LaBrea Bakery Faces Challenge After Purchase by Conglomerate.

In the life of many a celebrity chef there finally comes a time to hand over the business to those who presumably can grow it bigger, faster and more profitably.

It happened last year to Patina's Joachim Splichal. Now it's time for La Brea Bakery's Nancy Silverton. The question is

The locally based artisan bread company she started in 1989 out of La Brea's original 2,000-square-foot store is about to vastly expand its reach after being sold to Irish conglomerate IAWS Group.

IAWS, with 2000 revenues of $860 million and international holdings that range from Power Seeds and Hardware to United Fish Products, purchased 80 percent of the bakery for $55 million in cash, as well as assuming its $13.5 million in debt. The company has an option to purchase the remaining 20 percent.

Actually, Silverton brought in outside investors to La Brea Bakery three years ago. At the time of the sale to IAWS she, along with co-owners Mark Peel (her husband) and Manfred Frankl, had a 50 percent stake in the bread company.

"IAWS respects the fact that this group has grown the business from a boutique business to a substantial player in the bread market," said La Brea Chief Operating Officer Philip Shaw. "It is critical to note that management is staying in place."

Even so, the challenge is formidable: taking a delicate product made fresh daily and turning it into an international brand.

Key to La Brea's chances is using parbaked, or "store baked" products. Store baked refers to the process in which bread is baked 80 percent through and then frozen and transported to retailers or restaurants, where the baking is completed.

Since 1998, La Brea has developed this product, built its Van Nuys plant specifically for store baked production and is now at capacity. Shaw estimates that 75 percent of La Brea's 2001 revenues will come from its store baked line.

The reliance on store baked bread, which increases its scalability, may prepare La Brea to meet IAWS' expectations.

"IAWS brings financial wherewithal and experience of an international company without strangling us with corporate baggage," mid Shaw. "The entrepreneurial attitude will continue to drive the business."