2024 Media Kit - Craft to Crumb

INSIGHTS AND INSPIRATION FOR THE RETAIL BAKING COMMUNITY

2024 MEDIA KIT

Our Mission An Introduction to Craft to Crumb

Avant Food Media has amplified its trusted voice for mid-to large-scale bakery producers through its flagship publication Commercial Baking , and the team has taken its storytelling expertise and flair for building baker relationships into the retail space.

Focused on loyalty and engagement, Craft to Crumb is an influencer in the retail baking space, leading a casual but informed style of conversation with the industry’s most innovative artisan bakers. This community-focused platform promotes partnership and idea sharing and provides advertisers an authentic outlet that their customers will notice … and use.

With a mission to share insights and inspiration for the retail baking community, Craft to Crumb is a contemporary, interactive media model designed to foster community. Dedicated to cross-platform narratives with refined design elements, Craft to Crumb brings bakers the latest consumer trends and product development from leaders in the industry. This is a crafted celebration of trendsetters and boundary breakers, backed by fresh insights and reliable data.

Our content is created for a digital social age, designed to spark new ideas and conversations that encourage bakers and business owners to better their enterprises with a collection of articles, demos and insights. It’s a forum for bakers to connect and learn about processes, equipment and ingredients that are changing the game in retail baking.

Align yourself with the newest, most elevated voice in baking.

Influence in Media With 80+ Total Years of Experience

About Avant Food Media

Focused on the future, Avant Food Media was founded in 2020 by three baking industry media veterans with a collective 70 years of experience. Their passion for bakers’ narratives and commitment to advertiser value are unmatched in the industry.

In just three years, Avant modernized trade media by establishing a new model that turns traditional formats upside down through relevant, meaningful content that garners legitimate visibility for advertisers.

With a flair for creating platforms that bring bakers and suppliers together, Avant fosters true partnerships and genuine support for its advertisers. The result is raising the bar for B2B media in every sector of baking.

About Commercial Baking

Launched in 2021, Commercial Baking is a premium media source that focuses on what’s most important to decision makers and influencers in the category identified by the US Census of Manufacturing as commercial bakeries.

Commercial Baking offers the data, trends and innovations reshaping the business of baking through a hybrid model of targeted magazines combined with consolidated and fresh digital and multimedia offerings.

About the People

Paul Lattan PUBLISHER paul@avantfoodmedia.com

Mari Rydings

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR mari@avantfoodmedia.com

Erin Zielsdorf ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE erin@avantfoodmedia.com

Joanie Spencer EDITOR-IN-CHIEF joanie@avantfoodmedia.com

Maddie Lambert ASSOCIATE EDITOR maddie@avantfoodmedia.com

For the Love of the Craft

Our Manifesto

Bakers bake. They also run the front of the house. And train their staff. And fill in for the missing staff. And do the marketing. And run the social media. And the list goes on and on.

We see you, bakers.

There is indeed art and science that goes into baking, and we’re here for that. But there’s something else, too: love. There’s a love that only bakers truly understand. It’s why they get up before the sun rises and work long after the product is finished … after the cases are empty and the last crumb is wiped clean.

That’s a love that comes from seeing people consume their products for nourishment, satiety and pure, unadulterated joy. When made properly, an artisan baked good is one of those few things that simultaneously provides comfort and adventure.

Baked goods are some of the world’s oldest foods, and the artisans who make them have answered a calling. They get their hands dirty in a craft that requires the physical strength of a steel worker, the finesse of a poet and the business savvy of a corporate executive.

In an age of social media, bakers can showcase their artistry to the world. But at the same time, it’s isolating. Bakers are the first to rise and the last to rest. There are few business trips or tradeshows. They learn by doing — by making mistakes, fixing them and starting over — all for the love of the craft.

We feel you, bakers.

Baking is communal. It’s to be shared, just as much as the products themselves. And this is why Craft to Crumb exists. This is for artisan bakers to share their love of the craft in a place of community.

We believe that bakers deserve a voice, and our platform is designed to make those voices heard. By sharing insights and inspiration from baker to baker, we are creating a community to serve every facet of retail baking.

We hear you, bakers.

This is your invitation to participate in a community where bakers can learn, share and grow in their craft.

Market | Circulation

An Introduction

The Market

The term “retail bakery” is an umbrella for independent bakeries selling directly to individual consumers. This includes retail, artisan, craft, in-store, foodservice, e-commerce and specialty bakeries where the primary product is baked onsite. There are more than 18,000 retail bakeries throughout the US, but the pandemic vastly changed the landscape, creating a market in need of community.

Dedicated to establishing a following founded on innovation, Craft to Crumb is designed to engage the market’s most progressive bakers.

Retail and Specialty Bakery Shops — US

SOURCE: LATEST DATA FROM THE US CENSUS BUREAU, BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

Circulation Breakdown

Across all segments of the industry, 11,018 total decision makers — including owners, top managers and head bakers — comprise the Craft to Crumb digital audience.

Media Mix Digital-Forward to Reach All Bakers

Mini-Mags

Craft to Crumb ’s digital mini-mags provide a bite-sized media experience showcasing a notable bakery making waves in the industry. Released quarterly, digital minis feature live links, video embeds and more, all with easy access from any digital platform. Each digital issue features sponsorable content in watch | listen | read formats.

Issues: March, June, September, December

Crafttocrumb.com

The Craft to Crumb website highlights the best retail bakers and bakery business owners, along with relevant industry news and more. The site is carefully segmented to maximize a user-friendly experience, with interactive content and the most thoughtful stories always within reach.

Newsletters

With a thoughtful mix of newsletters, we have carefully crafted our send strategy to limit deployments and develop an engaged following. The result is more concentrated readership of our newsletters and satisfied advertisers. We offer blockbusters and medium rectangles for each title sold by the month. Inventory is limited and offered on a first-come basis.

WEEKLY: The week’s top new stories, all in one place.

LOOK | LISTEN: Promoting our latest multimedia content each month.

Videos

Artisan bakers crave community. But when owner-operators are running a lean staff, it’s almost impossible to break away for training, education and networking. Craft to Crumb video content provides that “nearly there” experience with demos, interviews, bakery tours and more. Sponsorship opportunities are available.

TECHTALKS: 8-10 minute video discussing technologies for retail bakers.

CRUMBCUTS: Snippets from bakers on trends and industry issues.

BEHIND THE BAKE: An inside look into bakeries on the rise.

Media Mix CMB Study Hall

Craft to Crumb , in partnership with the Retail Bakers of America (RBA), offers a special video series: RBA’s CMB Certification Study Hall. Designed as a resource to help bakers prepare for RBA’s Master Baker Certification, the series features certified master bakers (CMBs) demonstrating key techniques required for the practical exam. Videos cover tips and tricks for all major product categories.

These roughly 10-minute videos serve as hands-on tutorials for bakers seeking to hone the skills and techniques needed for Master Baker Certification. About a dozen videos will be produced this spring, then promoted to the industry at a regular cadence throughout the year. These tutorials are hosted on crafttocrumb.com and also accessible for RBA members on the association’s website.

Sponsorship

• Sponsor(s) co-branded with RBA and CtC

• Logo and mention as sponsor in all promotions

• Logo at intro and outro of each video

• Email campaign promotions

• Joint promotion from CtC , RBA and sponsor(s)

• Multi-year shelf life. These videos will exist for years!

Promotion

• Email campaign each month to our audience and RBA members to announce new episode

• Promotion via Craft to Crumb social channels

• Inclusion in the Look I Listen newsletter

• Posting on crafttocrumb.com homepage

• Posting on the Look I Listen section of crafttocrumb.com

• Links to videos from quarterly mini-mags

• RBA and sponsor promotion on all relevant channels

Media Mix A Deeper Dive

Custom Digital Offerings

TECHTALKS

Our editors visit key suppliers via Zoom in an 8- to 10-minute recorded video to discuss the latest innovations currently available to retail bakers. This new concept has been incredibly successful for Commercial Baking advertisers and can be a versatile tool for marketing to digital, social mediasavvy retail bakers as well.

EMAIL CAMPAIGNS

Craft to Crumb offers a limited number of Email Marketing Campaigns (EMCs) and Automated Marketing Campaigns (AMCs) exclusively for advertisers that also support Craft to Crumb content.

EMCs are single-send email campaigns while AMCs are campaigns that, after the initial send, follow up with readers who opened, but didn’t act on the first deployment. EMCs and AMCs are efficient ways to make a targeted splash and generate specific awareness and leads from a concentrated audience of decision makers and influencers.

Sponsorable Content

CRUMBCUTS

Interactive, easy-to-digest clips from Craft to Crumb ’s best baker interviews supplement written content. CrumbCuts are the best way for readers to snag quick info on best practices.

BEHIND THE BAKE

These exclusive, behind-the-scenes videos showcase best practices in baking with interviews, bakery tours and more.

CMB STUDY HALL

This series was designed as a resource to help bakers prepare for RBA’s Master Baker Certification. Each video features certified master bakers (CMBs) demonstrating key techniques required for RBA’s practical exam. Videos cover tips and tricks for all major product categories.

Media Mix Promotions

TechTalks

(FULL ANALYTICS AND LEAD GEN INCLUDED)

• Email Campaign (EMC)

• Craft to Crumb homepage for a month

• Craft to Crumb Look | Listen page for a year

• Posted to Craft to Crumb YouTube channel

• Promotion on Craft to Crumb social media platforms

• PAID social media campaign

• Inclusion in a Craft to Crumb Look | Listen newsletter

• Inclusion in Craft to Crumb mini-mag with link

• Custom designed “share kits” provided for client amplification

Sponsorable Content: CrumbCuts | Behind the Bake

(FULL ANALYTICS INCLUDED)

• Craft to Crumb homepage for a month

• Craft to Crumb Look | Listen page for a year

• Posted to Craft to Crumb YouTube channel

• Promotion on Craft to Crumb social media platforms

• Inclusion in a Craft to Crumb Look | Listen newsletter

• Inclusion in Craft to Crumb mini-mag with link

CMB Study Hall

(FULL ANALYTICS INCLUDED)

• Craft to Crumb homepage for a month

• Craft to Crumb Look | Listen page for a year

• Inclusion in a Craft to Crumb Look | Listen newsletter

• Promotion on Craft to Crumb social media platforms

• Email campaign each month to CtC audience and RBA members to announce new episode

• Links to videos from quarterly CtC mini-mags

• RBA and sponsor promotion on all relevant channels

Email Campaigns

(FULL ANALYTICS AND LEAD GEN INCLUDED)

• Email Campaign (EMC)

• Automated Marketing Campaign (AMC)

Mini-Mags

Yearbook Special Edition (Print)

Website

Newsletters

Digital Offerings

CMB