Iconic KUB Bakery shuts down after 'devastating' few years
After nearly 100 years making iconic 'Winnipeg-style rye bread,' one of the city's oldest rye bread bakeries is closing up shop.
KUB Bakery owners confirmed the decades-old bakery closed down its locations as of Wednesday.
"It was very strange when we shut that door yesterday," Ross Einfeld, who runs the bakery, told CTV News. "The emotions range from anger, to sadness, to happiness – all sorts of things."
Einfeld said the bakery has a long history in Winnipeg. It was set to celebrate its 100-year anniversary in 2023.
The bakery was first created by the Kucher family in 1923. The Kuchers Ukrainian Bakery (or KUB for short) was purchased by the Einfeld family in 1982.
On its website, the bakery said its bread has become a north-end Winnipeg icon synonymous with wedding socials. It supplied the Winnipeg Jets, Manitoba Moose and Winnipeg Goldeyes for years, and had been shipping products all over the world.
The inside of KUB Bakery in Winnipeg on Nov. 16, 2022 (Image source: Taylor Brock/CTV News Winnipeg)
But the past few years were very challenging for the KUB Bakery.
"Two years of COVID was kind of devastating for us," Einfeld said. "Then once the recovery started, grain prices started going through the roof. Flour prices are still as we speak practically double. So that made it very hard on any industry that uses flour or grain products."
He said along with this, it has been difficult to hire staff.
"We were struggling, so we were hoping to ride it out," Einfeld said.
But then the bakery was hit with some major mechanical breakdowns. Einfeld said the boiler blew up last week, and days later their oven burners failed.
"That effectively put us out of business," Einfeld said, adding they closed the bakery doors on Tuesday after running out of the final stock.
"Here I am in this empty 10,000-square-foot building, and the ovens are dead and there's no one there. It was very strange."
Michael Mikulak, the executive director of food and beverage Manitoba, said rising costs and pandemic factors tightened an already slim profit margin.
“I was shocked but was not surprised,” Mikulak said in response to KUB’s closing. “I think food and beverage processors are facing a lot of challenges right now."
He says it is difficult for local producers to keep up with larger ones, but in cases like KUB’s, they can also have a large influence.
"I think this is the time, if you care about these local brands, if you care about these local products, you need to support them."
Keystone Agricultural Producers says farmers are feeling the effects of supply chain issues from the pandemic and Russians invasion of Ukraine.
“It is accurate that grain prices have risen, but this does not mean a windfall for farmers. Costs and market uncertainty have also skyrocketed,” said Brenna Mahoney, the general manager of Keystone Agricultural Producers.
She adds that farmers are also feeling the effects of a labour shortage, saying some farms are short 25 per cent of the staff required.
Einfeld said it is possible the KUB Brand name will live on. He said a former employee at the bakery contacted him with a plan to try to keep the bakery going.
"I went down to the shop last night and I gave him some recipes and ingredients and he was going to do a test run and see how it worked," Einfeld said. "You know, nothing's concrete yet."
He said there has been some interest to buy the bakery brand. However, Einfeld said his family's time running the bakery has come to an end after more than a quarter-century.
"It was very abrupt. It was not the way I wanted it to happen. I was hoping for a seamless transition from us to someone else carry on the brand name," Einfeld said.
He said the family is still in negotiations to have someone else take over the brand.
In the interim, the bakery thanked Winnipeggers for their support over the years.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Most of Canada to receive emergency alert test today
The federal government will test its capacity to issue emergency alerts today, with the exception of Ontario, where the test will take place on May 15.
OPINION What King Charles' schedule being too 'full' to accommodate son suggests about relationship with Prince Harry
Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, has made headlines with his recent arrival in the U.K., this time to celebrate all things Invictus. But upon the prince landing in the U.K., we have already had confirmation that King Charles III won't have time to see his youngest son during his brief visit.
Ontario man devastated to learn $150,000 line of credit isn't insured after wife dies
An Ontario man found out that a line of credit he thought was insured actually isn't after his wife of 50 years died.
Boy Scouts of America is rebranding. Here's why they've changed their name
After more than a century, Boy Scouts of America is rebranding as Scouting America, another major shakeup for an organization that once proudly resisted change.
Trial begins for Winnipeg serial killer who claims he was mentally ill
The trial of a man who admits he killed four women in Winnipeg is set to begin Wednesday, and a law professor says lawyers for Jeremy Skibicki have multiple hurdles to clear for a defence of mental illness.
These adults born in the '90s partnered with their parents to buy homes in Ontario
An Ontario woman said it would have been impossible to buy a house without her mother – an anecdote that animates the fact that over 17 per cent of Canadian homeowners born in the ‘90s own their property with their parents, according to a new report.
New Canadian study could be a lifesaver for thousands suffering from CTE
A first-of-its-kind Canadian research study is working towards a major medical breakthrough for a brain disorder, believed to be caused by repeated head injuries, that can only be detected after death.
Rape, terror and death at sea: How a boat carrying Rohingya children, women and men capsized
In March, Indonesian officials and local fishermen rescued 75 people from the overturned hull of a boat off the coast of Indonesia. Until now, little was known about why the boat capsized.
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.