A Jacksonville-based business is expanding and going national with its products.
Saif Mouilish, owner and operator of Safeco Bakery, has big plans for his business, which he said continues to grow.
“It has always been my long-term plan to expand the business,” said Mouilish, who bought The Donut Place at 218 W. Morton Ave. in April 2013.
He has bought a building at 419 S. Mauvaisterre St. to establish a pastry factory and create a national brand called Old Fashion Delights, for which a patent and trademark are pending.
“We’re excited about our expansion plans and the opportunities ahead of us,” he said, adding that he plans to begin selling products nationwide in the next two years.
Mouilish said those food products — which include doughnuts, doughnut holes, cakes, salads and pastries — already are being sold in five cities: Jacksonville, Springfield, Bloomington, Normal and Lincoln.
“I’m committed to enhancing the economy in Jacksonville. Therefore, we wanted to establish the factory in our hometown,” he said.
The business has hired seven full-time employees to handle the increasing workload of the wholesale business, which is being produced at the bakery on West Morton Avenue. In the coming months, all of the company’s products will be made at the factory on South Mauvaisterre Street.
The new Safeco factory, which is projected to open by the end of the year, has 13,000 square feet of space and will be equipped with new machinery to make the company’s products.
“I chose not to go fully automated to ensure maximum employment is provided and also to maintain the quality of the products, as all of them have been made from scratch by hand,” Mouilish said.
Safeco Bakery now makes about 72,000 doughnuts a month and some 36,000 doughnut holes every month.
“These quantities put us at maximum production capacity at the West Morton location, but once we open the factory, we will go full force on marketing to newer cities and introducing our products, which hopefully will quadruple our current production numbers,” Mouilish said.
