Wonder Bread
Country of Origin
Canada Canada Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...	Mexico Mexico The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...	United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Bakeries
Weston Bakeries George Weston Limited George Weston Limited , often referred to as Weston or Weston's, is Canada's largest food processing and distribution company. Founded by George Weston in 1882, the company today consists of Weston Foods, a wholly owned subsidiary, and Loblaw Companies Limited, the country's largest supermarket...	Grupo Bimbo Grupo Bimbo Grupo Bimbo is the largest Mexican food company and the largest bakery in the world with brands in Americas, Europe, and China.-History:Grupo Bimbo was established in Mexico in 1945 by Lorenzo Servitje, Jose T. Mata, Jaime Sendra, and Jaime Jorba...	Hostess Brands
Brand websites
wonderbread.ca	wonder.com.mx	wonderbread.com

Wonder Bread is the name of three North American

North American

North American generally refers to an entity, people, group, or attribute of North America, especially of the United States and Canada together.-Culture:*North American English, a collective term used to describe American English and Canadian English...

 brands of white bread

White bread

White bread is made from wheat flour from which the bran and the germ have been removed through a process known as milling. Milling gives white flour a longer shelf life by removing the bran which contains oil, allowing products made with it, like white bread, the ability to survive storage and...

: One produced by George Weston Bakeries in Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, another by Hostess Brands in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, and the third by Grupo Bimbo

Grupo Bimbo

Grupo Bimbo is the largest Mexican food company and the largest bakery in the world with brands in Americas, Europe, and China.-History:Grupo Bimbo was established in Mexico in 1945 by Lorenzo Servitje, Jose T. Mata, Jaime Sendra, and Jaime Jorba...

 in Mexico.

United States

Wonder Bread was originally produced by the Taggart Baking Company of Indianapolis, Indiana

Indianapolis, Indiana

Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...

 and debuted on May 21, 1921, after a blind promotion with ads that only stated a "Wonder" was coming on May 21, 1921. When it was launched, the new brand was named by vice president for merchandising development Elmer Cline, who was inspired by the International Balloon Race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Indianapolis Motor Speedway

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, located in Speedway, Indiana in the United States, is the home of the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race and the Brickyard 400....

. Cline was filled with “wonder” by the scene of hundreds of balloons creating a kaleidoscope of color resulting in the iconic red, yellow and blue balloons featured on the Wonder Bread logo. The logo was designed by commercial artist Drew Miller while he was on staff at a Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

 ad agency.

Taggart was purchased by Continental Baking in 1925. This made Wonder Bread a national brand and added "It's Slo Baked" to the logo. In the 1930s, Continental Baking began shipping Wonder Bread in sliced form, one of the first companies to do so and a significant milestone for the industry and for American consumers, who, at first, needed reassurance that “wonder-cut” bread would not dry out. Unsliced bread returned for a while during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 due to a steel shortage that led to an industry-wide slicing suspension in 1943. Bread slicers returned two years later.

During the 1940s, Continental Baking began adding vitamins and minerals to Wonder Bread as part of a government-sponsored program of enriching

Enriched flour

Enriched flour is flour with specific nutrients returned to it that have been lost while it was prepared. These restored nutrients include iron and B vitamins . Calcium may also be supplemented. The purpose of enriching flour is to replenish the nutrients in the flour to match the nutritional...

 white bread which was notoriously deficient in vitamin and mineral content, to combat certain diseases. Known as the “Quiet Miracle”, this development is credited with greatly reducing the incidence of the diseases Beriberi

Beriberi

Beriberi is a nervous system ailment caused by a thiamine deficiency in the diet. Thiamine is involved in the breakdown of energy molecules such as glucose and is also found on the membranes of neurons...

 and Pellagra

Pellagra

Pellagra is a vitamin deficiency disease most commonly caused by a chronic lack of niacin in the diet. It can be caused by decreased intake of niacin or tryptophan, and possibly by excessive intake of leucine. It may also result from alterations in protein metabolism in disorders such as carcinoid...

. Wonder was also the first national bread brand to feature open-dating as well as nutrition information on its packaging. In the 1950s, Wonder Bread further expanded advertising of its nutrient enrichments. The company sponsored Howdy Doody

Howdy Doody

Howdy Doody is an American children's television program that was created and produced by E. Roger Muir and telecast on NBC in the United States from 1947 until 1960. It was a pioneer in children's television programming and set the pattern for many similar shows...

 with host Buffalo Bob Smith

Buffalo Bob Smith

Buffalo Bob Smith was the host of the children's show Howdy Doody.-Biography:...

 telling the audience, "Wonder Bread builds strong bodies 8 ways. Look for the red, yellow and blue balloons printed on the wrapper." By the 1960s, Wonder Bread was advertised with the slogan "Helps build strong bodies 12 ways," referring to the number of added nutrients

Food additive

Food additives are substances added to food to preserve flavor or enhance its taste and appearance.Some additives have been used for centuries; for example, preserving food by pickling , salting, as with bacon, preserving sweets or using sulfur dioxide as in some wines...

. In 1986, the lower-calorie Wonder Light bread was introduced.

In 1995, Continental Baking was bought by Interstate Bakeries Corporation

Interstate Bakeries Corporation

Hostess Brands, Inc. is the largest wholesale baker and distributor of fresh bakery products in the United States, and is the owner of the Hostess, Wonder Bread, Nature's Pride, Dolly Madison, Butternut Breads, and Drake's brands. For many years it was based at 12 East Armour Boulevard, Kansas...

. In 2000, a California jury in a racial discrimination suit against Interstate Bakeries Corp. awarded twenty plaintiffs $121 million, the second-largest award in U.S. legal history involving a private company accused of such wrongdoing. In 2004, Interstate Bakeries declared bankruptcy, putting the future of Wonder Bread in some doubt. In February 2009 Interstate Bakeries emerged from bankruptcy marking a “new beginning” for the baking company.

In 2006 Wonder was one of the first bread brands to introduce whole grain white breads such as Wonder Made with Whole Grain White as a bread that appeals to consumers who love the taste of white bread but who are looking for more nutrition These breads are made with an albino wheat variety that doesn't have the harsh taste of whole red-wheat flour.

On August 28, 2007, it was announced that Interstate Bakeries would soon end production of Wonder Bread in the Southern California market, leading to a loss of 1,300 jobs. This is due to the judgment in the suit and a decline in sales, as Southern Californians in particular are partial to whole-grain breads and "premium" loaves. As of September 2009, Wonder Bread and other Hostess Brands breads such as Home Pride returned to Southern California supermarkets in response to significant consumer demand. In connection with the re-introduction, the company donated thousands of loaves of bread to the San Diego Food Bank and the Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

 Regional Food Bank to support their missions of providing food to people in need, advocating for the hungry and advancing human caring.

In August 2009 Wonder reformulated its Wonder Classic and Wonder Classic Sandwich bread varieties to include more calcium and vitamin D. Two slices of Wonder Classic and Wonder Classic Sandwich bread now provide 30% of the daily recommended intake of calcium, the same amount as 8 oz of milk. The bread also is considered a good source of vitamin D.

Wonder 100% Whole Wheat (16oz variety) qualifies for the Women, Children & Infants program in most states.

In March 2010 Wonder extended its line of bread products for families who prefer the taste of white bread but want more nutrition, with the addition of Wonder Smartwhite a new bread with the taste and soft texture of white bread – but with the fiber of 100% whole wheat bread

Whole wheat bread

Whole wheat bread is a type of bread that is made using flour which is partly or entirely made from whole or almost whole wheat grains, see whole wheat flour and whole grain. It is one kind of brown bread. Synonyms or near-synonyms for whole wheat bread elsewhere in the world are whole grain bread...

.

Wonder bread also recently launched its first national advertising campaign in years titled “Always Wonder”. The campaign reminds moms that new Wonder Smartwhite offers the nutrition families are looking for today. The creative campaign plays off the phrase “you wonder,” by showing kids doing quirky things, and adds that one thing you don’t have to wonder about is the goodness of new Wonder.

Produced 6 days a week, consumers can determine on which day the loaf of bread was baked by the different colored bag ties:

Color	Day
Blue	Monday
Green	Tuesday
Orange	Wednesday
Red	Thursday
White	Friday
Yellow	Saturday

Canada

Wonder Bread is produced in Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 by Weston Bakeries

George Weston Limited

George Weston Limited , often referred to as Weston or Weston's, is Canada's largest food processing and distribution company. Founded by George Weston in 1882, the company today consists of Weston Foods, a wholly owned subsidiary, and Loblaw Companies Limited, the country's largest supermarket...

. This is not a license, as Weston owns the Wonder trademark

Trademark

A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...

 in Canada outright, although the packaging is very similar. There is also a upper middle class neighbourhood in Toronto called Wonderbreadtown due to its extremely Caucasian population.

Mexico

Wonder Bread is produced in Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 by Grupo Bimbo

Grupo Bimbo

Grupo Bimbo is the largest Mexican food company and the largest bakery in the world with brands in Americas, Europe, and China.-History:Grupo Bimbo was established in Mexico in 1945 by Lorenzo Servitje, Jose T. Mata, Jaime Sendra, and Jaime Jorba...

, the largest baking company in the world. As with the Canadian Wonder Bread this is not a license, since Bimbo bought Wonder bread brand and factories in Mexico; the package was the same as the one in the USA, but later changed.