Batch & Bodega Adds Five Women-Owned Makers to Fresh Line

HPG, Braintree, Mass., announced five additional industry-exclusive partnerships from the company’s Batch & Bodega Fresh line.

The latest exclusive partners include Nene’s Treats, Grey Ghost Bakery, Justice of the Pies, Flour & Branch, and Caroline’s Cakes.

“We are so pleased with the industry response to our Fresh line from Batch & Bodega,” said HPG chief development officer Jason Lucash. “Customers have been incredibly responsive to the benefits of gifting gourmet treats shipped straight from the maker. Following our initial launch, we’ve listened hard to what the marketplace was asking for—more diversity in our maker profiles, a wider range of price points, and continued depth core categories of cakes and cookies—and we’re excited to offer partnerships that are responsive to those needs. With this launch, we’re especially proud to support a line of all female-founded businesses, who specialize in crafting nothing but the finest cakes, pies and cookies.”

About the Makers

Nene’s Treats is a third-generation family-owned crumb cake business started by Marie Felice (aka Nene) and her daughter Susan Owens in 2015. Now operated by Nene’s grandchildren led by Stefanie Owens, Nene’s Treats continues to churn out a balance of spongy, moist cake topped with a mountain of crumbly topping too good to ignore.

“What people love most about our cakes is the overwhelming crumb to cake ratio,” Owens said. “One bite and they fall in love! We’re so excited to share Nene’s Crumb Cakes with a new market through our partnership with Batch & Bodega. Nothing conveys gratitude, expresses sympathy or helps celebrate like a classic piece of our crumb cake!”

Available from Batch & Bodega: Original Crumb Cake, Birthday Crumb Cake and two-pack combinations.

Grey Ghost Bakery, a current Batch & Bodega maker known for their delectable cookies with Southern-inspired flavors, will now offer their fresh Five-Flavor Pound Cake and Chocolate Nutty Pie through Fresh. Founded by Katherine Frankston, the key to Grey Ghost’s success lies in their commitment to the craft of baking and their use of premium ingredients.

“Great recipes and premium, real ingredients are the keys to our freshness and taste, said Frankston, who sticks to European-style butter, pure cane sugar, whole eggs, and premium nuts and spices as the cornerstone of her creations.

Available from Batch & Bodega: Five-Flavor Pound Cake, Chocolate Nutty Pie

Justice of the Pies founder Maya-Camille Broussard launched her now-famous bakery as a homage to her late father, Stephen J. Broussard, a criminal defense attorney with a passion for baking. Committed to positively impacting the lives of others through food, Justice of the Pies actively partners with the Cabrini Green Legal Aid (CGLA), and recently launched an “I Knead Love” workshop series to teach children basic culinary skills, and most recently fed frontline hospital staff on the South Side and West Side of Chicago during the pandemic.

“As a social mission-based brand, our goal is to be stewards for fairness and equality,” said Broussard. “We are constantly doing the work.”

A favorite of actress Kerry Washington; having been featured in New York Magazine, Esquire, and Food+Wine; and recently spotlighted through the Illinois Office of Tourism’s “Illinois Made” program, Justice of the Pies is as popular as it is impactful.

Available from Batch & Bodega: Salted Caramel Peach Pie, Bourbon Pecan Pie

Flour & Branch, founded by Lauren Arnsdorff, was created to be more than just another bakery. Known for their luxe-packaging and gourmet ingredients, Flour & Branch crafts artisan cookies designed to evoke childhood memories combined with grown-up sensibilities. Featuring elevated ingredients like Kerrygold butter and farm-fresh eggs, and offering unique flavors like the chocolate/mint-based “Hopper” and peanut butter/jelly-stuffed “PB&J Stuffy,” Flour & Branch offers a truly memorable treat.

“We're really unlike anything that exists,” Arnsdorff said. “No other bakery has the type of unique and nostalgia-inspired flavor pairings and products we do, and gift wraps those bakes as elegantly and whimsically as Flour & Branch. We seek to provide customers with a really incredible experience.”

Available from Batch & Bodega: 7-Count Cookie Sampler, 7-Count Birthday Cake Cookies, 8-Count Bouquet Cookie Collection

Caroline’s Cakes, home of the world’s best Caramel Layer Cake (one of Oprah’s “Favorite Things”) was founded by Caroline Ragsdale Reutter, and is currently operated by her son Richard.

“Our motto is ‘Eat cake and be happy,’ and we take that very seriously,” Reutter said. “Our mission is to make the world a smaller, sweeter and more gracious place by preserving the traditions that so many generations have honored in their own kitchens. We’re excited to share that vision with even more folks through Batch & Bodega.”

The distinctly Southern layer cakes are crafted by hand using time-honored traditions with a careful attention to detail. Each cake serves a whopping 14 to 20 people.

Available from Batch & Bodega: 7-Layer Caramel Cake, 7-Layer Over the Rainbow Cake, 7-Layer Coconut Cake, Traditional Carrot Cake, Birthday Cake Bites, Salted Caramel Cake Bites, Lemon Cake Bites, Gluten-Free Mocha Cake Bites and Caramel Cake Bites.

For more information on Batch & Bodega, visit www.batchandbodega.com.