Those beloved Sanders Bumpy Cakes that disappeared from Michigan grocery store shelves last year are coming back.
Sanders announced this week that production of their Bumpy Cakes will resume soon, now that they’ve found new partners to produce them. Production of the Bumpy Cakes were put on pause in 2023 after Livonia bakery Minnie Marie Bakers Inc. -- Sanders’ longtime partner -- suddenly closed.
Since the interruption, Sanders says it has been working to find “the right partners” to produce the familiar Bumpy Cake quality and flavor. On Thursday, May 23, Sanders said it had not only found those partners, but that the Bumpy Cakes would actually be available “soon” at Sanders stores and other retailers in Michigan.
An exact date for when the cakes can be purchased again was not provided. Sanders said that when production is “fully resumed,” the company will sell the original chocolate flavor in its regular, mini, and party sizes, as well as their other flavors like vanilla buttercream and carrot cake.
The cakes can also be bought on Sanders’ website here, once they’re available.
Minnie Marie Bakers Inc., long-known as Awrey Bakery, had made the now-century old Bumpy Cake recipe for more than 10 years, Sanders said. The closure paused production last fall, and those cakes remained on shelves in Michigan stores until stock ran out at the end of 2023.
In October, Sanders CEO Vic Mehren said the company had conversations with more than a dozen bakeries while trying to find a replacement and fast, but that they hadn’t found anyone at that time. New bakery partners were secured about nine months later, though it wasn’t said how many partners Sanders had acquired to produce Bumpy Cakes.
Sanders dates back to the 1870s, founded by Fred Sanders, who had his first Detroit storefront on Woodward Avenue.