During the City Council Meeting on Tuesday, September 18, 2018, Mayor Guyton and honored Chris Cochran, who is apart of the 3rd generation owning Cochran’s Bakery, with a proclamation for winning the “Sweetest Bakery in Alabama” award. Cothran’s Bakery, has been a local iconic bakery in town since 1962 and they are located at 440 George Wallace Drive, Gadsden, AL 35903 across from The Venue at Coosa Landing. 

Cothran’s Bakery entered the National Dawn Foods Bakery Supplier Competition, called the “Sweetest Bakery in America.”  The competition had over 900 bakeries in the United States who participated. The general public was allowed to vote online and in the stores for their favorite bakery from April through July of 2018. The contest received hundreds of thousands of votes nationwide, and Cothran’s Bakery won the “Sweetest Bakery in Alabama” portion of the contest, out beating all the other bakeries in the state. Cothran’s will receive prize money and a plaque from Dawn Food for winning the state portion of the competition.

In August of 1962, Cothran’s Bakery originally began as a Shipley Donut franchise,  and the business was located on Forrest Avenue. In 1963, the business relocated to their current location in East Gadsden, and established their brand as one of the best doughnuts shops in town. In 1994, the Cothran’s Bakery as we know it was born, and the family decided to become an independent retail bakery.