Martin’s Famous Pastry Shoppe, Inc., best known for making Martin’s Famous Potato Rolls and Bread, was recently recognized as the “Best of South Georgia — Best Industrial Employer” and as the “Leading Business of the Week” by The Valdosta Chamber of Commerce.

These accolades follow the recent awarding of Martin’s president, James “Jim” Martin, as the 2018 “Business Person of the Year” by the Greater Chambersburg Chamber of Commerce.  Martin’s continues to be recognized as a top-notch business and employer. The popularity and success of Martin’s Famous Pastry Shoppe is due in large part to the Martin family—their history and the values on which the company was founded. Both the Martin family and each individual employee play a role in maintaining Martin’s legacy of “creating cherished eating experiences.” As the Martin family circle grows with each new employee, everyone works together with this mission: “To bake the best products and provide the best sales distribution support while working together fairly and with integrity; whatever it takes, God helping us.” 

The Martin family has been known for their continual pursuit of a higher level of service and best practices in the baking industry, and they have seen bread and roll production advance from hand production to its current state-of-the-art automated production. Although the company has grown immensely over the past number of years, Martin’s has stayed focused on baking the best products by using the highest quality ingredients, such as high protein, unbleached wheat flour, real milk, potatoes, butter, and pure cane sugar. They refuse to use high fructose corn syrup and other cheaper ingredients because they believe that high quality ingredients make a better, tastier, healthier product. Martin’s customers often express their appreciation that Martin’s sources non-GMO ingredients; uses no artificial colors and no artificial sweeteners; and all their products are peanut-free, tree-nut-free, and soy-free. Great bread needs to be fresh, so Martin’s sales team provides frequent deliveries to stores, and they only leave their products on the shelves for a few days to guarantee freshness. This continued emphasis on quality and service is what sets them apart.

The Martin’s company is truly a family company—family owned and operated, but also with a focus on serving the families of their employees and customers. Integrity and fairness are woven into Martin’s corporate tapestry. Even the name of the visitor center, The Golden Roll, alludes to Martin’s belief in following the Golden Rule: to treat people the way you’d like to be treated yourself. Continuing education and various wellness programs are offered to promote personal growth, good health, talent development, and healthy work-life balance.

“It is important that we make a positive impact on lives where we can. We appreciate the amazing people who make our business strong. We have had generations of families working alongside my family; and it takes all of us, bringing all of our talents and hard work together, to make something great! As we grow and bring in new employees, new family members, we are excited to welcome them into a loyal family of coworkers that care for each other,” says Julie Martin, social media manager and granddaughter to the founders.

In addition to providing a productive, safe, and rewarding working environment with competitive pay and benefits for employees, Martin’s ensures that countless charities are supported each year. Through product donation, financial or resource support, donations are made to more than 300 charities and organizations, such as homeless shelters, food banks, after-school programs, and disaster relief (not only in Chambersburg, PA, and Valdosta, GA, but around the world).