Kettlemans Bagel plans to expand further in Ottawa, hold off on entering U.S. market

March 3, 2025

If you sit in the dining room of the Bank Street location of Kettlemans Bagel, the company’s growth throughout the years is apparent. What was once a small building now exists under the shell of a new dining area – with the marquee still hung and the address displayed on what used to be the […]

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The original Bank Street location building is under the shell of the new dining area. Photo provided.

So it’s even more impressive to hear that, since 2022, Kettlemans has seen revenues grow from $11 million to $28 million, and employee count go from 130 to more than 400. The growth is in large part due to the expansion of the business. Though it’s been operating in Ottawa since 1993, Kettlemans only recently pursued expansion strategies. It now operates four locations in Ottawa, including the flagship store on Bank Street, and has expanded to the Montreal and Toronto markets, with three locations in the GTA and one in Montreal. In a recent interview with OBJ, Wahab said the business relies on quantity to make money. “Our goal is to try to capture five to six cents on every dollar that comes in. We have to be very strategic about what we can do, where we can do it and how we do it. That’s why volume needs to be the driver,” Wahab said. He said that each location produces an average of 9,000 hand-rolled bagels a day. Now, Kettlemans is looking for ways to continue growing, including exploring franchising in the near future and expanding to the communities of Orléans and Barrhaven. “We’re actively looking to build within those communities because there’s a demand. I’d say it’s in the top three (topics) of feedback we get, but … it’s not that easy. Lots of restaurants feel like, ‘I can build anywhere and they will come.’ That’s not the case,” he said. When OBJ spoke to Kettlemans in 2022, founder Craig Buckley hinted at a possible expansion to the United States. Now, Wahab said the company wants to maintain what it has already before looking to make the move south. “From a growth perspective, we were in our infancy when we started in Ottawa. Our growth in Toronto was us crawling and going to Montreal and opening more stores is us still learning how to walk. Until we’re able to walk a mile and remain stable, we won’t try to run. We will one day, but we want to ensure we can give the best version of ourselves. Nothing good ever happens when you try to grow too fast,” he said. Of course, Kettlemans was big on Canadian-made before the current controversy over tariffs made it popular. Wahab said Kettlemans has always been steadfast in its commitment to sourcing Canadian-made ingredients, from bacon to cheddar, eggs and cream cheese. “We make our own cream cheese. It’s about 130 kilometres away, where the base is made for us. Then, we internally add the flavour profiles, whether it's dill pickle, garlic or strawberry,” he said. Changing consumer tastes and preferences also come into play. Kettlemans recently launched a value menu, with items at $4.50 each. Wahab said the choice to create a value menu came as a reaction to the cost of living crisis and shifting consumer tastes. “We’re cognizant of the financial times and how people’s appetites shift. We have a lot of people asking for a breakfast bagel with no bacon on it. There’s no way for me to remove the bacon and charge less on the point-of-sale machine. We said, ‘That’s not right.’ We don’t want to take advantage of the customer,” he said. While adapting to what consumers want is important, Wahab said Kettlemans will also stay true to itself. “(We will adapt to) what guests are asking for if it doesn’t take away from who we are and our values … It’s very crucial, as a brand grows, that they don’t lose focus of what got them (to opening) store number one,” he said. Core values are also important internally, Wahab said. “We have an internal philosophy (to ensure a great experience for guests) – incredible hospitality, amazing food and beverage, unwavering cleanliness, and superior speed of service. Those core values are what drive us to do what we do,” he said. “During growth periods, a lot of brands lose their way. They lose who they are and what their core is. We’re a part of the community. Our average store employs anywhere from 40 to 70 people. We create jobs and what better way to give back to your community than create these jobs?” he said. “The industry standard is for brands to have a 90 to 105 per cent turnover rate in quick service a year. Ours is less than 40. The magic of what we do is that we’re able to retain the best talent. We’re very picky over who we hire. We hire people with the right attitude; the attitude to learn,” he added. Wahab said bakers take part in the “lost art” of bagel-making.

Kettlemans Bagel produces on average 9,000 hand-rolled bagels daily at each location. Photo provided.

“We teach people a trade, a skill that they don’t need to go to school for. We roll bagels by hand, not a machine. We teach people something that’s 473 years old and the only part that’s changed is that we’ve automated the mixing, because they wouldn’t be able to make enough dough to be able to produce to meet the demand,” Wahab said. According to Wahab, Kettlemans started because the founders saw that “there was a need in the city for bagels,” but since then, it’s grown into a place where different generations can converge “for the love of bread.” “We’re really a sandwich shop that happens to make (the sandwiches) on bagels,” he said. “People who came here in the ‘90s are coming back with their grandchildren. It’s a place of comfort and nostalgia. People who grew up here or came here for school and have moved away, come back and get the warm and fuzzies,” he said.