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A truck driver and photographer came together from two very different walks of life to wed and open Sugar Daddy Bakery of Brimley one year later in 2018, sharing a mutual love for food.
Randy Kennedy drove truck for 23 years, all the while dreaming of owning his own food business.
One day, he parked his truck for good and headed into the kitchen. His wife, Jill Kennedy, of the former Picture This Photography & Design studio followed.
With a big extended family, cooking and baking was something Mrs. Kennedy was always very passionate about.
"How much do I have to make?" she would famously ask on holidays and get-togethers. "Randy was never a stranger to the kitchen; with his sweet tooth, he was always willing to bake a batch of his famous oatmeal cream pies to fulfill that sweet void."
When the opportunity presented itself, the newlyweds purchased their first building together.
The original store was only 800 sq ft, located across from Soo Co-Op Credit Union. Business doubled, quite unexpectedly, after adding lunch wraps to its menu items.
"We moved into the new building last October, which added 2,000 sq ft, more than doubling our size," said Kennedy.
The bakery was doing so well that they opened the Sault Ste. Marie location on Portage Avenue pre-pandemic in 2019.
"We signed a lease in February," she said. "By early March, everything had shutdown and we panicked."
Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy decided to focus on contactless deliveries.
"Oddly enough, it was our busiest year yet," she said. "Once summer hit, things simmered down. We pushed right through COVID."
Today, the Brimley location stays steady year round with 11 to 15 employees. Around a dozen seasonal employees come back in the summer to run the Sault bakery.
"Baking for two locations is so hard," Kennedy said. "There is no way Randy could do this without me. There is no way I could do it without him. I do more of the cooking. He does the baking. We have other bakers too. We have had some employee since before COVID. They were here during and after. We are so blessed with super cool staff. We truly have the best of the best. We could not do it without them. Staff feel like family because we spend so much time together."
The "Sugar Momma" and "Suagr Daddy" have six children.
"The kids are always jumping in and helping out," she said. "It is a love language. We love making people happy through food. Randy gets up and goes to work at 1 a.m. He works until 9 a.m, gets groceries, puts them away, sleeps for a little bit, comes back, and does it all over again."
"Sugar Mama" can typically be found behind the computer finding recipes, managing social media accounts, and creating "crazy ideas for the next adventure at the bakery."
Most nights, pillow talk is all business.
"It is literally our lives," she said with a chuckle. "Spending 24/7 in the bakery can be very challenging, but at end of day I would not do it with anyone else."
He makes fresh dough bagels daily. In fact, everything in store is made fresh.
"If I make a creamy soup, I make it from the ground up," she added.
It is important for the Kennedy's to meet the diversified tastes and needs of their customers, even developing "gluten friendly" (GF) menu options.
The GF Scotcheroo is a dessert bar with chocolate, butterscotch, peanut butter, and Rice Krispies. The GF Cake Batter Macaron is made with sweet vanilla macaron shells and a "rich" cake batter filling. Chocolate, peanut butter no bake cookies (GF) are just one more Brimley area favorite.
"We use flour in our kitchen," Kennedy explained. "You would have to have a separate kitchen to call anything 'gluten-free."
The Sugar Daddy Bakery comes with a living menu, evolving daily to keep things interesting.
Choose from bacon, sausage, egg, and cheese rolls; chicken pot pies loaded with carrots, corn, and potatoes; or brats wrapped in fresh bagels with melted hot cheese.
A favorite among customers is the Strawberry Buzz Can, made in house.
* Warning: this can is made with Red Bull and strawberry lemonade.
Kids love them, so parents might opt for another flavor, like the Passion Fruit Bubble Tea Can. It is lemonade mixed with mango tea, adding a splash of passion fruit and boba flavoring.
"Each boba is packed with 25% juice that bursts with a refreshing flavor when bitten into, giving a dynamic texture," said Kennedy.
There is no shortage of Buzz Can flavors to choose from.
Due to tourism in the Sault, milk shakes are extremely popular from Mother's Day to Halloween.
Feeling in the mood for something sweet to go with your Buzz Can or creamy shake? Order festive buttercream frosted sugar cookies, slice of fruit pie, Mini Caramel Cheesecake, fudge Brownie-Snickers, Salted Caramel Binge Bar with gooey salted caramel topped with chocolate flakes, and much more.
More substantial food options could be the Cheesy Bagel Brat or Meat Lovers Pizza Wrap, loaded up with beef, sausage, bacon, ham, pepperoni and cheese. There is no shortage of lunch menu options at Sugar Daddy Bakery.
Thursday is bread day, when "The Sugar Daddy" makes fresh bread all day long.
"We have a lot of local customers who come in just for bread day," said Kennedy.
Valentines Day is around the corner and a huge day for the staff of Sugar Daddy Bakery.
"People tend to associate the holiday with sweets," said Kennedy. "We have specials lined up: desserts, charcuterie boards, and chocolate truffles. You can come in for pictures and pre-order online."
Little furry friends and family members are not excluded at the bakery. Come in and order a special dog treat to take home to your favorite canine.
Dog treats will be available on Valentines Day as well. There might even be something for all those cat lovers.
Sugar Daddy Bakery is open year-round in Brimley, offering free lunch delivery Monday through Friday for any order placed by 11:30 a.m. Delivery runs between
12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. It is open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
Sugar Daddy Bakery in Sault Ste. Marie will open around Mother's Day to kick-off tourism season.
