foods (now a part of U.S. Foodservice),...

Enjoy a stress-free holiday season by letting Companion cater your next holiday dinner or party. We offer gourmet breakfast and sandwich trays, along with tasty seasonal cakes and pies to tempt everyone on your guest list. Order yours today! Click here to download a PDF order form and get started! Check out our latest video and learn how to make Pumpkin Cranberry Bread Stuffing! Click here.

Companion strikes deals with Whole Foods, Straub’s Specialty bread business Companion Baking Co. reached distribution deals with a pair of new customers in late October: Straub’s Markets and Whole Foods Market. Those new wholesale customers will help keep Companion on track to reach $7 million in sales this year, while profits will be flat from 2008, said Josh Allen, president of the company. Read...

Companion bagels – the long-fermented, chewy, flavorful, hand dipped ones that have forever been a favorite at our cafes – will now be available fresh daily in both St. Louis-area Whole Foods stores. We are excited and honored to be a part of their ongoing commitment to support local producers. For more about local Whole Foods locations, click here.