Family run bakery in SoCal sees business rise with help from U.S. Bank

Chaupain Bakery has expanded while creating unique experiences for customers and team members

“I’m from France, but this is the best pain au chocolat that I’ve ever had,” said one customer to another as they stood in line at one of Orange County, California’s newest café culture hot spots, Chaupain Bakery.

Founded in 2018 and operated by husband-and-wife team Sarah and Sami Ellouze, alongside a small group of dedicated individuals, Chaupain Bakery features artisan breads, pastries, quiches, yogurts and other freshly crafted treats and meals.

Sarah and Sami share that one of the difference-making ingredients in their pastries is the butter that they have specially imported from Wisconsin, making their baked goods unlike those in other Southern California eateries. Another one of their secret ingredients is their world-class team of artisans, they said.

Chaupain has become known as a great place to work and attracts top local talent as well as passionate individuals who are dedicated to learning the culinary arts.

“We tell our team, ‘family first’ because we want them to know we care about their lives and concerns outside of work,” Sami and Sarah said. “We want our team members to feel empowered so they will be fulfilled by their careers with us.”

Sami and Sarah take pride in the bakery logo, a wheat stalk that turns into a heart in a circular fashion.

“When we treat our team well, they in turn produce a superior product, and our customers can taste the dedication,” they said. “When we can make a customer’s day better than it was before they visited our business, then we are sharing more than just nourishing food; we are sharing love.”

This reciprocal ethos of investing in people also extends to the Ellouzes’ relationship with their bankers at U.S. Bank.

“I call our bankers ‘my guys’ and they have helped to make our dreams come true,” Sami said. “When we work together, it is not company to company; it is people to people.”

The Ellouzes say U.S. Bank has been supportive from the very beginning.

“When we opened a bakery in 2018, no one came,” Sami and Sarah said. “We ate all the baked goods ourselves. We started losing faith. But the U.S. Bank team always believed in us. They asked, ‘What are your goals’ and then they helped us to achieve them.”

James “Jimi” Bateman and Murray Anderson are the U.S. Bankers who work most closely with Sami and Sarah, and both bankers are as enthusiastic about the delicious food at Chaupain Bakery as they are about facilitating success for the Ellouzes.

“Because Sami was trained as a Certified Public Accountant, their books are immaculate, everything is accounted for and it makes it much easier to move forward quickly with all of their business goals,” said Bateman, who specializes in business banking.

“They began with a very small bakery, selling their products at SoCal farmer’s markets, and then once we helped them open a physical storefront, we realized that they would benefit from a commercial kitchen,” Bateman said. “The commercial bakery has really been a gamechanger, allowing them to produce enough of their delicious food for their four restaurant locations, with more coming soon. I know that it is vital for them to be able to grow without taking on investors so that they can better protect their team. As Sami and Sarah say, ‘U.S. Bank is their investor’ and it is tremendously meaningful to be able to be of service in that way.”

The Ellouzes said they have their eyes on continued expansion in airport locations, and they are exploring the potential of purchasing land for new restaurants as well. Chaupain Bakery currently has four locations including Laguna Beach, Laguna Niguel, Newport Beach, and San Clemente.

“Every small business needs a bank they can trust and who believes in their mission,” said Anderson, who specializes in Small Business Administration business development. “U.S. Bank has been able to do that for Chaupain Bakery, helping to fund equipment and point-of-sale technology, and just generally being trusted advisors about the ways in which we can help them to grow and become more profitable.”

“We want to create a special experience for our customers, and we think U.S. Bank does too. Whether bankers or bakers, we’re all in the business of helping people,” said Sami and Sarah.

Watch the video below to learn more about Chaupain Bakery and the ways U.S. Bank has helped to power its potential.