Jenny and James Marino, owners of Cudahy-based Angelic Bakehouse, have announced plans today to sell their company to Lancaster Colony Corporation, a maker of specialty foods based in Ohio.

The long-time company has been in business in Wisconsin since 1969. Once known as Cybros, Angelic Bakehouse was purchased by the Marinos in 2009. Since that time, growth has been steady; in 2013, the company broke ground on a $2.3 million production facility in Cudahy. Their products are available at a variety of retailers including Whole Foods Market, Costco, Sprouts Farmers Market, Meijer, Safeway, Hy-Vee, Woodman’s Markets, Heinen’s, Sendik’s Food Market, Lunds, Mariano’s Fresh Market and Richard’s Foodporium.

The owners plan to remain in their current roles, continuing to manage day to day operations. However, hope is that the acquisition agreement will lead to further growth for the company, which specializes in non-GMO sprouted grain baked goods.

"This agreement gives us a chance to 'sprout our wings' and continue on our journey to provide our customers with delicious and better nutrition options without compromise," notes Jenny Marino, president and CEO of Angelic, in a statement. "Lancaster Colony shares our unwavering commitment to consumers who are looking for a healthy option, but are unwilling to sacrifice the taste and texture of real bread. With Angelic, they don’t have to."

The company will continue to produce their line of sprouted grain products. However, Marino notes that the partnership will allow Angelic to accelerate their commitment to new and innovative products.

What will change, she notes, is Angelic's ability to vastly increase its national product distribution, making the Wisconsin-made goods available to a much larger audience.

"We are thrilled to add Angelic Bakehouse and its terrific lineup of on-trend bakery products to our growing specialty foods business," says Dave Ciesinski, Lancaster Colony's president and Chief Operating Officer. "Angelic is a highly relevant, on-trend business that produces a variety of great tasting, nutritious, non-GMO bakery items featuring its proprietary sprouted mash ingredient crafted with an assortment of unique sprouted grains. We are very excited to welcome Angelic's employees to the family of Lancaster Colony companies and look forward to a successful future together."

Jenny Marino said that there would be no job reductions as a result of the acquisition and added that there is the potential for employment growth in the future.

"This opportunity presented a chance to keep doing what we have been doing without compromises. The leadership at Lancaster Colony can help take our bakery to the next level and provide the resources and expertise that we simply did not have," Jenny Marino said.

"The seven-year journey we have made with our fans and supporters has been incredible, and we look forward to continued growth, making the same pure bread perfection and holding firm to our belief that using sprouted mash whole grains is the road to continued consumer satisfaction and success at meal time for millions of families throughout the nation."