Gulf Coast Sourdough sells Tampa bakery, wholesale business
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Sep 6, 2024

Gulf Coast Sourdough has sold its Sulphur Springs bakery and wholesale business to a Tampa restaurateur.

Dan Bavaro, founder of Bavaro's Pizza Napoletana and Pastaria, paid $805,000 for Gulf Coast Sourdough's property at 8523 N. Nebraska Ave. in a deal that closed Aug. 29, according to Hillsborough County property records. Bavaro also purchased Gulf Coast Sourdough's wholesale business, which includes its sales at farmers' markets throughout Tampa Bay.

Gulf Coast Sourdough's sandwich shop on North Florida Avenue is not included in the sale. Christina Cann and Brett Wiewiora, the married cofounders of Gulf Coast Sourdough, still own the sandwich shop.

Bavaro declined to disclose financial details of the wholesale business acquisition. Cann and Wiewiora said their wholesale business has about 40 clients and produces 3,000 to 5,000 loaves of sourdough bread each week, depending on the season. It also produces a ton to a ton and a half of pizza dough for wholesale clients, including Tampa's Ciccio Restaurant Group.

Gulf Coast Sourdough's wholesale business and sandwich shop have grown so much that it's become increasingly difficult to run both, Cann said.

"Their needs are starting to diverge," Cann told the Tampa Bay Business Journal. "Wholesale is about larger-scale production, and the shop is about smaller-scale, new stuff to keep people interested and coming in. They’ve both grown so much they’re holding each other back."

The wholesale bread business will change its name to Sunshine Sourdough by Bavaro's. Bavaro told the Business Journal that he will retain the six bakers who work the wholesale side of the business. He also plans to open an Italian market at the Nebraska Avenue location.

Bavaro said the total project cost — property acquisition and renovations — is $1.5 million. Valley Bank is financing the project. The bakery is 3,500 square feet, and Bavaro said about 30% will be dedicated to the Italian market.

With Bavaro's locations in Tampa, St. Pete, Clearwater, Sarasota and Tampa International Airport, Bavaro said he was looking for a new central kitchen. Owning a bread business wasn't on his radar until he toured Gulf Coast's Nebraska Avenue property and learned the wholesale business was also for sale.

Bavaro leased a commissary kitchen in Pinellas County for about two years but said Bavaro's has already outgrown the space. Workers in his central kitchen hand roll meatballs, brine and bake wings, sear chickens and make fresh pasta from scratch.

The first phase of renovations to the Nebraska Avenue property will add the cooking equipment Bavaro's needs to the space. The wholesale business will close Sept. 17-22, and Bavaro plans to work with customers to avoid any service disruptions. Bavaro's long-time contractor, TWT Construction, will complete construction in off-hours. Bavaro's central kitchen will start production in the facility in October, and Bavaro hopes to open the market in time for the holidays.

Jon Fritz, who helped Bavaro build his now-shuttered fast-casual concept Oronzo, will oversee the market.

The market, Bavaro said, will be a "small version of Eataly," the famed Italian marketplace with locations in major U.S. cities. It will offer sauces currently used in the restaurants, fresh pastas and heat-and-eat prepared meals.

The Bavaro family moved from New Jersey to launch the eponymous pizza chain in 2009. Cann and Wiewiora moved to Tampa from Pittsburgh in 2015 to open their bakery.

"There’s a big part of us that is feeling a lot of emotion," Cann said, "but we also know that we’re putting everything into really good hands with Bavaro’s."