The Bread Factory

THE BREAD FACTORY

BLENDING TRADITION WITH INNOVATION IN ARTISANAL BAKING Powered by Inside Food & Drink

Inside Marine 1 insidefoodanddrink.com

THE BREAD FACTORY

70 Inside food & drink

I PROFILE

Nestled in the heart of London, The Bread Factory has been setting the standard for artisanal baking for three decades. And now, as the company celebrates its 30th anniversary, Tara Griffin, the Bread Factory’s dynamic Head of Food Service, took Richard Hagan behind the oven doors to share the secrets of the Bread Factory’s success, explaining how traditional breadmaking methods – preservative- and additive-free - never go out of fashion.

E

stablished 30 years ago as an

customer base, demanding about 1,000

artisanal bakery, The Bread Factory

direct deliveries from The Bread Factory

has become synonymous with arti-

facilities every single day, showcases the

sanal breadmaking. “Right up until today, our focus remains on using traditional

scale of the company’s operations.

“The needs of those customers vary sig-

breadmaking methods and ensuring that

nificantly,” said Ms Griffin. “Being able to

our products are completely natural,” Tara

cater to these different segments makes

Griffin, Head of Food Service, explained.

us fairly unique in the market. Our clients have come to understand the quality that

A diverse customer base:

we can offer, and we’re committed to

Originally servicing 5-star hotels and

continuing all of those relationships by

Michelin restaurants, The Bread Factory has since broadened its reach, catering to national wholesalers, independent cafes, delis, restaurants, casual dining chains, contract caterers and more. This expansive

Inside food & drink 71

72 Inside food & drink

THE BREAD FACTORY

I PROFILE

The most exciting part of working at The Bread Factory is working with, talking about and being involved with food all the time ensuring that we maintain our quality

sector. It’s also a great opportunity for us

and flexibility, even as we grow bigger.”

because we want our products to be avail-

The other significant arm of The Bread

able to everyone, not just on the tables of

Factory’s business is the grocery sector.

fancy restaurants.”

The company recognised the growing demand for natural products in supermar-

Baking for the nation

kets, where preservatives are often used

To keep the nation’s tables stocked with

to extend shelf life.

delicious artisanal bread, The Bread

“We're continuing to strengthen our

Factory owns five production sites

presence in the grocery market,” Ms Griffin

around the UK. Its largest production site,

said. “We’re quite unique in the grocery

occupying 100,000 sqft, is located in

bread market because our products are

Hendon, London, and is responsible for

natural, which is more unusual for that

producing sourdoughs, pastries and

74 Inside food & drink

cakes. Next is its semi-automated bakery

Traditional baking at scale

in St Albans: that produces mainly burger

Despite its vast growth in the last three

buns and bread rolls, with some being

decades, The Bread Factory has not

produced fresh and some frozen.

wavered from its core values, as Ms

Two more sites - in Manchester and

Griffin explained: “We don’t do tempo-

Bath - operate regional wholesale

rary trends, and whilst we’re unlikely

offerings. And finally, The Bread Factory’s

to be offering the next rainbow bagel or

newest facility is located in Milton Keynes.

the next cruffin, we do forward-thinking

This new, highly automated facility spans

tradition very well, and that never goes

60,000 sqft and has additional room

out of fashion. That’s especially true

for future expansion. Its primary role

now, with consumers being more knowl-

at present is making burger buns.

edgeable than ever before, valuing the

“This site has a huge amount of poten-

quality and provenance of ingredients,

tial for us,” Ms Griffin said, “and adds

and the story behind the food that

more than 50 per cent capacity to our

they buy.”

overall capabilities.”

The company’s sales figures confirm

Across all five sites, The Bread Factory

this. Following some challenges during

employs approximately 1,000 staff mem-

Covid, The Bread Factory’s food service

bers ranging from skilled bakers to sales

business in particular has grown 20%

staff, new product development and

year-on-year. On the whole, its most

operations teams.

popular products continue to be burger

Inside food & drink 75

THE BREAD FACTORY

I PROFILE

“Our ability to produce artisanal recipes at scale is what makes us special,” said Ms Griffin: “we have huge agility as a business across our sites, both in size and ability. We happily occupy the middle ground between very large but inflexible producers making millions of products, and small producers who are doing amazing things, but sometimes lack the infrastructure that we can offer.”

Vital sustainable farming Sustainability and the planet’s wellbeing are both key concerns at The Bread Factory. This has led to the installation of solar panels on its larger facilitie, as well as various other interventions, such as its fleet of electric delivery vehicles and trials for using reusable crates instead of cardboard. Notably, the Bread Factory has also embarked on an buns, pastries and sourdough: “the

exciting sustainability project with

classics,” as Ms Griffin noted.

Wildfarmed, a regenerative flour co-oper-

Each day, The Bread Factory’s substantial scale is brought to bear as its facilities produce 200,000 units per

ative carrying out sustainable farming in the UK. “With growth and size comes a respon-

day across hundreds of SKUs for its cus-

sibility that we must take seriously,”

tomers all over Britain. This scale – plus the

Ms Griffin said. “We are in a position now

company’s flexibility - is a big part of what

where we are big enough to make a real

sets the company apart from competitors.

impact to farming methods, and this is

76 Inside food & drink

really important to us. By using grain

should never rest on our laurels.

that’s grown in the right way, we hope

You’ve got to always try to innovate

to make a significant difference to the

and move forward.”

way in which our farmland is treated as

Concluding, Ms Griffin highlighted both

well as how our crops are grown, and

her own and her colleagues’ passion for

the soil rotated.

the business: “The most exciting part of

“Making a difference is so important

working at The Bread Factory is working

to us, so our work with Wildfarmed is

with, talking about and being involved

really exciting for The Bread Factory.

with food all the time. We’ve got a team

And though we’ve already scored

of people who are trying to do some-

a lot of good wins with our sustainability

thing really transformational, and that’s

programmes, we firmly believe that we

especially exciting to be a part of.”

n

Inside food & drink 77