History

The first Great Harvest opened in Great Falls, Montana in 1976, and our franchise office was founded in Dillon, Montana seven years later. Today there are over two hundred franchises around the country, all of them owner-operated. We have been a whole grain company from the beginning, milling and baking the best Montana hard red spring wheat available.

Great Harvest is a “freedom franchise”. That means that store owners are given an unusual amount of latitude in how they run their bakeries. Each Great Harvest store is its own mom-and-pop establishment, not a generic replica of some corporate ideal. If you visit several Great Harvests, you will notice differences in décor, product line-ups, and so on.

Great Harvest’s mission statement is: “Be loose and have fun. Bake phenomenal bread. Run fast to help customers. Create strong, exciting bakeries. And give generously to others.” It’s a philosophy we take to heart here in Ann Arbor.