Since 1996, Great Harvest Bread Co. in Mentor has been feeding the community the freshest bread available

By Mary Malik

Kris Lariccia and his sister, Molly Birt, have the food industry in their blood. Their family has been in the restaurant business for four generations. In 1996, Great Harvest Bread Co. opened in Mentor.

“Dad is a member of Mentor’s Rotary Club, and every year they have a fundraiser in conjuction with Great Harvest Bread Co. to benefit The Leukeima & Lymphoma Society,” says Molly. “ This is where he came to know and love Great Harvest and all they stood for—like no preservatives, non-GMO, 100% whole wheat and no additives.”

The family took over the Great Harvest Bread Co. Mentor location in 2008, Molly came on board soon after and Fred, even though he’s since “retired,”he is still in the bakery every day.

“We love to feed people,” says Molly. “That’s why Great Harvest Bread Co. was such a great fit for us. It operates under what is known as a ‘freedom franchise,’ which allows us to run the business how we feel best fits our customers’ and this community’s needs while still having access to the franchise’s recipes and processes that Great Harvest has continuously improved for over three decades.”

Molly says that what sets Great Harvest apart is it mills its own wheat right on the premises and breads are made fresh daily, from scratch. The wheat is organically grown by farmers and handpicked by Great Harvest.

“There are no preservatives in any of our products and every day we offer different types of fresh breads and sweets along with sandwiches, salads, soups in winter and daily and seasonal specials,” says Molly. “Some of the recipes for sweets and breads are family recipes. This is just one more reason why this franchise was a great fit for us. Being in the food business for so long, we have lots of recipes to share with our customers and Great Harvest allows us to do that.”

Great Harvest Bread Co. also offers gluten-free, known as gluten x breads and goodies baked fresh and from scratch every Wednesday, along with special seasonal breads for fall like pumpkin chocolate chip batter bread, stuffing bread, eggnog batter bread and pumpkin cream rolls.

“You can try your luck on our seasonal items being available in the store but it’s much safer to stop in and place your order or order online to guarantee you’ll get what you want,” says Molly. “These items are popular at holiday time and we don’t want anyone disappointed.”

The popular stuffing bread has all the flavors of Thanksgiving, with celery, onions, sage and thyme and can be used as the base for your dressing or dice it up and stuff that turkey. It saves a lot of chopping on the big day.

“We have so many holiday breads and sweet specialties, including our popular spider-shaped bread for Halloween and turkey-shaped bread for Thanksgiving,” says Molly. “The fun shapes are easy to pull apart as dinner rolls and breadsticks.”

Molly says creating new recipes and working with her hands and with her family in this fun and creative way is very rewarding.

“Our family has always been in the business of feeding people,” says Molly. “We’re proud to continue that and offer healthy and satisfying food to the people of this community. We also make a point to be involved and give back whenever we can with various fundraisers and farmer’s markets. People come in as customers and leave as friends.”

Great Harvest Bread Co. is located at 9440 Mentor Avenue in Mentor. For more information call 440-205-8199 and for daily specials and all menus check the website GreatHarvestMentor.com