Of all the places Grandma Jeanne's mandel bread has ended up, the one that still gets us is the airport.
Denver International Airport is one of the busiest airports in the world. Somewhere in that river of travelers, at Sky Market stores in Terminals B and C, there is a peg wall with our pouches hanging on it. Grandma Jeanne's recipe, written on a piece of yellow notebook paper, boarding flights all day.
Here is the honest story of how that happened, which is shorter and luckier than you would guess.
It started with a friend
In the summer of 2025, a good friend of ours, Stephen Tetschner, gave us a push. Stephen spent over a decade in CPG sales before founding Shoreline Spirit, a Denver company doing embroidered apparel on sustainable materials, so when he says a product belongs somewhere, he is not guessing. His advice was simple: Sky Market at DIA would be a good place to stop into.
So we did what we always do, because it is the only sales strategy this family has ever had. We dropped off a sample.
Their team tried it and loved it. That July, Grandma Jeanne's mandel bread went up on the peg wall at DIA. A year later, we are in three stores across Terminals B and C.
Why it worked, honestly
We would love to tell you it was a brilliant pitch. It was the cookie, and it was a fit that we did not fully appreciate until we saw it in action.
An airport is the hardest room in retail for most fresh food. Products sit in high traffic, get grabbed in a hurry, and travel immediately after purchase, usually in a bag that gets stuffed under a seat. Most baked goods cannot survive that life.
Mandel bread was built for exactly that life, two hundred years before airports existed. It is twice-baked, so it is shelf-stable and sturdy. It is sealed in its pouch. And it is genuinely good at the end of the trip, not just the start. Grandma Jeanne packed her suitcase with desserts instead of clothes, and her cookie has been travel food since before any of us were born. The airport was not a stretch for it. It was a homecoming.
It also turned out to be a natural gift. The pouch wears the Colorado logo, so a traveler grabbing one on the way to a gate is holding a ready-made Colorado gift, no wrapping required.
What it means to us
For a small family bakery, DIA is the placement that changes conversations. It is the proof that a four-generation recipe can hold its own in one of the busiest retail environments in Colorado.
But the part we actually love is smaller. People buy a pouch in Terminal B and land somewhere far away, and Jeanne's mandel bread arrives with them, shared in an airport lounge or a relative's kitchen. She carried this cookie everywhere she went so she would never turn up empty-handed. Now it travels more than she ever did.
Where to find us at DIA
Look for our pouches on the peg wall at Sky Market stores in Terminals B and C, three locations. If you are not flying anytime soon, we are also at Leevers Locavore and Spinelli's Market around Denver, and as the welcome amenity at the ART Hotel downtown. Denver locals can order our gift boxes right on our site, and we ship locally. Everywhere else ships through Goldbelly.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I buy mandel bread at Denver International Airport?
Lazar Family Bakehouse MandelBites are available at Sky Market stores in Terminals B and C at DIA, in three locations. Look for the peg wall of local goods.
How long has Lazar Family Bakehouse been at DIA?
Since July 2025, starting with a single sample drop-off at Sky Market.
Does mandel bread travel well in a carry-on?
Better than almost any baked good. It is twice-baked, sealed, and sturdy, which is why it has been travel food for two centuries.