Franz Bakery Outlet Store

The story of United States Bakery and Franz Family Bakeries began in 1897 when Engelbert Franz, at age 15, wrote to his uncle, who owned the United States Bakery in Portland, Oregon. Engelbert asked his uncle to send him passage to travel from Rothsaifen, Austria to Portland, Oregon. In return, Engelbert would work for his uncle and pay him back. His uncle, needing dependable employees, agreed to send for Engelbert. During the eight years Engelbert worked for United States Bakery, he repaid his uncle and also sent for his brother Joseph to join him at the bakery. We welcome tour groups of between ten and sixty people. Our tour schedule follows the basic school year, Labor Day until summer break in June. Tours must be scheduled well in advance. If you would like to schedule a Portland tour, please call the first two weeks in September because dates fill up fast. Our tour consists of a brief history of the Franz Family Bakeries and a half hour tour of our facility. Participants then enjoy a snack of bread, butter and apple juice and are given gift bags to take home. For elementary school tours we have interactive learning centers for the children, books to read and mind teaser work sheets. Children must be seven years of age or older to take the tour. For your safety we do not permit jewelry to be worn except for wedding bands. We ask that you wear closed toe, non skid shoes such as tennis shoes. Classroom presentations are also offered to schools in the greater Portland Metropolitan area for kindergarten through twelfth grade. This presentation lasts approximately half an hour and covers the history of our bakeries, wheat production and commercial bread production. Our Franz representative shares "The Adventures of One Little Bun" and bread dough for handling. A snack of bread and butter along with some surprises to take home are also included with this presentation.