THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, July 25, 1995 TAG: 9507250299
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JASON HIDALGO, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines
You would think that after eating almost a billion bagels last year that Americans would have had their fill of the doughnut-shaped bread.
Not so. It seems the appetite for bagels nationally and in Hampton Roads is growing.
``This is only the beginning,'' said Sussanah Turner, manager for Chesapeake Bagel Bakery in Virginia Beach. ``More and more people are starting to discover bagels as a preferable food alternative.''
The American Institute of Baking, which tracks bagel consumption, says the number of bagels eaten is expected to rise as more and more bagel shops pop up around the country.
Hampton Roads is experiencing a bagel boom. There are already several lunch shops and bakeries in the region specializing in bagels. And additional franchises are eyeing the area for expansion.
Vermont-based Bruegger's Bagel Bakery Corp., the nation's largest bagel chain with more than 170 stores, has Hampton Roads in its sights, as does New Jersey-based Chintana Corp., operator of the Manhattan Bagel franchise, which has more than 70 stores.
``Hampton Roads has a large marketing segment which we're targeting for growth'' said Marc Petock, public relations and advertising director for Bruegger's. ``We consider it a vital area for our franchise.''
Bruegger's is undergoing site selection for stores in Virginia Beach and Norfolk that are expected to open late this year.
Competitors such as Chesapeake Bagel Bakery and Bagelworks, however, are not about to get rolled over as bagel heavyweights move in.
Chesapeake Bagel Bakery plans to open a store in Lynnhaven Parkway by October and another in the area by year-end. Bagelworks is looking to move into Chesapeake.
``I think they can only help our business,'' Turner said. ``Having more businesses will raise publicawareness.
``There still is a large untapped market out there.''
Bagels have become increasingly popular because of their variety and nutritional value.
``They're just like bread,'' Turner said. ``Once you cut them up, you can put almost anything in the middle.''
In addition to plain bagels, some bagel shops also offer such varieties as salted, blueberry, onion, pesto and even sun-dried tomato. But probably the biggest selling point for bagels is that they're low in fat. Plain bagels, Petock said, have about 1 1/2 percent fat and no cholesterol.
Petock sees things getting even better for bagel shops. Bruegger's posted an 11 percent increase in business last year. That beats Taco Bell's 7.8 percent increase and McDonald's 4.4 percent, Petock said.
``The bagel has arrived,'' Petock said. ``More and more people are seeing bagels as a healthy alternative to fast-food stores.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
Staff file
Chesapeake Bagel Bakery owner/manager John Turner
BAGEL FACTS
At least half of all Americans don't know what a bagel is,
compared with 80 percent in the 1980s, according to the trade
journal Modern Baking.
For those who don't know, a bagel is a leavened, doughnut-shaped
roll.
The bagel's origin is in dispute. One story says a Jewish baker
in Austria created the ring-shaped roll in 1683 to resemble a
stirrup as a tribute to the horse-crazy king of Poland. Another says
bagels were designed as edible teething rings for infants in
17th-century Poland.
A plain bagel may have anywhere from 150 to 350 calories, but
generally less then 2 grams of fat.
by CNB