THE BREAD FACTORY
BLENDING TRADITION WITH INNOVATION IN ARTISANAL BAKING Powered by Inside Food & Drink
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THE BREAD FACTORY
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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
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THE BREAD FACTORY
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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
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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
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THE BREAD FACTORY
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“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
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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
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