Verns Cheese under new ownership after 59 years
‘Broadband access is the great equalizer’
June 10, 2024
ANTIGO – Four years after dipping its toes into the wholesale market, bb’s Pizza has entered the deep end – Woodman’s Market in Green Bay.
According to Jenny and Mike Easker, their daughter Madison and Adam Klingbeil, (owners of bb’s Pizza), the move compliments the continued strong support among longtime customers of the flagship restaurant bbJack’s Pizza of Antigo.
“Over the years, we have become known throughout Wisconsin and beyond for our high-quality pizza and developed a reputation for outstanding customer service,” Jenny said. “We proudly bring our restaurant-quality pizza to frozen food aisles and bars around Wisconsin so everyone can enjoy ‘Antigo’s Famous Pizza.’”
Jenny said it’s important to note that though affiliated with bbJack’s Restaurant in Antigo (which she and her husband Mike own), bb’s Pizza is a separate business (which is owned by Jenny, Mike, Madison and Adam).
Launching the wholesale business, Klingbeil said, wouldn’t have been possible without the continued support of bbJack’s longtime customers.
“We wouldn’t be anything if it wasn’t for them,” he said.
Klingbeil and Jenny said they targeted the Green Bay Woodman’s for wholesale expansion because of its reputation for offering various pizzas – as well as its close proximity to Antigo.
With an ever-growing number of small pizza companies vying for freezer space at Woodman’s, Klingbeil said it was a competitive process.
“We had our initial meeting in November and followed up in January, and they said, ‘sure we’ll give (bb’s Pizza) a shot,’” he said. “We sent them some samples. They enjoyed the product and saw we do our best to make a great pizza.”
Branching into wholesale
Jenny said the recipe for bb’s Pizza was developed at bbJack’s Restaurant by her parents, Bob and Carol Stimac, four decades ago.
When Mike and Jenny purchased bbJack’s Pizza about five years ago, they initially focused on the Antigo restaurant – but Jenny said they had long wanted to expand into the wholesale market.
“You could always buy take-and-bake pizzas here at the restaurant, but we never put it out there as a specialty,” she said. “I wanted to take it in a new direction.”
To help set the groundwork for future ventures, Jenny said she took the entrepreneurship course offered by the Langlade County Economic Development Corporation.
Plans began to move forward, she said, when Adam – who specializes in graphic arts and marketing – created “an eye-popping logo and design” they thought would stand out in any frozen food aisle.
However, the quartet of owners said they quickly realized creating pizzas for customers in the restaurant and creating pizzas for wholesale were different.
The venerable pizza recipe, Jenny said, relied on a dash of this, a pinch of that, a couple of big handfuls of cheese and toppings to taste.
That process, she said, doesn’t make the grade in the strict world of food packaging.
“We had to weigh everything precisely to make sure every pizza was the same,” she said. “We use raw sausage in the restaurant, but that wasn’t allowed in a pre-made frozen pizza due to food safety concerns. We had to source pre-made sausage for the wholesale product, and that took a lot of searching and taste-testing.”
As they worked to exact the process, Jenny said the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, which regulates food processing and packaging, was an ally.
“The people there were amazing and wanted to help us succeed,” she said. “They became part of the team working on the product.”
After a year of inspections, recipe-testing, remodeling (which included an 18-x-22-foot addition to the restaurant’s kitchen for wholesale pizza preparation) and refinements, Jenny said bb’s Pizza was ready for the freezer cases in 2021.
Green Bay presence
Though this is the first time bb’s Pizza has been available at Woodman’s, Jenny said it isn’t the first time the pies have been available in Titletown.
Tera Hanson at State Street Pub in Green Bay, she said, was among the company’s earliest supporters, adding bb’s Pizza to its offerings in 2021.
Since then, she said, more Green Bay establishments jumped on board – including Green Bay’s Job Site Tavern and Terry’s Wall Street Pub – each offering bb’s Pizza.
Just the beginning
Woodman’s Market in Green Bay, Jenny said, joins several other retailers throughout the state that have jumped on the bb’s Pizza wholesale train including, Sentry Foods, Lakeside Market and Wagner Shell all in Antigo, North Trail Store in Elcho, Everbreeze Resort Bar & Grill in Mountain and Elton Mall & Café.
Jenny said they invested in a refrigerated trailer unit to transport pies to more distant locations as demand continues to grow – with Woodman’s, hopefully, being the first of continued growth.
“We have some lofty plans,” Klingbeil said. “But I’m happy where we are at.”
Those interested in wholesale opportunities can visit bbspizzas.com.
