Made in the Midwest: Country Maid’s Recipe for Manufacturing Reliability

Every day, thousands of delicious pastries are carefully hand-braided and packaged in a manufacturing facility tucked into the small town of West Bend, Iowa. The products eventually make their way to school fundraisers, community organizations and kitchens across the country. But behind each box of pastries is a manufacturing operation built on consistency, engineering precision and strong partnerships.

For more than three decades, Country Maid has grown from a small, family-founded bakery into a nationally-recognized food manufacturer. Best known as the maker of the Butter Braid® Pastry, the company continues to expand its capabilities while staying rooted in the same Midwestern values that launched it.

Country Maid’s Butter Braid^® Pastry is produced in its West Bend, Iowa manufacturing facility.

Today, that growth is supported by trusted partners who help keep production lines running smoothly — including longtime electrical and automation partner Van Meter.

For Marc Banwart, vice president of engineering and technology, the partnership has been important from the start.

“I remember one of our first meetings with Van Meter,” Banwart says. “We had a situation where we needed help getting something up and running, and they went above and beyond to make it happen. From that point on, we knew they were a company we wanted to work with.”

That early experience helped build the foundation for a long-term collaboration that supports Country Maid’s commitment to manufacturing reliability and operational excellence.

A Family Story That Became a National Brand

Country Maid’s story begins with founders Ken and Marlene Banwart, who started making pastries in the kitchen and basement of their West Bend home during a challenging economic period.

What began as a way to bring in extra income quickly grew into something much larger. Their signature product — the Butter Braid® Pastry — became a cornerstone of school and community fundraising programs across the United States.

The business has grown far beyond its humble beginnings. Today, Country Maid manufactures cookie dough, cake rolls and a variety of products inside a modern, SQF-certified production facility — all located in the same hometown where the company was founded.

But while the scale of production has changed, the purpose behind the business has not.

Through its nationwide network of independent fundraising dealers, Country Maid has helped organizations raise more than $360 million for schools, teams and community programs. That commitment to community impact remains central to the company’s identity, helping others help each other.

Values That Guide the Work

Country Maid’s growth has always been grounded in the company’s Pillars of Achievement: Faith, Integrity, Attitude, Discipline, Relationships, Growth and Balance.

According to Banwart, those principles shape the company’s culture and decision-making at every level of the organization. For example, employees are encouraged to approach their work not simply as production tasks, but as part of a larger mission tied to relationships and community impact.

The company’s employee stock ownership program reinforces that culture by giving employees a personal stake in the company’s long-term success. Every team member is motivated to help maintain the standards that define Country Maid— from food safety and quality control to continuous improvement in production processes.

“When employees have ownership in the company, they see things differently,” Banwart says. “They take pride in the work and want to see the company continue to grow.”

Country Maid produces Butter Braid^® pastries and other products inside its modern, SQF‑certified manufacturing facility in West Bend, Iowa.

Building a Modern Food Manufacturing Operation

Producing high-quality food products at scale requires more than strong recipes. It demands sophisticated equipment, dependable processes and a focus on operational excellence in manufacturing.

Inside Country Maid’s production facility, Banwart’s team oversees the technology and infrastructure that supports the company’s production lines. Behind the scenes, this means integrating a variety of systems that support modern industrial automation, from production line controls to monitoring and maintenance systems designed to keep equipment performing reliably.

For manufacturers like Country Maid, minimizing downtime and maintaining equipment uptime is critical.

That’s where partnerships with experienced industrial automation suppliers become especially valuable. And that’s where Van Meter plays a key role.

A Supplier Partnership That Started with Going the Extra Mile

For Banwart, the partnership between Country Maid and Van Meter was cemented early in the company’s automation journey — during a cookie dough production project that introduced brand-new technology to the facility.

“A lot of the things we discovered as we started that first cookie dough project was that Van Meter was a lot like us in terms of their core values,” Banwart recalls. “The way they wanted to treat their customers is the way we want to treat ours — and how we want to be treated by our vendors.”

At the time, Country Maid was installing new automation equipment that relied on Rockwell Automation CompactLogix PLCs and PanelView Plus touchscreens. The technology was so new that the hardware wasn’t readily available anywhere in Iowa — or even much of the Midwest.

“Back then, it was brand-new technology,” Banwart says. “There really weren’t any units available for sale in Iowa or even the surrounding states.”

Instead of waiting weeks for equipment to arrive, the Van Meter team found another solution: it offered Country Maid the use of its own training demonstration units — equipment typically reserved for internal instruction.

“They had these demo briefcases they used for training,” Banwart remembers. “They told us, ‘You’ve already ordered the equipment, so go ahead and take these and get started.’” Banwart and a colleague drove to Van Meter’s Des Moines location (at the time located on the east side of the city) to pick up the cases.

“We drove down there and picked up two briefcases,” Banwart says. “One had a touchscreen, and the other had a PLC and power supplies. I sat in the back seat on the drive back to West Bend and started programming right there. It was the first time I had programmed in Logix 5000.”

For Banwart, the experience left a lasting impression.

“That’s always stuck with us,” he says of the Van Meter team. “They did something they didn’t have to do, and it really drove home the fact that there’s something about Midwest values and the level of trust between businesses.”

Collaboration That Strengthens Midwest Manufacturing

While Van Meter provides the electrical and automation support behind the scenes, the relationship is built on more than components alone.

Partnerships like the one between Country Maid and Van Meter reflect a broader trend across midwest industrial manufacturing, such as companies working together to build stronger and more resilient operations.

“Working with companies that understand your operation and want to help you succeed makes a huge difference,” Banwart says.

That collaborative approach mirrors the kind of partnership often found in advanced manufacturing environments, where suppliers and manufacturers work closely together to improve processes and implement new technologies.

The result is a manufacturing environment that is both innovative and resilient.

Looking Ahead

As Country Maid continues to expand its product offerings and production capabilities, the company remains committed to the values that shaped its beginnings. For Banwart, that means continuing to invest in technology, partnerships and people.

“We’re always looking for ways to improve what we do,” he says. “Whether it’s new equipment, new processes or new products, the goal is to keep moving forward.”

With strong community roots, a growing national presence and partners like Van Meter helping support its operations, Country Maid is well positioned to continue delivering the manufacturing reliability that has defined its business for more than three decades.

“Having partners you can trust makes all the difference,” Banwart says. “That’s what allows us to keep doing what we do best.”