WORCESTER—As far as Harry Kokkinis is concerned, Table Talk Pies is on the Rise.
Last Friday, Rise Baking Company of Minneapolis purchased the Worcester pie company, which was founded 100 years ago by Kokkinis’s maternal grandfather and his business partner.
Kokkinis, 71, was a member of the board of directors and served in an advisory role as executive chairman at the time of the sale. He previously served as company president, but he no longer has any formal role under the new ownership.
“How I see it is we put the company on a very firm foundation for the future,” Kokkinis told the Worcester Guardian, “and now Rise, with all its resources, is in a position to grow the company even more than we would be able to.”
With the acquisition of Table Talk, Rise now operates 20 manufacturing facilities in the U.S. and Canada with about 3,700 employees.
Rise, a portfolio company of the private equity firm Olympus Partners, provides cookies, icings, cakes, pies, muffins, brownies, dessert bars, artisan breads and flatbreads to retail bakeries and foodservice providers. Brill, South Coast Baking and Best Maid Cookie Company are among the companies under the Rise umbrella. Last December, Rise purchased pie facilities in Kent Washington, and Brampton, Ontario.
After Table Talk Pies ran into financial difficulty, Worcester Railers owner Cliff Rucker, Consigli Construction owners Matt and Anthony Consigli and Chacharone Properties owner James Chacharone formed an investment group in August of 2022 to keep the company afloat.
“We were in a troubled state,” Kokkinis said.
Kokkinis and his family maintained a minority stake in the company at that time.
Kokkinis said the pandemic combined with supply chain problems and a hike in the price of pie ingredients and fruit created a financial problem while the company was building its new bakery and headquarters at 58 Gardner St.
“Building that new building really depleted our cash resources to get that done,” Kokkinis said, “and we had limited resources to respond to the trouble that was brought on by inflation.”
Kokkinis said the investment group was looking forward to owning the company for a long time, but Rise reached out via email late last year.
“We weren’t out there looking,” Kokkinis said. “So this came as a surprise. But when someone that big comes knocking, it’s worth talking.”
Kokkinis said Rucker oversaw the sale, but there was no deadline to complete the sale and it took awhile. Rucker and the Consiglis did not return messages from the Worcester Guardian. Chacharone asked Kokkinis to answer questions for this article.
Kokkinis said he does not expect any major changes to be made at Table Talk and that Isaac Long will remain as president and Tracy Cirillo-Waswill will stay on as chief financial officer. Kokkinis also said Rise could add to Table Talk’s workforce of 350 employees.
“The pie business is not an easy business,” Kokkinis said, “but we’ve developed a great team and I think that’s one reason they were very interested in purchasing us.”
So in other words, the pie business is not as easy as pie, but Table Talk Pies somehow made it work for a century with the recent help of the investment group.
“The fact that they were willing to come to the table in our time of need,” Kokkinis said, “when it was a difficult time, I’m glad to see that they were rewarded for the risks that they took on.”
Kokkinis said Rise was impressed with Table Talk’s new facility, including its new oven.
After companies are sold, people often fear the worst, but Kokkinis said there is no reason for that.
“Given the kind of company that Rise is,” he said, “and what I know about them, I don’t think we have to worry about it. The company is in good hands and I believe they will be good stewards of the Table Talk name and brand and of the quality of the pies.”
Table Talk produces 180,000 4-inch and 80,000 8-inch pies a day in such flavors as blueberry, apple, lemon, chocolate eclair, pineapple, cherry, pumpkin, peach, pecan, banana creme and chocolate cream. Kokkinis said his favorite 4-inch pie is the lemon and his favorite 8-inch is the pumpkin.
Greek immigrants Theodore Tonna and Angelo Cotsidas founded Table Talk Pies in 1924. Beech-Nut purchased the business in the 1960s, but Table Talk closed in 1984. Two years later, Tonna’s son-in-law, Christo Cocaine, revived the business and Kokkinis took over the company upon his father’s death in 2015.
“What I feel so proud of,” Kokkinis said, “is the legacy of Table Talk in my family and going back to my grandfather and his partners, and all the members of the Table Talk family. I think we’ve impacted so many people and it’s a big family and we want to see that legacy continue.”
Kokkinis said Rise agreed to establish the Table Talk Family Foundation to aid non-profit organizations in Worcester, particularly in arts, the history of Worcester and science, technology, engineering and mathematics education.
Each year on Pi Day, which falls on March 14 (3-14), Table Talk donates pies to area schools and non-profit organizations. This year, more than 70,000 pies were donated.
At 3 p.m. next Wednesday, Kokkinis, family members, Table Talk employees and city officials will be on hand to dedicate the headquarters at 58 Gardner St. as the “Mary T. Cocaine Building” with a plaque in memory of his late mother as part of the company’s 100-year celebration.
“It was my mom who emphasized that we needed to stay in Worcester,” Kokkinis said. “She loved Worcester and wanted to make sure we stayed in Worcester to show our feelings for it and how much it was a part of our success.”
Bill Doyle has been a professional journalist for 47 years, most of them as a sports writer for the Telegram & Gazette. He covered the Boston Celtics for 25 years and has written extensively about golf, boxing and local high school and college sports. He also worked for the campus newspaper when he attended UMass-Amherst. He can be reached at billdoyle1515@gmail.com
