Mission History Charities Testimonials Founders of ACE Wholesaler information		1982 In his family's kitchen in Caledon, Ontario, Martin Connell set out to bake a great Baguette. Over the next several years, he and his wife, Linda Haynes, herself an accomplished cook, accumulated a library of books about baking, visited bakeries throughout North America and Europe and continued to experiment with a wide repertoire of breads. 1993 ACE Bakery opens at 548 King Street West, in Toronto. The artisan bakery becomes well-known for its handmade, European-style, rustic breads. The gentle shaping of each loaf, long fermentation periods, and a stone-deck oven, all work to create exceptionally flavourful breads with a chewy, moist texture, and crisp crust. The breads contain no preservatives and are made with the best all-natural ingredients. 1997 Due to expansion, ACE Bakery closes its King Street location and opens its baking operation at 1 Hafis Road in North York, Ontario. 1998 ACE Bakery's fresh bread store and café opens at 1360 Yonge Street. Customers can enjoy a variety of gourmet sandwiches served on their favourite ACE breads, or come in to purchase such treats as home-made jams, olive oil from Tuscany, maple syrup, buckwheat and wildflower honey, fine European tarts and freshly baked cookies. 2000 ACE Bakery Limited delivers bread to more than 300 of Toronto's finest restaurants, hotels, caterers and gourmet food shops. Due to the expansion of our wholesale business, we decided to close our fresh bread store and café, keeping a smaller café and bread store open at the bakery itself. 2001 After two years of research and development, ACE launches a partially baked Baguette at an independent fine food retailer – partially baked at ACE, frozen and shipped to the retailer to finish the baking. 2002 With the success of the partially baked Baguette in Toronto, ACE launches the Baguette from Ottawa to Windsor, and St. Catherine's to Kapuskasing. ACE launches four new partially baked breads: Olive Boule, Cranberry Focaccia, Rosemary Focaccia and Organic Granary in the nation’s capital. 2003 ACE celebrates a decade of baking superior artisan breads, introducing its special tenth anniversary Organic White Oval and launches the Baguette in the Buffalo/Niagara, New York and central Michigan regions. In October, ACE introduces the Country Wheat Baguette to the Toronto region. ACE continues to be dedicated to the integrity of the product, now baking a total of 20 breads. ACE is awarded Best Bakery in the Toronto Star’s 2003 Eaters’ Choice Awards and Best Supplier in Foodservice and Hospitality Magazine’s Pinnacle Awards. Linda Haynes, co-founder, publishes her first book, The ACE Bakery Cookbook, in October 2003. It quickly becomes a national bestseller and wins the Gourmand World Cookbook Award for 2003 in the ‘Best Bread Book English – Rest of the World’ category. The book was also a Best Cookbook Finalist in the 8th annual Independent Publisher Book Awards. 2004 ACE breads are now available throughout the Midwest and New York State. The Demi Baguette is launched in Ontario and the Midwest, the Chocolate Boule is launched in Ontario, and the Country Wheat Baguette goes province-wide. ACE Bakery is awarded Best Bakery by the Toronto Sun. 2005 ACE Bakery launches four varieties of Organic Sliced bread in the GTA and a new Bake Your Own™ program with boules and petits pains in select Toronto retailer outlets. Construction is completed on the expansion of The Fresh Bread Store and Café at Hafis Road. 2006 Philip Shaw is welcomed as the new President & CEO of ACE Bakery. His many years of experience with La Brea Bakery helps ACE build on its growth strategy. Linda Haynes, co-founder of ACE Bakery, publishes her second cookbook, More from ACE Bakery, in October, 2006. More mouth-watering recipes ranging from Cheddar Chive Biscuits and Flax Bread with Honey and Oats to Stuffed Pork Chops with Pomegranate-Maple Glaze and Chocolate Bread Pudding with Coffee Crème Anglaise tempt the reader. Linda’s second cookbook offers the pleasure of baking, cooking and entertaining to cooks of every level. ACE Bakery launches the Bake Your Own™ White Demi-Baguette 12-pack at Costco outlets across Ontario as well as an artisan bread program in retail stores throughout the northeastern United States. Most ACE breads are now Kosher certified. 2007 ACE develops and launches four varieties of Artisan Crisps. The exceptional rustic flavour you expect from ACE breads are available in a Crisp. ACE artisan breads arrive in New York City in Food Emporium stores. ACE Bakery is once again awarded ‘Best Bakery’ by the Toronto Sun. 2008 No preservatives and the finest ingredients have always been part of ACE Bakery's mandate. To this end, ACE launches a new family of six stone-ground whole grain breads. The breads are all recognized by the Whole Grain Council as a source of whole grains and part of a balanced diet.   Learn more about ACE in the community.   Meet the ACE team.