Fifty years after its founding in Great Falls, Montana, Great Harvest has unveiled a new logo and motto — "Rise and Stay True" — marking the most significant brand refresh in the bakery-café franchise's history. The rebrand signals not just a visual update but the opening move in a broader push to scale the system while protecting the scratch-baking identity that has defined the brand since 1976.
What's Changing
The new identity centers on reinforcing Great Harvest's sourcing story: whole wheat flour milled from Northern Plains farms, bread baked from scratch every day, and a counter experience the brand calls "Great Harvest hospitality" at its signature breadboards. The motto "Rise and Stay True" is designed to function as both a rallying point for existing franchisees and a positioning statement for prospective operators and guests. Running alongside the visual refresh are system-wide investments in operational infrastructure and technology — specifics of which the brand says will be detailed later this year.
"At a time when scratch baking in our industry has become a thing of the past, we're proud to stand apart," said John Dikos, CEO of Great Harvest. "From day one, we've been intentional about using only the highest quality ingredients to bake handcrafted bread and wholesome food with whole wheat flour sourced from the same Montana farmers we've partnered with for decades."
Franchise Implications
For the more than 150 bakery-cafes operating across the United States, the rebrand is framed as a foundation-strengthening exercise rather than a top-down aesthetic overhaul. The company says the fresh look is designed to give franchisees a stronger competitive footing as consumer demand for transparency and clean-label ingredients continues to grow — trends that restaurant operators across segments are navigating with increasing urgency.
Franchisee Tricia Cray, who has operated a Great Harvest location in Fairbanks, Alaska for nearly 15 years, offered a ground-level perspective. She is currently preparing to open a second unit in Lake Havasu, Arizona — an expansion Dikos cited as emblematic of the kind of entrepreneurial franchisee the brand is building toward. Cray called the rebrand "one of the most exciting moments in our brand's history" and said her team is eager to carry the updated identity into the new market.
The timing matters for the broader bakery-café and fast-casual dining segment. As ingredient costs and labor pressures continue to squeeze operator margins, a franchise system rooted in scratch production carries real differentiating weight — but also real operational complexity. Great Harvest's technology and infrastructure investments, when detailed, will be closely watched by franchisees weighing whether the system can deliver the back-end efficiency to make daily scratch baking economically sustainable at scale.
Dikos indicated that additional announcements are forthcoming before year-end, with a focus on franchise system strengthening and guest experience. The company is actively recruiting new franchisees through its dedicated franchise portal alongside its ongoing work with existing operators.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
