If you’re out shopping at a local grocery store and stop by the bread aisle, chances are good you’ll be buying something made right here in East Providence and you don’t even know it.

That’s because Mrs. Kavanagh’s Bakery on North Broadway has been baking bread for the big boys for more than 50 years—right here in Rumford.

“We’re the small big bakery, if that makes sense,” said T.J. Pascalides, a third-generation baker in the family.

It all started when William Vican, T.J.’s grandfather, opened the family’s original bakery on North Main Street in Providence more than a hundred years ago.

After building the business so big that “the little bakery that could” was busting at the seams, the family upgraded to their current location in Rumford in 1963. T.J.’s grandfather loved running the business, which he did until he died in 1981. He left the bakery to T.J.’s two uncles and his mother, who are all still involved today.

After college, T.J. joined the family business and is now the bakery’s “go-to guy.”

“We handle national accounts anywhere from Oklahoma to Texas,” T.J. said with a smile. “We’re all over the place. We have trucks running from coast to coast every day.” They use 14 distinctive yellow trucks for regional business, but need tractor-trailers to handle the volume they ship for the long hauls.

Kavanagh’s doesn’t produce much for its own label. The company bakes for big-name bread makers using the bread companies' own labels; then they package the goods and ship it for the companies. The operation is massive, producing thousands of loaves and buns daily.

“Our product line is soft buns like hot dog, hamburger and English muffins. We stick with what we know,” said T.J, who started from the bottom, working every job in the plant before he took over running the bakery’s day-to-day operations.

Consistency is everything when you bake bread. There’s no margin for error and the employees at Kavanagh’s know it. The company’s meticulous methods and modern technology have kept them growing for over a hundred years.

The company’s daily crew of about 40 employees is busy.

“We produce about 1,200 dozen English muffins an hour for 12 hours a day, seven days a week,” T.J. said. “And that’s just one of the items we make here.”

Despite the company not having its own label, Kavanagh’s production demands are increasing every year. The company is in the process of upgrading the nearly 50,000-square-foot production plant.

I could see on my visit that it was business as usual, but I was impressed with the size of the bakery. You may just drive by it on your way in and out of Rumford, not realizing that the plant is bigger than most Home Depots and has machinery inside that resembles that of your standard Detroit automobile factory.

The best part about it is the company is a local family business that continues to grow with each generation.

Kavanagh’s Bakery is located at 145 N. Broadway in Rumford and can be reached at 434-0551.