The Retail Bakers of America (RBA), an association representing more than 1,000 bakeries and baking professionals across the United States, today expressed disappointment with the American Sugar Alliance for singling out and unfairly criticizing Warren Brown, retail baker and Founder and Owner of CakeLove, a popular bakery with six locations in the Washington, DC-area.  The Alliance has harshly criticized Brown for speaking out to Congress about the need to reform the U.S. sugar program so small businesses like his aren’t saddled with artificially high sugar prices. 

The RBA released the following statement:
“At a time when supporting small businesses and generating jobs in America is paramount, going after a small business owner who’s helping to contribute to the local economies where his bakery operates is a low blow. What’s even more troubling is that Mr. Brown and his bakery were singled out because he spoke up about the need for U.S. sugar program reform.  The RBA and our members support reform of the outdated program because in these tough economic times, we cannot afford to pay nearly twice the average world price for sugar, nor pass those costs along to our customers.  We stand with Mr. Brown and urge Congress to significantly reform the sugar program in the 2012 Farm Bill.”

The RBA is a member of the Coalition for Sugar Reform, an alliance of consumers, food and beverage manufacturers, trade advocates, environmental groups, taxpayer watchdog organizations and other groups, advocating reform of the outdated U.S. sugar program.