Our Mission

We plan to alter the way baked goods are produced by pioneering “micro” factories that utilize robotics driven automation to offer the freshest, commercially available products.

Our current goal? Change the way bread is made and distributed around the world.

Apply today to join our team!

Values

Face Reality We communicate early and often what works and what doesn’t to maintain our focus
Radical Ownership We act, quickly and judiciously, to be the catalyst that drives the company forward
Embrace Decentralization We rethink the way things are done and focus on creating value through a distributed mindset
Success is Measured We are only as good as what we can measure, and metrics provide reality
Humble Attitude We work together and must always do right by one another

History

  • Dick Carlson, a Boeing engineer in Auburn, WA, begins designing an automated bakery after his son Rick was tragically killed. Rick had worked at a bakery getting up early every day and had asked his father to invent something better.

  • Progress is slow as Dick Carlson, with the help of Ken Churchill, work on the bakery, relying on pneumatics, the best technology at the time.

  • Members of the Wilkinson Family agree to buy the IP to the bakery in 1993, having watched their friends work on what they believed was a product that could change the world of bread manufacturing. They hire Dick and 2 other engineers to focus on building the bakery.

  • Operating under the brand name Loaffers, the company, let by the creative genius of Herb Larson, created what is affectionately known as the P5, which, in many respects was the first fully operating bread robot. It had a large footprint and ran two bread making lines producing a loaf of bread every 90 seconds. It was made in Yakima, WA, and was featured at several industry conventions. The company also filed its first of 4 patents that protect our inventions.

  • This decade was marked by two significant developments, attaining a contract manufacturer and long-term partner in China, and the invention of the “Mini-Bakery,” a smaller version of the P5 and the precursor to what we today call the BreadBot. The founders spent months living off and on in China to build a partnership with a firm in China, which is still our manufacturer to this day. Later in the decade, grocer feedback suggested something smaller would work better, so the mini-bakery was invented. Under the new banner of Wilkinson Baking Company, the mini-bakery took runner up to best in show at the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show.

  • The mini-bakery was deployed to several stores, including 4 Super 1 locations in Northern Idaho and Andy’s Market in Walla Walla, WA. The pilots provided valuable feedback for improvements all while driving deep customer connection to Wilkinson’s bread. In 2022, the company manufactured the first commercially-scalable version of the BreadBot, which can be seen in Andy’s Market today. The company also hired a new CEO in 2022 to pivot the company from R&D mode to growth mode. As part of this pivot, the company raised a Seed Round of capital that will be used to place the first 20-25 BreadBots and build the operating infrastructure to enable rapid growth and scale up in 2023.

 

Team

 

Paul Rhynard, CEO

Paul joined the company in April of 2022 to lead the pivot to growth. He has extensive experience aiding companies large and small in their growth agendas.  Post an MBA at UVA’s Darden School of Business, he spent four years at McKinsey & Co. focused on strategy and growth. He then spent two years at a family office driving strategy and M&A activity in the family’s private company portfolio. Most recently, he was Chief Strategy Officer at Russell Investments.

Eric Wilkinson, VP, Software & Product

Eric joined WBC 13 years ago directly out of college. Today he is deeply engaged in the software of the BreadBot, working closely with our partners to ensure each operation runs smoothly and is fully monitored remotely. Eric was also a critical part of developing the relationship with our manufacturer in China as well as shaping the overall brand of WBC.

Christian Bell, VP, Accounts & Operations

Christian joined WBC over 3 years ago to help develop the company’s growth infrastructure. He oversees finances, HR, and operations. Christian was previously an executive at CMBell, a marketing and communications agency. He has a Master’s degree from Duke University.

 

Meizhu Lin, China Operations Director

Based in Zhuhai, China, Meizhu has been with Wilkinson Baking since 2008 and has grown to lead the China operations. Through her relentless pursuit of quality vendors, she has developed a deep knowledge of sourcing and supply chain strategy.

Paul Brandauer, VP, Hardware

Paul joined WBC in 2013 and is the primary inventor of the current BreadBot machine. He is responsible for R&D and manufacturing, leading the engineering team in the US and China. Being resourceful is his specialty, incorporating his extensive experience to optimize the BreadBot design and streamline the manufacturing process.

 

Brian Atkins, Senior Engineer

Brian joined WBC in 2019 and has been involved in the design, assembly, and field servicing of the BreadBots. He has over 10 years of experience in engineering projects requiring attention to detailed design, and is currently responsible for a variety of BreadBot subassemblies.


Careers

We will be rapidly growing over the next decade as we scale up and reshape and industry. Apply now to be part of the journey!

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Designed, Assembled, and Tested
in Walla Walla, Washington

 

Walla Walla hit the map when Lewis & Clark discovered the valley in 1806. The vast openness and access to water has led to a rich history with wheat farming that dates back to the 1870s. The region's expansive dry lands turned out to be fertile ground for dryland farming, particularly wheat cultivation, due to the unique combination of volcanic ash soil, known as Palouse soil, and a dry climate with winter precipitation.