About Us
greyston bakery: awesomely good brownies with an impactful mission
Greyston Bakery is a mission-driven commercial bakery in Yonkers, New York, known for fudgy brownies, sweet blondies and a pioneering Open Hiring policy. Since 1982, we have combined great-tasting baked goods with a commitment to creating employment opportunities for people facing barriers to work. Today, Greyston Bakery supplies brownies and blondies to foodservice, retail, gifting and ice cream partners, including our nearly 40-year partnership with Ben & Jerry’s. Our social enterprise business model is simple: we bake and sell great-tasting premium brownies and blondies, serve our customers well, and use the success of our business to create job opportunities in our community.
WATCH OUR VIDEOS TO LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR BAKERY
OUR MISSION & IMPACT
We believe everyone deserves a chance to work and build a better life for themselves and their family.
Greyston Bakery’s mission is to create opportunities for people facing barriers to employment through Open Hiring—our commitment to giving people a chance to work without interviews, resumes or background checks. Other companies may not offer that chance.
Once hired, we invest in our employees with:
- Opportunities for advancement into supervisory, technical and management roles
- Skills development, apprenticeship program and on-the-job training
- Competitive entry-level wages and company-paid medical benefits
- On-site social worker and case management support
- A welcoming workplace built on teamwork, respect and opportunity
A MISSION-DRIVEN COMMERCIAL BAKERY
We may not know a new hire’s past, but we believe their past should not define their future.
By investing in people and creating meaningful employment opportunities, we help individuals build stability, develop skills and move forward.
All of us have faced challenges in our lives. Our bakers are no different – many of our employees have faced incarceration, homelessness, substance addiction, employment gaps, or other difficult situations. We’re proud to “bake an impact” in our community by investing in people’s future rather than judging their past.
And our business model makes that impact possible. The more brownies and blondies we sell, the more opportunities we can create. Our customers and partners in foodservice and retail are an essential part of that mission.
Watch our videos to see what makes Greyston Bakery so unique and special. These videos let you meet our bakers – the people who bake our Awesomely Good treats, and hear their stories of how Greyston Bakery changed their lives for the better.
OUR VALUED PARTNERS
Great partnerships are built on great products, consistency and shared values.
Our nearly 40-year partnership with Ben & Jerry’s is a testament to the quality and consistency of Greyston Bakery Brownies. Since 1987, our brownies have been part of iconic Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavors including Chocolate Fudge Brownie and Half Baked, as well as non-dairy flavors made with our vegan brownies.
What began as a chance meeting, on a Colorado nature trail at a socially conscious business leaders conference, between Ben Cohen and our founder Bernie Glassman grew into an enduring partnership and long-lasting collaboration. It helped demonstrate that businesses can deliver both exceptional products and meaningful social impact – in this case, by two mission-driven companies.
Today, retail partners such as Whole Foods and restaurant partners such as CAVA help us reach more customers and create more opportunities through our mission-driven business model. We also help our customers by providing them with delicious brownies and blondies that fit their menu or shelf offerings.
Contact us to see how we can partner together, at your retail store, foodservice operation, university, health care facility, cafe, hotel, airline, or coffee shop
The more brownies we sell, the more opportunities we can create.
OUR AWESOMELY GOOD PRODUCTS
Great taste is at the heart of everything we bake.
Greyston Bakery is known for fudgy brownies and decadent blondies made with high-quality ingredients and baked with care by our talented bakery team.
Our products include individually wrapped brownies and blondies in classic, vegan and gluten-free varieties, along with tray brownies for foodservice operators looking to create their own dessert experiences.
Our brownies and blondies are enjoyed in Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, by foodservice and retail customers, and through our personal and corporate gifting business. Whether they’re served as a dessert, enjoyed as a snack or baked into a favorite ice cream flavor, our products bring something Awesomely Good to every bite.
And when you choose Greyston Bakery your purchase does more than satisfy a sweet tooth. Though ask anyone who’s enjoyed our brownie or blondie, and you’ll hear “Yum!” and “Best brownie ever!” again and again. People admire our mission and taste the love and goodness that goes into every bite.
Every brownie we sell helps create the opportunity for someone to build a better future.
OUR UNIQUE HISTORY
Since 1982, we’ve been baking with purpose.
Greyston Bakery began by baking cakes and tarts for New York City restaurants. From our early days in the Riverdale section of the Bronx to our relocation to Yonkers, NY a few years later, our mission has remained constant: create job opportunities while building a successful business.
Yonkers, once an industrial powerhouse, sustained years of job losses and high unemployment. Greyston Bakery has a sweet history of baking delicious treats, creating job opportunities and improving lives in our local community.
In 1987, when our founder Bernie Glassman met Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Ben Cohen, this led to a partnership that changed the course of the bakery. With shared social values and a belief that business can create positive change, the two companies worked together to develop the brownie that became a signature ingredient in Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Fudge Brownie ice cream.
Our relationship with Ben & Jerry’s grew, and so did Greyston. In 2004, we moved into a new bakery in Yonkers designed to support our growing business and expand our social impact. In the late 2000s, we introduced individually wrapped brownies to meet growing demand for convenient, on-the-go treats.
Today, Greyston Bakery continues to bake brownies, blondies and other baked goods for ice cream, foodservice, retail and gifting customers—combining the craft of baking with our commitment to creating opportunity.
OUR VISIONARY FOUNDER
Bernie Glassman believed business could be a force for social change and community action.
As an aeronautical engineer turned Zen teacher, Bernie founded Greyston Bakery with a simple but radical idea: people deserve an opportunity to work and build a better future, regardless of their past or current situation. He founded the bakery as an extension of his Zen teachings—prioritizing compassion, inclusion, non-judgement and human dignity.
In the beginning, Bernie provided bakery jobs for his Zen students. In the move to Yonkers, our philosophy took shape which became Open Hiring – a commitment to offering employment opportunities to anyone willing to work, with no questions asked or resumes to share. This groundbreaking approach gave people labeled as “unemployable” a real shot at changing their lives for the better.
Bernie’s vision continues to shape Greyston Bakery today. Every brownie we bake helps support a business model designed to create opportunity, strengthen our community and help people move forward.
His legacy lives on in every brownie we bake and every life we touch.