Owners, plant managers and buyers use the word bakery for very different businesses. A neighborhood shop that bakes loaves each morning and a plant that produces rolls in large volumes are both bakeries, but they are not the same kind of operation. Federal industry codes draw a line between them, and that line is a useful way to describe what a commercial bakery is.
This article explains how the North American Industry Classification System, known as NAICS, defines commercial bakeries and retail bakeries, and how to tell which one describes your own operation.
Why industry codes exist
NAICS assigns every type of business a numbered code based on what the business mainly does. Agencies and data providers use these codes to group similar businesses together. For a bakery owner or a buyer, the code is a quick way to see how an operation is classified and what products fall under that label.
Industry codes are not a quality rating or a size limit. They describe the kind of work a business does. The two codes that matter here are 311812 for commercial bakeries and 311811 for retail bakeries. They sit next to each other in the list, but they describe different work.
What code 311812 covers
The IBISWorld classification page describes NAICS 311812, Commercial Bakeries, as covering establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing fresh and frozen bread and bread-type rolls and other fresh bakery products. The code excludes cookies and crackers.
The listed examples include croissants, bagels, frozen rolls and buns, and communion wafers.
What code 311811 covers
NAICS 311811, Retail Bakeries, is defined by IBISWorld as retailing bread and other bakery products not for immediate consumption that are made on the premises. The entry adds that the products are made from flour, not from prepared dough.
In plain terms, a retail bakery bakes from flour on site and sells products for customers to take away. The source does not say more about how the two codes differ, so the definitions themselves are the best guide.
How the two codes compare
The clearest differences come from the wording of the two definitions:
- Code 311812 is a manufacturing category. Code 311811 is a retail category.
- Code 311812 covers fresh and frozen bread and bread-type rolls and other fresh bakery products. Code 311811 covers bread and other bakery products made on the premises and sold for takeaway.
- Code 311811 specifies that products are made from flour, not prepared dough.
- Code 311812 specifically excludes cookies and crackers. IBISWorld notes that those fall under a separate code, 311821, Cookie and Cracker Manufacturing.
How to place your own operation
If your business mainly makes fresh or frozen bread, rolls, bagels or croissants and sells them onward, the 311812 definition is the closest match. If your business mainly bakes from flour on site and sells directly to customers for takeaway, the 311811 definition fits better.
Some businesses do both. The codes are built around what an establishment mainly does, so it is the main activity that decides where a bakery sits. If you are unsure, read the full entries in the classification and compare them with your daily work.
If a business mostly makes cookies or crackers, the commercial bakeries code is not the right one, because the 311812 entry excludes them.
Why this matters to people who supply bakeries
Suppliers and buyers use the same language as the classification. A plant that makes frozen rolls and buns, which the 311812 entry lists by name, handles product very differently from a shop that bakes from flour and sells at a counter. Knowing which kind of operation you are talking to helps you ask better questions about volume, handling and how product moves from the oven to the customer.
A short checklist
The definitions are short, so it helps to turn them into questions you can answer from your own daily work.
To decide how your bakery fits the codes, ask these questions:
- Do we mainly manufacture fresh or frozen bread and rolls, or do we mainly bake from flour on site and sell to takeaway customers?
- Are our main products bread, rolls, bagels or croissants, or are they cookies and crackers?
- Do we bake from flour, or from prepared dough?
The answers point toward either 311812 or 311811, or toward a different code altogether.
Summary
NAICS 311812 describes commercial bakeries as manufacturers of fresh and frozen bread, rolls and other fresh bakery products, with cookies and crackers excluded. NAICS 311811 describes retail bakeries as places that bake from flour on the premises and sell products for takeaway. Reading both definitions and comparing them with what your operation mainly does is the simplest way to place your bakery.