Colton started his Grebe’s Bakery journey at the age of 9 stocking the shelves of our retail store with fresh rolls on Sundays.

Before making the decision to commit to the business of baking, Colton wanted to gain experience outside of the family business, so after high school, he decided to pursue his interest in agriculture at the UW-Platteville.

Shortly after graduating with his degree in Agriculture-Business, his father passed, leaving him to run the business alongside his brother, Brandon: 

“Our dad had been battling health issues for a long time, which made it tough for him to stay on top of everything in the business. We knew we’d be facing some challenges to turn things around, but we also knew we had a great team around us, and we wanted the business to succeed. Brandon was focused heavily on running the business, but we needed to figure out what was missing so that we could be successful. We realized that neither of us had the baking experience to run a bakery. We could hire someone to figure out the baking side and be forever reliant on someone else, but if we were going to run a business, we wanted to understand it, so I decided to enroll in the American Institute of Baking, located in Manhattan, Kansas.” 

It was during this time that Colton’s love for agriculture and science developed into a passion for baking, and he’s since devoted his time to understanding the baking industry inside and out. 

Over time, as the business has changed, so have the brothers’ responsibilities.  Colton’s current focus is on Sales, Marketing, Production, and R&D:

“One the greatest parts of my role is the R&D process.  It’s the best job in the world taking an idea, seeing it develop through trial and error, and finally getting to see it through to the first production run.” 

He loves R&D, but what’s his favorite thing about Grebe’s? 

“My favorite part of what we do? The Organizational Culture. We aren’t just making the world’s best donuts.  We are continually preserving our family’s legacy and working on ourselves as an organization.  We have come a long way, and we still have a long way to go.  I wouldn’t trade this journey for all the money in the world.”