Please give us a brief description of your backstory.
I met my wife and business partner in culinary school, and we worked many different kitchen jobs over the years. While working at several restaurants in the Lower Mainland, we realized there was a massive disconnect between the cooks, the customers, and the source of our food. We decided we wanted to leave the city and learn how to grow our own food. While market gardening at a farm in the Shuswap, we began bringing a few loaves of bread to have on offer with the produce. Before we knew it, we were selling more bread than vegetables! We decided to stop farming commercially and focus solely on the baking, bringing our products to many markets around the interior. After a few years, it became apparent that we needed to open a storefront to keep up with the demand for our baking! We deliberated for quite a while before choosing Kamloops. We saw not only a significant need for a bakery on the North Shore, but also a wonderful neighbourhood and community. We settled in Kamloops in the fall of 2019 and three years later opened our doors to the public!
Tell us about your business?
Our business is not just a place to sell our wares, it’s a place for us to celebrate baking traditions from around the world. We specialize in old-world, country-style recipes which include loads of butter – and flavour! All of our breads and pastries are handmade, and that means no pre-made fillings or mixes; everything is made from scratch, fresh every day. But that also leads to human error, so that every item will be a little bit different – unique, and we love it that way!
What have been your successes, milestones, and challenges?
Our biggest business win so far has been the outpouring of support from our local community; not just Kamloops as a whole, but the North Shore specifically has been so supportive towards us moving in here. It’s why we chose to be here, both to live and work, because it is such a lovely neighbourhood!
What did you find most valuable in working with Community Futures Thompson Country?
What we found most valuable was the financial help. Not just the lending, but the help they provided with planning and ensuring our finances were in order was incredibly helpful. Community Futures has fairly strict lending requirements, but it’s to ensure we have our plans well thought out.
What advice would you give to others who want to open their own business?
Be prepared to work harder and longer than you ever have before. I’m not joking; it requires an incredible amount of hard work and dedication, but it can be so rewarding when it all comes together.
