Some flour, sugar, and other ingredients have kept one business in Scranton baking away for 80 years.
SCRANTON, Pa. — Along Capouse Avenue in Scranton, dough has been rising inside National Bakery for 80 years.
“We start about at 4 a.m., 3:30 a.m. in the morning. We come in, we get our numbers for the day of what we’re going to bake,” said Candace Fox, National Bakery.
Candace Fox is one of six siblings who, along with their father, are part of the bakery’s long history.
Buying the business four years ago, Fox says her family has kept things pretty much the same, from the equipment to the recipes that have kept people coming back since 1946.
“You can make a hard roll, but the secrets that go into it here, it just makes a National Bakery hard roll, and you can’t replicate that,” said Fox.
Fox says they go through a lot of flour for their products, “The flour we use is pumped into these silos, and we use about 60,000 pounds every truckload that comes, and we get three truckloads a month.”
And unlike many others, National Bakery goods have no preservatives.
“Being kosher and no preservatives are the two biggest things that we have going for us. The Jewish community is really great, coming in the store, and they support us completely,” said Fox.
Out front, display cases are filled with danishes, chocolate chip cookies, and other sweet treats.
Behind the register, which is still cash only, freshly made bagels, horns, and hard rolls wait to be bagged for the next hungry household.
“We are a family tradition in many homes in the area and that people love our bread so much that they come back every day, every year,” added Fox.
As smells fill the building, Fox says the bakery will continue, and hopefully, the business will celebrate another 80 years.