Puratos Bakery School to create new opportunities for local youth

Puratos USA and Pennsauken High School are pleased to announce plans for a new Puratos Bakery School that will create new opportunities for local youth to build valuable professional skills that could lead to a meaningful career in the baking industry.

This venture will be the sixth and newest bakery school location for Puratos, a global manufacturer of bakery ingredients.

To date, Puratos has opened bakery schools for underprivileged communities in India, Brazil, Mexico, Africa, and Romania. Led by the Puratos Bakery School Foundation, the initiative began with the dual observation of an important community of underprivileged youngsters with little to no professional education. In addition, the bakery, patisserie, and chocolate sectors are growing and lack well trained and qualified labor.

“There is an opportunity in the confluence of these two issues,” says Andy Brimacombe, president of Puratos USA. “We can make a real difference to the lives of young people and make an important contribution to our industry by establishing a Bakery School in Pennsauken, NJ—the area in which our US Headquarters is located—and one of the most economically challenged boroughs in the State of New Jersey and country.  We have the skill and the will to create a life-changing social contribution right here on our doorstep by providing a launchpad to a career path in the bakery industry for people who may otherwise not have the opportunity.”

The Bakery School is also a complementary addition to the valuable Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs—such as the four-year Culinary Arts program—that are already available to Pennsauken High School students. These programs prepare students to practice and reinforce workplace readiness skills needed for successful employment in the respective industry post-graduation.

Puratos USA and Pennsauken High School held a signing ceremony at Pennsauken High School on December 17, 2021, to kick off the development of the new Bakery School program, which will be available to students starting September 2022.