GREENCASTLE–Tony Martin, president of Martin’s Famous Pastry Shoppe, Inc., recently spoke to 330 at the annual Franklin County Area Development Corporation “State of the Economy Breakfast” at Green Grove Gardens.
Martin, the latest in a line of family owners of this Chambersburg-based Company, described the enormous growth they’ve experienced since 2015. He cited potato rolls as the No. 1 product in the country. “Franklin County logistics have made all the difference,” he said.
He described food as an interesting product, observing for example, that people who grew up with Wonderbread tend to buy the same thing for their entire lives unless something happens. That something could be natural disasters like earthquakes, hurricanes, and so on.
In addition to it’s traditional markets, Martin’s puts a strong emphasis on filling shelves in areas experiencing tragedies on this scale as a humanitarian response. Somewhat surprisingly, that also provided an opportunity for people to try something different – and they liked it.
In recent years the brand not only grew nationally, but was picked up internationally. This combination of domestic and international expansion resulted in a 900% growth in production all over the world. “A board member jokingly suggested shipping to anyone in Antarctica just so they could say they ship to every continent”.
This growth meant expanding production capacity enormously to keep up with demand. “We are now entering phases 10 and 11″ said Martin, but without the logistics of I-81 this would have been substantially more difficult.”
For more on Martin’s, visit potatorolls.com.
