The Italian Bakery Behind Arby's Bread (And Popeyes' Too)

It's always reassuring to know the direct source of your favorite fast food ingredients. Arby's is known for having the meats, particularly slow-roasted roast beef, oven-roasted turkey, and premium angus beef. These tasty proteins are piled on top of various types of bread, including slider buns, sesame seed buns, brioche buns, sub rolls, and Arby's iconic onion bun. You may be interested to learn that one of Arby's bread suppliers (last confirmed in 2021) is a multi-generational baked goods business by the name of Rotella's Italian Bakery. 

As a commercial specialty bakery based in La Vista, Nebraska, Rotella's produces as many as 400 different types of bread for national distribution by retailers such as fast food icon Arby's. Its journey from humble beginnings in Italy to a massive modern production reflects its mission as shared on its website, which is, "To masterfully blend old world skill and experience with modern efficiencies to provide the very best in high quality breads and rolls."

Rotella's Italian Bakery has won Arby's Red Hat Supplier Achievement Award multiple times in recognition of its outstanding performance and level of service as an Arby's supplier. For instance, in 2016 the bakery won for its production of millions of high quality slider buns and other breads for Arby's. It was also given the Red Hat award in 2018 and 2021, alongside other suppliers such as Tyson Foods Inc., Highland Baking Company, Sadler's Smokehouse, and Schreiber Foods, Inc.

It all started in 1850 in Calabria, a region in southern Italy, where Domenico Rotella would mill his own wheat for the bread he would bake in a small wood-fired oven to sell to neighbors. The master baker passed down his bread-making talent to his son Alessandro, who eventually immigrated to Omaha, Nebraska in the early 20th century. Alessandro and his wife Maria purchased a small bakery and began delivering fresh bread to local customers by horse drawn carriage. Eventually, the bakery expanded under their son Louis Rotella Sr., and eventually their grandson, Louis Rotella Jr. The five-generation bakery is centered on family, freshness, and modernization without sacrificing quality. 

Besides Arby's, Rotella's supplies bread to Popeyes (last confirmed in 2021), and at one time was a supplier for IHOP, Perkins, and Village Inn, according to a KMTV 3 interview with President and CEO Louie Rotella Jr. La Vista, Nebraska locals might be happy to know that there is a retail store attached to Rotella's bread factory where you can purchase fresh bread before it hits the store shelves or restaurant chains. As of 2025, the store hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. (closed Sundays). As Louie Rotella Jr. told KMTV 3, some favorites among the bakery's customers are its sandwich bread, Vienna sliced bread, and Steakhouse Twist.