Braided with Love

Butter Braid ® pastries layer innovation with fundraising to create sweet success

By Ann Thelen | Photos courtesy of Country Maid, Inc.

Enveloped between the layers of Butter Braid ® pastries’ airy dough are the life-changing opportunities these delicacies help fund. For three decades, millions of children, communities and causes have relied on these Iowa-made, butter-rich pastries to make dreams come true.

Butter Braid pastries have a reputation for quality and service that fundraising groups and customers have come to depend on and love. Since 1991, West Bend-based Country Maid, Inc. and their flagship product – Butter Braid pastries – have helped raise more than $267 million for thousands of great causes nationwide.

Innovation Born out of the Farm Crisis

“Country Maid is a true entrepreneurial story that started from humble beginnings,” explains Ashley Akridge, the company’s marketing manager. “It came from a need and our founders, Ken and Marlene Banwart, finding a way to support their family.”

Tough times often spur innovation, which was the case in this community of approximately 800 people. Located in two counties – Kossuth and Palo Alto – West Bend is in the center of vast and highly productive Iowa farmland. During the late-1980s, the Banwarts had been farming for more than a decade and were blessed with six children. Then, the farm crisis hit. Like many families in a similar situation, it was tough to make ends meet.

Marlene tells the story of Ken finding a part-time job selling office equipment to supplement the farm income. It wasn’t enough. So, the couple also began selling produce at the local farmers’ market. Noticing that baked goods were popular, Marlene started offering her homemade braided pastries. At the time, these Danish-inspired desserts were made using plain pastry dough without any filling. It didn’t matter; they were mouthwateringly delicious. Each day of a farmers’ market, she would be up early to make and bake the pastries, leading to short nights and long days. Ken had the idea of pre-making and freezing the pastries. The pastries were taken out of the freezer to rise overnight and then baked the morning of an event. It was a single process shift that would dynamically change the future.

As awareness grew of the fabulous pastries, orders increased. Within six months of Ken leaving his sales job to focus on the pastry business, the couple was delivering Butter Braid pastries to 50 stores in Iowa. From creating the signature item in their kitchen to eventually converting their garage into a production facility, the Banwarts purchased a renovated building in West Bend. Several expansions later, it’s still home to Country Maid, the official name the Banwarts gave to their pastry producing company in 1991. Since 2002, in keeping with the company’s mission of “Helping Others Help Themselves,” Butter Braid pastries have been exclusively available through fundraising programs.

Caramel Pastry Roll

How It’s Made

“We say each pastry is braided with love because it truly is,” Akridge explains. “We are all like family at Country Maid, and the company puts its people before anything else.”

The fascination with Butter Braid pastries has drawn global fanfare. Appearing on Discovery Channel’s hit program “How It’s Made” and “Manufacturing Marvels” with FOX Business News has fed curiosity about how a frozen pastry can have made-from-scratch freshness and deliciousness in every bite.

Each Butter Braid pastry includes yeast, granulated sugar, pastry flour, eggs and water, with several ingredients sourced from Iowa companies. Unlike a dense bread, Butter Braid pastries contain 12 layers of light, airy dough and 100% real butter. Along the assembly line, automated machines cut slits in the dough sheets, and workers hand-braid every pastry. After assembly, which includes inserting a fruit filling, herbs or cheeses, the braids head to a freezer set at 23 degrees F below zero where they revolve on carousels for 45 minutes. This gradual freezing process preserves the yeast. Then, in kitchens across the country, families thaw, rise and bake a pastry that tastes like grandma made it.

Country Maid’s mantra is to be a hub of innovation, encouraging its 70 employees to connect across departments with flexibility and create products with a wow effect. New products go through extensive market research, focus groups, and tests for food stability, shelf life, taste and baking.

Country Maid’s facilities are Safe Quality Food certified, ensuring its products meet international food safety and quality standards.

Making Fundraising Dreams Come True

“Because Butter Braid pastries are only sold through fundraisers, the company relies on strong partnerships with its dealers,” says Lynn Bouska, fundraising sales and business manager.

All dealers support and respect the pillars of achievement, which are the cornerstones of Country Maid – faith, integrity, attitude, discipline, relationships, growth and balance.

“We spend a lot of time with our dealers through interviews and working on business plans to launch and grow their business. Our sales approach is streamlined and offers a high level of service. And, of course, dealers take Butter Braid pastry samples on every sales call.”

In 2019, the company introduced an online store that has been extremely helpful during COVID-19. Kids can send their fundraising link to family and friends, allowing buyers to purchase online. Country Maid has created multiple programs, such as a no-contact/online fundraising program and some dealers are testing a ship-tohome program.

Fundraising is a competitive market, and Country Maid understands that people buy based on a desire to help one another.

“It comes down to focusing on a niche, and buyers like knowing who their purchase is helping. Whether it’s for a student raising money for new band uniforms or going on an educational trip to Washington, D.C., the fundraising is all about helping others achieve a goal,” Bouska says.

For 30 years, Country Maid has focused on several core strengths – its employees, dealer network and shared foundation of faith.

Bouska adds, “We are so proud to help dreams come true through fundraising.”

Four Cheese & Herb

Editor’s Note: Ken Banwart passed away in October 2020, and his legacy will live on through the millions of lives the company has impacted. The Iowa Food & Family Project extends its condolences to the Banwart family, Country Maid team and West Bend community.