Baking Biscotti with Bliss in Winnipeg

Winnipeg bakers Bliss Gourmet Baked Goods are partners with Co-op and making their delicious treats for our Co-op Gold private label! Here's their story. 

As the youngest of six siblings, Sal Calamusa grew up with a love of baking. He remembers his dad making panettone, nougat and marzipan fruit around the holidays and how no one enjoyed the task of slicing bread.

Today, Sal runs Winnipeg-based Bliss Gourmet Baked Goods with his sister, Anna. They’re producing a new line of Co-op Gold cookies inspired by family recipes including buttercream filled biscotti, butter walnut cookie clusters, almond toffee butter cookies and buttercream filled pasticcini.

“We wanted to offer something into the marketplace that’s not currently on the shelf,” Calamusa said. “There are a lot of cookies (on the market), but you would have to go to a bakery to get something of this quality.”

The gourmet cookies are handcrafted and “don’t skimp on any of the good stuff” – butter, real vanilla extract and no preservatives.

All in the family

It was only natural for Sal and Anna to branch out and start Bliss in 2015. The third-generation bakers have been in the business all their lives and follow in the footsteps of their grandparents and parents, the latter immigrated to Canada from Italy in the 1960s.

“The business has taken much more of a sentimental value to us,” said Calamusa, noting his dad’s passing in 2016. “It just helps us feel closer to him and carry out his legacy.”

The business started small with the duo baking for eight to 16 hours per week in a commercial kitchen rented by the hour. They sold the cookies online, to local gourmet shops and traditional grocers like Red River Co-op.

The partnership with Co-op has meant expansion for Bliss. They moved into a new workspace and upgraded equipment. What was originally a two-person operation – with help from their mom, brother and other family members on occasion – has grown to include eight employees to help with production.

“I have no words to describe what this partnership with Co-op means to us,” Calamusa said. “It’s a total game changer.”

Pride and passion

Federated Co-operatives Limited's Store Brands Manager, who sources unique products for co-ops across Western Canada, likes the cookies because they have an artisanal quality that can't be replicated by mass production.

“This is an innovative and quality product because it is handcrafted and truly authentic,” said Sav Bellissimo. “Sal is so passionate; he lives to be a baker. It’s a work of art for him.”

The cookies are an art to enjoy, so much so one customer told Calamusa to never stop making cookies.

“When a customer tries our product and enjoys it, it’s probably the most humbling feeling,” Calamusa said.

So sit back and enjoy a cookie. Try the buttercream-filled biscotti – it’s Calamusa’s favourite.