About us
Our History
An Italian upbringing ensured that food, bread and basically any kitchen activity is very much central to life, and so it was for the Lupini brothers. Their mother was a great cook and their father had a reputable Italian restaurant, “Ristorante Lupo” where the artisanal ciabatta bread was first produced.
Trials on ciabatta style bread meant that ciabatta grew increasingly popular and later Tito Lupini secured the sole rights from a bakery in Adria, Italy to make the original ciabatta in Africa.
It was out of the camaraderie between the brothers, Tito Lupini and Massimo Lupini, working out of a single garage to supply hand-made ciabatta, that Lupo Bakery was born. Their lack of knowledge in bread-making was compensated by strong passion, motivation and commitment.
Ciabatta products quickly established Lupo Bakery as producers of high-quality bread within the market. In addition, Lupo Bakery’s key to success was excellent service and commitment to their clients, core attributes which remained central even as the company grew. Lupo Bakery later supplied an extensive bread range to supermarket chains such as Pick ‘n Pay and SPAR. These relationships still exist today after thirty years.
In the early days Lupo Bakery’s clients consisted mainly of restaurants and delicatessens but soon they captured a string of retail outlets furnishing them daily from the central operation. As Lupo Bakery grew, so did the need for premises until the company settled in a factory based in Honeydew, Roodepoort. Later, larger premises in Kya Sands were established.
High volume production came with servicing orders for the fast-food industry. Today, Lupo Bakery manufactures almost 400 000 rolls daily out of 2 factories. Through planning and dedication, Lupo Bakery has managed to retain their signature high quality products consistently while increasing volumes exponentially. This is no mean feat!
With ever increasing bread sales Lupo Bakey have successfully programmed their operation to produce extremely high volumes of a variety of products while still using the original methods. After 33 years, in the bakery business, Lupo Bakery’s signature ciabatta bread is still hand-made, meeting the benchmark for quality that is central to the company’s ethos.
In 2007, Lupo Bakery partnered with Kagiso Tiso Holdings (“KTH”) to take its operations to the next level. KTH is a reputable black-owned, long term investment company that has a diversified investment portfolio across various business sectors. In the Food sector, Lupo Bakery is its main investment, which has proven to be a success over the years. KTH has appointed Tshepo Setshedi and Devan Slabbert to the board of Lupo Bakery, who are both actively involved in the business together with the Lupo founders. This fruitful partnership has allowed expansion and continuous improvements for Lupo Bakery. As a result Lupo expanded its operation in KwaZulu-Natal by installing a bespoke fully automated plant to meet the high demand for Lupo Bakery products in the area.
Dedication to Emilio (Tito) Lupini
(1955 - 2021)
Co-founder & CEO Lupo Bakery (Pty) Ltd
Tito, grew up in Johannesburg, South Africa and went to school at Hyde Park High School. After matric he was called up to do his national service. Tito, involved himself with rugby and soon proved to be an outstanding rugby player. After completion of his army stint, he worked in the family businesses of construction and helping in the Lupo Restaurant. During the mid-1980’s, Tito took up an opportunity to play Rugby in Rovigo, Italy. He made a huge success of this and further went on to play for Italy’s National team in the world cup. Tito spent seven successful years in Rovigo; fulfilling roles as coach, player and captain. Upon returning to SA, Tito imported the rights to a Ciabatta recipe and soon started up Lupo bakery, pioneering Ciabatta bread in the Republic of South Africa. Everything that Tito put his mind to, resulted in much success! Tito was a natural born leader, dynamic, very positive and always maintained very high standards. The success that Lupo bakery is experiencing today is the result of his passionate, enthusiastic and culture driven style that has been contagious and affected so many people. Tito Lupini will be always be remembered as a leader in the bakery industry and a well-known figure in South Africa Rugby circles. Those whom had the privilege of working and interacting alongside Tito, will testify to the fact that he undoubtedly influenced their lives positively. We will dearly miss his presence and never forget all that he has done and accomplished.
Company Vision and Mission
Lupo Bakery’s vision is to be achieved by employing its unique strengths. These include, a focus on food safety and the high quality of products produced at competitive prices. In addition, Lupo Bakery aim to innovate and develop novel products suited to the clients’ individual requirements. Most importantly, Lupo Bakery are committed to correct governance in maintaining business ethics.
Food Safety And Quality
Lupo Bakery is expressly committed to the safety of our customers and consumers alike and thus aims to establish, implement and maintain the structure and documentation required to support a food safety system that will support this commitment. Lupo bakery is audited by Intertek every year on our Food Safety management system.
New Product Development and Innovation
Lupo Bakery is always enthusiastic and eager to innovate. We strive to deliver products suited to the client at the best price, quality and specifications. Lupo Bakery keeps up to date with the market trends and ever-growing economy.
