Baking his way to the top as fast as he can.

• Position: Western

Annie's Bakery Inc. is expanding faster than a loaf of semolina sesame bread--one of its specialties--left to rise in a warm spot. Giuseppe "Joe" Ritota incorporated the company in 2001, when he and his wife, Annie McKenzie, opened a 3,500-square-foot cafe and bakery in Sylva. "I was baking for friends and whatnot/' the fourth-generation baker says. Today, the company is a growing wholesaler providing organic bread to about 150 clients in the Carolinas, Tennessee and Georgia. It supplies restaurants, including the Ruth's Chris Steak House in Asheville, and grocery stores, such as Black Mountain-based Ingles Markets Inc. and Matthews-based Harris Teeter Inc., a new account as of this month.

The rapid growth began in 2005, when Ritota got the Ingles in Sylva to carry Annie's Naturally, his company's wholesale brand. Adding that store increased sales only 2%, but it gave Annie's a presence at a large retailer. Soon, it was supplying 17 Ingles. But its small bakery in Sylva, which produces 600 loaves a day, stymied growth. That changed in April with the opening of a 21,000-square-foot bakery in Asheville in the former Square D Co. manufacturing plant. Annie's, which is leasing the building, spent more than $500,000 on renovations. A West Virginia investment fund contributed $250,000, Mountain BizVVorks Inc., an Asheville community-development lender, provided...