Who is “Martin’s Famous Potato Rolls and Bread”? The short answer is this: we are the makers of the #1 Potato Roll in America as well as 14 other delicious bread and roll products sold up and down the East Coast and making our way toward the West Coast.
Simple, right? Maybe you already knew that much. But, the longer and more thorough answer includes a layered company history that dates back to a family of bakers looking to make a living baking bread, rolls, and pastries in their one-car garage. It involves over 65 years of growth, including a dedicated family of employees that are focused on baking delicious loaves of bread and packs of rolls that you can count on for summer barbecues, holiday meals, and so much more.
If you’ve been a fan of Martin’s Potato Rolls for years or if you just tried them for the first time (or even if you haven’t yet tasted them!), this week, we’re hoping to give you an insider’s view at exactly what makes Martin’s Martin’s.
Read more about our story, our products, our employees, and our recipes below!
About Martin’s Famous Pastry Shoppe, Inc.
So, how did we get here? To answer that question, we’ll have to go back in time to 1955…
It all began with our co-founders, Lloyd and Lois Martin in Chambersburg, PA. They started the Martin’s business by baking locally renowned pastries in their garage and selling them in farmer’s markets for several years with the help of their son, James. For five long days each week, the family would bake a variety of goods (like sticky buns, donuts, cookies, and, of course, breads) in the garage and then deliver them in the trunk of their car to the market each Saturday.
After about a decade of this system, the family decided to move their growing business to a new building positioned between two busy highways in town. In this larger building, the bakery was run in the back half while the front contained Martin’s Family Restaurant. With this expansion, the Martins were also able to start distributing their bread and rolls to local grocery stores.
Fast forward to 1978—the business demand called for the construction of a new commercial baking facility at the site that is now Martin’s Corporate Headquarters at 1000 Potato Roll Lane, Chambersburg, PA.
Since then, Martin’s has seen several expansions. Not only have we built upon our Chambersburg facility several times – including the construction of our current office building – we’ve also built a new bakery in Georgia! With these add-ons, we’ve been able to grow our distribution area to cover the entire East Coast as well as several Midwest locations like Nashville, Cleveland, Chicago, and even Texas!
⇾ Read more about the journey of Martin’s business growth here.
Today, in addition to being sold in stores in about a third of the U.S., Martin’s Famous Potato Rolls and Bread are served with delicious burgers and sandwiches across the country and internationally! Plus, we’ve been featured in countless media sources, chef’s recipes, and even award-winning burgers.
As you can imagine, it takes an entire team of dedicated employees “doing whatever it takes, God helping us,” to continue to keep our business running efficiently. Thankfully, we have hundreds of folks working toward that end every single day. We are so thankful for our employees!
About Our Products
After all this talk about the meteoric rise of Martin’s Famous Potato Rolls and Bread, we want to remind you, reader, that through every stage of growth, we’ve kept our focus on quality. What is the point of expanding to all these new locations if we have to compromise our quality? Here’s what quality looks like to us:
High-quality ingredients including high protein unbleached wheat flour, real milk, potato flour, yeast, real butter, and pure cane sugar- B vitamins and calcium
- No high fructose corn syrup
- No artificial dyes
- No azodicarbonamide (ADA)
- No trans fats
- Non-GMO
- Kosher classification of “K Dairy”
But, perhaps we’re getting ahead of ourselves here. You might be wondering… “What is potato bread anyway?”
When Lois Martin first concocted her potato roll recipe, made with homemade mashed potatoes, it’s unlikely that she knew just how that recipe would develop and grow into an internationally distributed product. But the fact is—when mashed potatoes (or potato flour + water + milk, like in our bakery today) are added to bread dough, they add a unique taste and that signature fluffy and squishy quality that you know and love! So, we’ve been using the same basic formula of ingredients ever since. That’s what makes a potato roll a potato roll!
⇾ Learn more about the science of baking Martin’s Potato Rolls and Bread here.
Of course, perhaps the most iconic of all of our potato rolls and bread is our Sandwich Potato Roll, the #1 Potato Roll in America*. In addition to being used by various food service venues, these rolls have helped chefs and restaurateurs win numerous cooking competitions. Plus, consumers love the soft texture of this roll and its ability to hold up to a hefty burger piled high with condiments (with some help from the “hinge”).
*according to IRI sales data
Fun Fact: The Martin’s Sandwich Potato Roll is world famous. It has been used for hamburger recipes in restaurants in more than 30 countries!
While our first potato roll product was our Dinner Potato Rolls, you could say our Sandwich Potato Rolls are what made us truly “famous.” They’re what we’re most known for and are our best-selling product.
A Family of Bread and Rolls
Our Sandwich Potato Rolls may be the most “famous” of our products, but that’s certainly not where our product line ends. Martin’s bakes a variety of sandwich breads, swirl breads, slider rolls, dinner rolls, and more that all have versatility for a snack or a meal. Read more below!
You’ve heard us say it before, but we truly do believe our high-quality rolls can be used in so many various recipes, from snacks to dinners and more! In fact, we have an entire archive of over 800 recipes on our website here.
Potato Rolls
Each of the rolls in this category are baked with the same dough as our iconic Sandwich Rolls, just in different shapes! These options serve a variety of purposes and are great for mini sandwiches, campfire hot dogs, a side on a dinner plate, and much more. Here are some of our most popular recipes for each of these products: Sandwich Potato Rolls, Long Potato Rolls, 12-Sliced Slider Potato Rolls, Dinner Potato Rolls, and Party Potato Rolls.
 Blackened Chicken Sandwich |
 Mexican Street Corn Brats |
 Sheet Pan Burgers |
||||
|
||||||
Breads
Looking for a pantry companion to use for packed lunches and breakfast toast? All of Martin’s breads taste delicious and provide nutrition to help keep your family going. Even our Whole Wheat bread is soft and squishy enough to pass the taste test with even the toughest critics. Check out four of our most famous recipes for each of these products: Old-Fashioned Real Butter Bread, 100% Whole Wheat Potato Bread, Potato Bread, and Potatobred Stuffing (made from loaves of our Potato Bread!).
 Grandma’s Old-Fashioned French Toast |
 Tangy Tuna Salad Sandwich |
 Smash Burger Grilled Cheese |
 Mrs. Martin’s Famous Stuffing |
White Rolls
We may be known for our products made with potato flour, but don’t forget about our two delicious exceptions, made with white bread dough! These two products, Hoagie Rolls and “Big Marty’s” Rolls, are excellent for full-size hoagies, French bread pizzas, barbecue sandwiches, double-stacked burgers, and more.
One reason why we (and our customers) love the Big Marty’s Rolls is the very generous amount of sesame seeds we stack on top—more than any other sesame seeded bun in the market! Check out two of our best recipes on these rolls:
 Campfire Mac & Cheese Burger |
 Cheeseburger Subs |
Swirl Breads
Last but not least, our scrumptious swirl breads (three of which were released only a few years ago!) are growing in popularity for their soft texture, versatile flavors, and delectable cinnamon-y swirls. Check out our most delicious recipes on each of the four flavors: Cinnamon-Raisin Swirl Potato Bread, Cinnamon Raisin Butter Bread, Cinnamon-Sugar Swirl Potato Bread, and Maple Brown Sugar Swirl Potato Bread.
 Cinnamon-Raisin Loaded Breakfast Sandwich |
 Ham & Cheese French Toast Casserole |
 Cinnamon Roll Bread Bake |
 Cranberry Bacon Brie Grilled Cheese |
*Note: Martin’s Cinnamon-Raisin Butter Bread has been discontinued. We recommend substituting this product with Martin’s Cinnamon-Raisin Swirl Potato Bread, or with one of our other Swirl Bread products.
As you can see, there are a lot of elements that make up Martin’s Famous Potato Rolls and Bread as a whole. But perhaps one of the most important ones is you! We work hard to make delicious bread and rolls because we want to continue to provide the best products and customer service for you, our customers. We cannot do what we do without our loyal fans. Thank you!
Want more from Martin’s? Check out these places to get even more great content…
- Sign up for our email newsletter to get monthly coupons and alerts about our new content.
- Follow us on social media to stay in-the-know about company updates, giveaways, and new recipes! Check us out on… Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube.
- Visit our online store to purchase Martin’s swag like t-shirts, hats, and more.
- Apply to work at Martin’s in one of the many open positions we have available.
Our latest content, delivered straight to your inbox.
Be the first to hear about our newest recipes, tips, and company updates!
