About

Who We Are
Our Values: think process!
Company History
Step Inside Your Future

Who We Are

WP Bakery Group USA designs, manufactures, installs and services industrial bakery equipment, commercial bakery equipment, and food service bakery equipment for all aspects of the baking industry. Commercial, industrial and food service bakery machines include: mixers, bread, roll, bagel, pizza, donut, pretzel make up equipment and complete lines. We offer a full line of ovens, proofing and frying equipment, and automated lines as well as complete turnkey lines.

The US-based subsidiary of WP Bakery Group offers customized and flexible solutions for commercial and industrial bakers, food service bakers and pizza commissaries, pizza shops, wholesale bakers, and retail/artisanal bakers. Product lines utilize advanced baking technology for every step in the process – mixing, dividing & moulding, proofing, cooling, and baking.

Each division and brand in the WP Bakery Group family has an expertise and rich history that they bring to the table. The company has evolved and expanded since its early beginnings in Germany in 1898, aligning with a solid portfolio of companies that began with tradition and led to innovation.

WP Bakery Group USA brings the legacy of trusted European baking equipment companies and hailed brands to the US market – blending the highest level of German engineering with state-of-the-art industrial baking technology and commercial baking technology – and then translating this recipe for American bakers.

Today, WP Bakery Group is one of the world’s leading suppliers of intelligent and technologically-advanced baking solutions. Over a century of knowledge and collective experience goes into the production of each and every piece of bakery equipment.

Our Values: think process!

WP is the company for bakers. The company’s philosophy is, “think process!” because only when all the separate baking processes are perfectly in tune with one another is it possible to achieve consistently high-quality products with cost-effectiveness. An optimized manufacturing process means:

  • Measurable energy savings
  • Less waste
  • Simple equipment operation
  • A baking process that requires less hands-on staff time
  • Higher productivity
  • Reproducible product quality
  • Satisfied and happy staff and customers

Bakers require high-quality, durable, and dependable equipment that is flexible enough to handle their precise needs. Every piece of WP Bakery Group equipment is backed up by a team of experienced, reliable, on-call service technicians with fast response times. The WP support team is committed and available to help solve problems, tweak equipment, provide repairs and even create tailor-made parts to suit specific baking requirements.

Company History

Patricia Kennedy, President of WP Bakery Group USA

Patricia Kennedy, President

Bakers require high-quality, durable, and dependable equipment that is flexible enough to handle their precise needs. Every piece of WP Bakery Group equipment is backed up by a team of experienced, reliable, on-call service technicians with fast response times. The WP support team is committed and available to help solve problems, tweak equipment, provide repairs, and even create tailor-made parts to suit specific baking requirements.

In 1989, Horstmann Group bought a baking equipment manufacturer, Emil Kemper GmbH, a German factory that can trace its roots back to 1898. In 1990, Patricia Kennedy founded WP Bakery Group USA under the name Kemper Bakery Systems. WP Bakery Group USA is the North American subsidiary of WP Bakery Group and is also a Horstmann Group company.

The Horstmann Group acquired Werner & Pfleiderer in 1997, a group consisting of three factories. Werner & Pfleiderer Haton B.V. (WP Haton) in the Netherlands produces a full range of bread make-up equipment; Werner & Pfleiderer Bakery Technologies (WP L) in Dinkelsbuhl, Germany, produces a full range of ovens and roll equipment; and Werner & Pfleiderer Industrial Bakery Technologies (WPIB) in Stuttgart, Germany where all industrial projects are managed.

The Kemper factory, along with the three new Werner & Pfleiderer factories, then joined together to become WP Bakery Group, a strong brand name that is highly regarded and recognized in the international baking equipment industry.

Meanwhile, in the US, the North American subsidiary was growing with its core Kemper equipment such as the Kemper Spiral Mixer (a favorite among bakers) and Kemper roll machines. Soon after, they also began to carry key pieces of equipment from the Werner & Pfleiderer factories, notably the WP Matador hearth deck oven, WP Haton Breadline concepts, and WP L roll lines. In 2001, Horstmann Group acquired Winkler Bäckereitechnik GmbH of Villingen-Schwenningen, Germany, along with all of their trademarks, designs, drawings, and technical know-how. With this acquisition, we added the USA subsidiary, Winkler USA / Bakery Engineering Winkler subsidiary, to the group. Winkler specializes in high-capacity roll equipment and is known for the Admiral roll divider, the most robust of all roll-dividing machines in the industry. Most recently, WP Winkler worked with Bimbo Bakeries to co-develop the WBD 100, the fastest bagel divider in the market.

As the expansions and acquisitions continued, an impressive portfolio of companies joined together under what is today the WP Bakery Group umbrella. The company has continued to evolve to meet the needs of a growing client base, from artisanal bakers to in-store bakers and industrial baking facilities. In 2010, the group added the WP Food Service In-Store line, specializing in equipment for small bakeshops, pizzerias, and in-store bakeries. Their flagship product, the Matador Store, provides the proven technology of the Matador stone hearth gas oven in a smaller, electric, stylish format perfect for in-store use.

In January of 2013, Kemper Bakery Systems and Winkler USA, aka Bakery Engineering Winkler, joined together under one collective management team that is led by Kennedy. With her industry knowledge, Kennedy leads the team that designs and develops baking equipment that complements the European lines out of our manufacturing facilities in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Also located in Pittsfield is our parts department, our service department, and warehousing. Our Shelton, CT location is home to our administrative staff.

In July of 2013, WP Bakery Group of Germany acquired WP Riehle, a German company specializing in pretzel lye applications, kettle frying, and tray cleaning. Later that year, in the fall of 2013, Kemper Bakery Systems and Winkler USA, aka Bakery Engineering Winkler, officially rebranded to form WP Bakery Group USA to reflect the two groups uniting as one organization, with one central management team, bringing baking equipment to the North American market. WP Bakery Group USA operates as a single entity, a family that represents some of the best baking equipment brands in the world.

Patricia Kennedy’s background in business, marketing, and branding provided a strong foundation for her role as President and CEO of WP Bakery Group USA. A member of the Board of Directors for the Bread Baker’s Guild of America for many years, Kennedy became very involved in the artisan side of baking early on in her career, giving her the foundation of baking knowledge necessary to head up this organization. Patricia understands and respects the absolute precision that bakers require from their equipment because the baking process is as much science as it is art. WP Bakery Group USA then applies this knowledge to industrial formulations to create reproducible, high-quality baked goods.

Step Inside Your Future

At WP, we live by this standard: We understand, anticipate, and consistently fulfill the deepest needs of our customers. Visit us in September at IBIE 2022 and look for the Big Black Box, Booth #1633. Step inside our world.

Today, WP Bakery Group USA includes several recognizable brands:
WP Kemper: mixing and roll lines
WP Bakery Technologies (WP L): roll lines, baking, in-store baking, and cooling
WP Haton: bread lines
WP Winkler: Roll lines, bagel equipment, custom equipment, with manufacturing in the USA
WP Riehle: pretzel, frying, and tray cleaning equipment
WP Industrial Bakery Technologies: industrial turnkey bakery solutions and custom lines

WP Bakery Group belongs to many trade organizations, including:
Bakery Equipment Manufacturers and Allieds (BEMA), American Bakers Association (ABA), The American Society of Baking, The International Dairy-Deli-Bakery Association (IDDBA), National Restaurant Association, North American Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers (NAFEM), and The Bread Baker’s Guild of America.