Augusta Bakery, located in Augusta, Wisconsin, was named the 2016 Bakery Operation of the Year by the Wisconsin Bakers Association (WBA). The award was presented on March 7 during the WBA’s Awards & Appetizers Networking Evening in Milwaukee. This year’s awards ceremony was held in conjunction with the Midwest Foodservice Expo.

Four outstanding Wisconsin bakeries were nominated for the Bakery Operation of the Year this year. Natalya and Robert “Bob” Chaffee, CMB, owners of Augusta Bakery, were in attendance to accept the award. 

The Bakery Operation of the Year award was created in 2001 to recognize an outstanding bakery operation annually. Each year’s winner gets to keep the coveted BakeMark trophy for one year and the traveling trophy is then passed on to the new winner.  The winner also receives a permanent plaque to display in their bakery. 

Rebecca White Body from the Eau Claire Community Foundation submitted the nomination for Augusta Bakery. In her nomination, she wrote, “When Robert and Natalya Chaffee purchased the bakery in 2012 and changed the name to Augusta Bakery, I was wary. Since most business owners are on a first-name basis with their customers in our small town (Augusta, population 1500), I'd grown to know and like the previous owners, and I was sorry to see them give up the business. However, the Chaffees quickly won me over, not only with the quality and variety of their baked goods, but with their friendliness and professionalism.”

The bakery serves a variety of freshly baked breads, rolls, donuts, pastries and cakes.  Visit the bakery’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/Augusta-Bakery-461515840576106/ for more information about the business.