Community Supported Baking

WHAT IS A COMMUNITY SUPPORTED BAKERY?

A CSB is not simply a bakery, but one in which the risks and rewards of the enterprise are shared. It’s true that local bakeries are supported by people in the community around the shop buying loaves, but only as and when they feel like it. For a bakehouse or bakery to be considered a CSB there must be a greater level of involvement and commitment shared between consumer and bakery. There needs to be some blurring between the ‘me baker and you customer’ line, with each becoming what the Slow Food movement would call a co-producer.

All in all, a community supported bakery, is bakery which sells its fare through programs using the CSA business model, where community members come together to participate in buying bakery products in a weekly delivery and purchasing program in a preordered format. This in turn lowers waste for the environment, lowers cost for the end consumer, and creates a more secure income for the baker.

The inspiration for Community Supported Baking comes from Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), which The Soil Association describes as “A partnership between farmers and consumers where, at best, the responsibilities and rewards of farming are shared.”

As a micro-bakeries take on a similar business structure as a local business, this same principal is applied in the same way. making it much safer financially for both the baker and consumer.

Benefits Of Community Supported Baking?

Benefits for the baker

• Help from local people to set up a new bakery
• Capital
• A secure predictable market
• Labour
• A supportive social life, sense of belonging
• Practical help with distribution

Benefits for the consumer

• Connection to where your bakery items comes from
• Learning about baking
• Community development
• Source of exceptional quality bread
• Fair trade – a fair price to the baker, the consumer and perhaps even back through the chain to the producers and suppliers of basic ingredients
• A financial stake in an ethical enterprise

How Community Supported Baking Works?

Like the Community Supported Agriculture business model, the CSB works on a weekly delivery of fare made fresh every delivery, and made by a local baker.

A Community Supported Bakery provides you with the opportunity to try many different styles of breads and/or pastries, all made with locally-sourced ingredients of the highest quality. Each week we will bake you a loaf of our amazing artisan bread and or other pastries in full or partial batches each week. All of our bakery item made using a slow fermentation, which gives the bread improved digestibility and nutritional content. Our Breads and Pastries showcase a variety of flavors and wheats. Each of our loaves are 0.75 Kilograms.

If you are afraid that you will be out of town, you can designate a pickup or delivery person. You can even designate a neighbor and surprise them with fresh bread.

Each week interested customers are asked to order according to our production schedule and corresponding ready times, which don’t repeat on a weekly bases. If a returning member we ask that you email us for a recurring share in order to keep things simple and all you do is approve payment each week and wait for your delivery time and date.