Cinnamon bun franchise a sweet addition Cinnzeo Bakery Cafés coming to Manitoba By: Gabrielle Piché Posted: 3:58 PM CDT Monday, Aug. 28, 2023

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This article was published 28/08/2023 (1109 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A new-to-Manitoba cinnamon bun franchise is rolling into town.

Cinnzeo Bakery Cafés dot British Columbia, Alberta, Mexico and the Middle East. Now, red-lettered signs announce the chain’s arrival on Dorchester Avenue.

“There’s fantastic opportunity,” said Lars Fredborg, Cinnzeo Bakery Café’s senior director of franchise development and operations.

The Alberta-based brand plans to occupy every Canadian province. Two locations — in Winnipeg and Brandon — are expected to open before 2024.

“Depending on how busy the bakery is, they could have items coming out of the oven every 15 to 20 minutes,” Fredborg said.

Items like traditional cinnamon buns, nutty maple rolls, dark chocolate rolls and desserts with bourbon honey. Scrambled eggs and cheese fill breakfast rolls; others hold butter chicken.

“It’s sweet all the way through to savoury,” Fredborg said.

Cinnzeo franchisees anticipate opening in Winnipeg by the end of September, he added. The bakery replaces Máquè, a locally owned Asian fusion restaurant that shuttered earlier this summer.

Fredborg hopes Cinnzeo will be ready for the end of patio season; it has room for at least 16 seats outside. Another 30 people can sit inside.

“As they’re coming inside, they’re going to be hit with a wall of baking and cinnamon aroma,” Fredborg described. “They’ll… see the dough being pressed and placed into formed pans.”

Dough is mixed and proofed in-store daily, he added. It remains to be seen how much dough the River Heights spot will need. Cinnzeo’s West Edmonton Mall location — among the chain’s most trafficked — sells upwards of 1,000 rolls daily, Fredborg said.

Cinnzeo planted roots in Alberta in 1987. Ten years later, it began franchising.

It now operates roughly 85 shops globally, including in Saudi Arabia and Mongolia; Canada houses 19 of its bakeries. Cinnzeo is predominantly in malls, but going forward, the business is focusing on stand-alone buildings.

“We’re looking for franchise partners in all communities across Canada,” Fredborg said, adding the Prairies are “underserved.”

The Winnipeg bakery’s franchisees hail from Nigeria. They recently immigrated to the city, Fredborg said.

The franchisees were unavailable for comment by print deadline.

A separate Nigerian family will spearhead Brandon’s upcoming Cinnzeo Bakery Café. The owner doesn’t yet have a location or opening date; they’re focused on immigrating, Fredborg said. He’s hopeful for a bakery unveiling in November.

Cinnamon bun prices are still being determined. It depends on the location, but often, prices range between $5 and $5.50, Fredborg said.

Cinnzeo also serves Lavazza coffee and Italian soda. The Winnipeg shop should be open daily in the morning through to early evening.

“I’ll be there the first day they’re open,” said Alex Matthes, owner of Barber Shop 161 on Stafford Street.

The new bakery is roughly a two minute walk from her company.

“It’s always good to have new businesses in the neighbourhood,” Matthes said. “It’s a fantastic neighbourhood.”

She’s had a front-row seat to recent pandemic-era shuffling along the strip. Businesses have closed; others have opened, like charcuterie hub Sharecuterie.

“I’m kind of bummed out,” said Cassandra Carreiro, Sharecuterie’s owner, upon hearing of Cinnzeo’s upcoming presence. “(Máquè) was just such a cool, small, hip place to go, and now it’s being replaced with a chain… I feel like that’s the epitome of Winnipeg.”

She prefers hyper-local shops and eateries, she added.

“I’m kind of bummed out… (Máquè) was just such a cool, small, hip place to go, and now it’s being replaced with a chain.”–Cassandra Carreiro, Sharecuterie’s owner

Naomi Shindak, who works in the area, figured she’d try Cinnzeo but questioned its placement.

“There’s a lot of bakeries (nearby), so there’s a lot of competition,” Shindak said. “(But) people are always walking around here, so I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

Fredborg said the new Cinnzeo will be locally owned — the family now lives in the neighbourhood and has children attending school — and that Cinnzeo as a brand isn’t troubled by competition.

“If we were worried about other bakeries, we’d never open an operation in any centre in Canada,” he said.

Franchisees plan to open new locations near Toronto and in British Columbia, according to Cinnzeo’s website.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com