Through their involvement with the Louis Lesaffre Cups and the Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie, Solveig Tofte and Pierre Zimmermann (the founders) know that good and interesting things happen when bakers come together – we learn new techniques and new products, we see challenges and opportunities in different lights, and we are inspired to be useful to our communities through education and volunteer work.
Solveig Tofte owns Sun Street Breads, a bakery & café in Minneapolis, MN. She served on the Board of Directors for the Bread Bakers Guild of America for 6 years, and during her tenure was involved with the organization and administration of many large-scale events. She helped coordinate the Louis Lesaffre Cup at IBIE in 2010, was the Director of Education for WheatStalk 2014, and is currently working on their Baker Certification Program. She was a judge for the Louis Lesaffre Cup in 2011 and 2015, competed at the Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie on BBGA Team USA 2008 as the bread baker and captain, and is a member of the Elite de la Boulangerie Internationale.
Pierre Zimmermann owns La Fournette, a wholesale and retail bakery in Chicago, IL. He is a native of Alsace, France, a Master Baker, and is a World Baking Champion having won the Coupe du Monde Boulangerie twice (once as a team member and once as coach). In 2015 he was the President of the jury for the Louis Lesaffre Cup, and served on the jury for the Bakery Masters from 1992-2010. He has been awarded numerous medals in France for his work teaching and baking (including the prestigious Bretzel d’Or), and is the creator of Macaron Day in Chicago, a fund-raiser for Esperanza Community Services. He moved to Chicago to create the artisan bread program at the French Pastry School, and is also a member of the Elite de la Boulangerie Internationale.