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SUMMER LABOR PLANNING | NEW REVENUE STREAMS | BREAD SCORING | FLOUR BAKERY+CAFE

INSIGHTS AND INSPIRATION FOR THE RETAIL BAKING COMMUNITY

STARSHIP BAGEL Q1 2026

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AVA N T F OO D M E D I A Paul Lattan

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CR AF T TO C RU M B Paul Lattan

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Mari Rydings

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Jordan Winter

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Olivia Siddall

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Annie Hollon

Digital Editor annie@avantfoodmedia.com

The Fine Print Craft to Crumb is published by Avant Food Media, 1703 Wyandotte St., Suite 300, Kansas City, MO 64108. Craft to Crumb considers its sources reliable and verifies as much data as possible, although reporting inaccuracies can occur. Consequently, readers using this information do so at their own risk. Craft to Crumb is distributed with the understanding that the publisher is not liable for errors and omissions. Although persons and companies mentioned herein are believed to be reputable, neither Avant Food Media nor any of its employees accept any responsibility for their activities. The Craft to Crumb mini-mag is produced in the USA and all rights are reserved.

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HOT TAKES: Top Trends in Retail Baking

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FE ATURE D BAKE RY: Starship Bagel

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Summer Labor Planning

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COV E R : Starship Bagel’s par-baking technique has generated big business and national acclaim. Photo by Avant Food Media

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Craft to Crumb A Note From The Editor

CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT I’ve heard interesting commentary about resolutions lately. There’s a school of thought around the notion of entering the new year, not as a “new you,” but instead as the best form of you. It’s about becoming the best version of yourself instead of another one. I like to think of this as continuous improvement. That’s a term more typically used in manufacturing settings, but I think it works well for craft baking, too.

JOANIE SPENCER E d i t o r- i n - C h i e f joanie@avantfoodmedia.com

I see bakers practicing continuous improvement all the time. Just look at Starship Bagel, this issue’s cover story. This Lewisville, TX, bakery wasn’t about creating an all-new bagel but creating a version of it that matched founder Oren Salomon’s passion for the classic staple. That quest ultimately led to not only two BagelFest wins but also a James Beard Award nomination and the opening of its third location. We are all about sharing these stories to inspire you to think about how you can make your products the best they can be all year long.

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So, what are your goals for 2026? What refinements are you making to your baked goods or business? How will you show up this year as the best version of your brand? We’d love to hear from you … and in the meantime, Happy New Year, and cheers to a prosperous year!

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Craft to Crumb Hot Takes

HOT TAKES Photo courtesy of Alexander’s Patisserie

Photo courtesy of Botanical Bakeshop

BOTANICAL CHARM

LEVELED LAMINATION

Floral and botanical flavors lend an elegant flair to delicate treats and pastries. Lavender macarons, elderflower cake and rosemary thyme focaccia are among the many ways to incorporate these trending flavors.

It’s hard to imagine a croissant without its honeycomb-like, flaky interior texture, but bakers are reimagining this pastry staple by intentionally compressing the dough and baking it in a 2D form.

Photo courtesy of Supermoon Bakehouse

Photo courtesy of Salswee

IS IT FRUIT?

GOING, GOING ... GLOBAL

Meticulously crafted to look exactly like their inspiration, these hyper-realistic fruit pastries are gaining popularity with customers due to the combination of their aesthetic appeal, fruit-forward flavors and vibrant colors.

International flavors are influencing menu development as customers seek the experience of home-based travel. Bakers are turning sweet treats into savory delights by incorporating daikon, kimchi, curry and chili crisps.

Craft to Crumb Seasonal Spotlight | Summer Labor Planning

A CUSTOMIZED

APPROACH When it comes to labor, “seasonal” takes on a whole new meaning. BY CINDY ARORA

For retail bakeries, busy seasons aren’t just about selling products; they’re also about having the right people to help get through it. Holidays, summer tourism and farmers market side hustles are all part of the seasonal calendar bakery owners must consider when planning labor for the year.

At Three Brothers Bakery, the dog days of summer are when b usiness slows down, and the high-p roduction team can catch its breath. Janice Jucker, who co-owns the 76-year-old Houston bakery with her husband, takes advantage of this downtime by keeping the

“Summer for us means making pie shells,” Janice said. “We make doughs and pie shells and freeze them. We try to make as many as we can because our pie season during the holidays is robust. We make 10,000 to 15,000 pies. In November and December, we make 30 percent of our revenue.” While other bakeries may see an uptick in customer count thanks to summer tourism, for Janice and her team, ’tis the season to prep for the holidays and deep clean the kitchen. This has been an ideal way for the bakery to provide steady labor hours — even during slower times — for a crew that’s been part of the team for years. Karen Bornarth, executive director of The Bread Bakers Guild of

To stay profitable without burning out staff, many bakers are rethinking what smart labor planning looks like and what will work best for their businesses.

bakers busy with inventory buffering for the holidays.

America, works with retail bakery owners on what it takes to set up a business. Guild members come in with creativity and recipes, and Karen helps with the logistics. One challenge retail bakeries face is labor and operational organization during busy seasons, and some options can often be found in a bakery’s own kitchen. “Cross-training your staff is a great way to handle the ups and downs of seasonality,” Karen said. “But you have to start it as soon as possible, make it attractive to your staff and pay as much as your bottom line allows. Some bakeries will spend so much on overtime that they lose all the money they make, so understanding additional labor doesn’t always mean profit is important.”

She added that cross-training can be a creative way to work with labor. This could mean training front-of-house staff to also work at a farmers market stall, or how to frost cakes, scoop cookies, make scone dough or crimp pie crust. At Orchard Hill Breadworks in Alstead, NH, spring and summer aren’t just busy; they turn the bakery into a travel destination. Great weather, weekly farmers market stands, communal pizza nights and bike rides that bring everyone together are just a few of the reasons why this country bakery has two very different seasons: summer and every other month after the warm season ends. For Noah Elbers, owner of Orchard Hill, the bakery isn’t just a place

people go for a summer job. It can also be a career. He treats employees with this understanding. “As much as I love high school students, I can’t hire a bunch of them just for the summer because then they all go back to school before Labor Day, which is our busiest time of the year,” Noah said. “I can’t do that to my full-time staff who are here all year long. So, I offer a career. And through the winter, we know we will be OK, and I don’t restrict hours. I find creative ways for the staff to fill their time. I have built a system to make the most of downtime, knowing we will come roaring back in the spring, and I need everyone ready.” Along with keeping his full-time staff busy during the summer months, Noah is continually in search of new employees who are interested in the art of bread making. He offers an apprenticeship program, which trains people for highly skilled positions.

Photo courtesy of Orchard Hill Breadworks

“I am always putting out feelers and looking ahead at what gaps exist in my labor plans and what critical spots still need to be filled,” he said. “I know we aren’t the same business in the summer that we are in the winter, but we make adaptations, and we are ready for it.” Seasons mean different things to different bakeries, depending on geography, time of year and even the labor pool. It’s never a one-sizefits-all scenario, but with strategic foresight, bakeries can have a team for all seasons.

Craft to Crumb Featured Bakery | Starship Bagel

A MODERN MILIEU

With a firm grasp on the past and future, Starship Bagel has earned its seat at the table. BY MADDIE LAMBERT

The bagel has seen its fair share of evolution. Once solely a Polish-Jewish street food, the boiled-and-baked rings have become a global breakfast and snack staple. Shifting from their original dense format, bagels have transformed into a softer, chewier vehicle for flavor-packed schmears and layered sandwiches. This is thanks, in part, to the commercial and artisan innovations that made them accessible to mass markets. Amidst its rising popularity, it’s important to remember the bagel’s roots, and this is a task Starship Bagel in Lewisville, TX, doesn’t take lightly. The shop was born from a mission to revive the magic behind a traditional New York bagel, and before Starship even had a name, founder Oren Salomon dug into the product’s history to fully grasp what made a classic bagel so special. As part of this research, Oren discovered that bakers’ goals for bagels had changed … thus beginning the bread p roduct’s evolution. “Effectively, what happened is that bagels went from being this niche ethnic food to being food for the entire city,”

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All photos by Avant Food Media

WATCH NOW

Get an exclusive look behind the bake at Starship Bagel. 15

Craft to Crumb Starship Bagel

he said. “There was an influence of deli and bodega culture turning a bagel into sandwich bread, and the goal of the bagel was to use it as a vessel, as opposed to the way I grew up eating it, which was either by itself or drenched in cream cheese.” This passion for a classic bagel led Oren to make his first homemade batch in 2017, and sharing the product with family and friends kick-started the bagel business. The cottage baker quickly outgrew his home space and needed additional resources, which led him to bake in a local church kitchen and start a bagel delivery pop-up. Here’s the thing about a baker’s journey … it sits at the intersection of fate and circumstance. After a series of challenges that led to a two-year hiatus, an opportunity with Emily Winston, founder and CEO of Boichik Bagels in B erkeley, CA, propelled Oren back into the bagel world. That experience paved the way for Starship Bagel to open its flagship location, where it gained a reputation for putting the bagel before the schmears and toppings. To achieve the ideal crispy exterior and deep, chewy interior traditional bagels are known for, Starship uses Sir Lancelot Hi-Gluten Flour from King Arthur Baking Co. and ferments the dough for two to three days. While the longer fermentation time could be seen as a hindrance to production capacity

WATCH NOW:

Oren Salomon shares how the bakery ramped up following a second BagelFest win.

and walk-in space, it’s exactly what the dough needs to become a Starship bagel.

around and got connected with a landlord of a 200-square-foot shack in downtown Dallas.”

The Lewisville location was a relatively effective launching pad for the business, but it needed a sizable customer base to sustain it. While Starship Bagel serves a small variety of sandwiches, the lineup was designed as dressed-up versions of a classic bagel and schmear.

The space ended up being exactly what the bakery needed. The second location officially opened in January 2023, and Starship hit the jackpot.

After repeated requests for items not on the menu, the bakery ultimately found itself at a crossroads. Should Starship keep its menu true to the original vision, or restructure to include more mainstream options? “I knew the solution lay in higher foot traffic, so I thought, ‘What if I had a satellite location, and I just brought the bagels from Lewisville to it? Could I make that work?’” Oren recalled. “I started asking

“We got extremely lucky,” Oren said. “The Dallas location got mobbed by influencers, and within a few weeks, there was an editorial piece that came out in CultureMap that rated us the number one bagel in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.” For a while, the Dallas location was the primary store in terms of revenue, accounting for 80% of total sales and garnering national attention. Starship was listed on Bon Appetit’s list of top 24 bagels outside New York City. As the only Texas-based bakery on the list, it quickly became known as the best bagel in the Lone Star State. The

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Craft to Crumb Starship Bagel

WATCH NOW Oren Salomon details Starship Bagel’s new par-baking style.

bakery was then invited to the 2023 New York BagelFest, where it won first place. The success of the second location and subsequent media coverage catapulted Starship to the point that it was ready for a third location in North Dallas. Throw in a second BagelFest win and a James Beard Award nomination — both in 2025 — and it’s easy to see Starship Bagel has found its groove. “It’s taken winning national awards to finally get to the point where we have a sustainable business selling mostly just bagels,” Oren said. “I knew this was going to be a long road because carving out a niche is always a challenge. I’m just thankful we’ve connected with a big enough audience now. Slowly but surely, people are coming to appreciate the bagel on the bagel’s terms.” Burgeoning business led to opportunities for nationwide shipping and wholesale accounts. But Oren’s commitment to artisan methods meant a challenge for the bakery to meet growing demand without sacrificing the quality Starship was known for. At the 2025 International Baking Industry Exposition, he discovered a whole new curriculum in preserving bagels: the power of par-baking.

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After tinkering with the technique, Starship now has a par-baking process that can take place at the flagship location while keeping up with product demand across all three storefronts and the wholesale business. What

was once a “dirty word” to the bagel connoisseur became the key to unlocking consistent quality and increased production capacity. The par-bake technique involves the same steps of the original process: Mix the ingredients from scratch, place the dough into the AM MFG Bagel Forming Machine, ferment the formed bagels for two days, proof them until they’re ready to go into the kettle and then place them in a malted boil. Simple enough, since Starship only uses one type of dough for this process. The par-bakes all start with plain bagels, and, in the interest of simplicity, they’re baked in the same order as before: They start on the burlap-wrapped wooden boards, and then they get launched into the Picard Rotating Deck Oven with the bottoms up — a crucial part of both the par-bake and regular bagel bake process — before being flipped onto the hearth to finish baking. Right after the flip to the hearth is where the par-bake comes into play. The bakers pull the bagels out a touch early, then cool them fully before freezing. After that, they are ready for transport. However, hydration is the final and most important part of the process … and the key to Starship’s classic crispy exterior and chewy interior. After the bagels have been shipped off to their next location, the team behind the benches pulls them from the freezer and

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Craft to Crumb Starship Bagel

“I wouldn’t have pursued par-baking if it were just a logistical or operational improvement. I’m pursuing it because it’s a better-quality product.” Oren Salomon | founder | Starship Bagel

dips them in water to rehydrate the frozen dough. At that point, the bagels can be seeded based on store demand and then baked in a convection oven at each location. Safe to say, Starship was forever changed. This technique was such a triumph that it led to a complete overhaul of the business model, with the team going all-in on par-baking. While the bakery still operates on a hub-and-spoke model from the flagship, by the end of the year, each location will receive a stock delivery of frozen par-baked bagels to be baked fresh at all hours of the day. The new process solves Starship’s production crunch by allowing the three separate bagel shops to serve hot, fresh bagels baked throughout the week. “I wouldn’t have pursued this if it were just a logistical or operational improvement,” Oren said. “I’m pursuing it because it’s a better-quality product.” Par-baking also offers the bakery a new level of versatility, one that gives the bottom line a boost. Since the bagels are all initially baked plain, they become a blank canvas for creation. Before the bakery adopted the par-baking technique, orders for wholesale included fully baked plain, sesame and everything. Now, Starship Bagel will offer the end-user — whether it be a consumer, cafe or restaurant —

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the ability to add unconventional toppings and flavors to make it a one-of-a-kind creation. “Being able to customize bagels at that level and bake them at home to share with family or friends creates really meaningful moments,” Oren said. “And from an inventory standpoint, having one SKU is really powerful because it makes it a lot easier to maintain supply.” So, what’s next for a bakery that virtually has nowhere to go but up? Going mobile. Dubbed the “Starship World Tour,” Starship Bagel will hit the road, bringing a taste of Texas- created, New York-inspired bagels to consumers via a decked out tour bus of sorts. What was once a dream is now achievable thanks to the bagel shop’s par-baking method and national achievements. By prioritizing attributes that may be glossed over in modern bagel production, Starship has achieved what it set out to: Let bagels be food for everyone, while keeping an intense focus on quality without deviation. Starship Bagel, true to its name, is soaring. “Anytime we become aware of a way to make our bagels better, we pursue it immediately,” Oren said. “It’s what started the business, and it’s what we’re doing with the par-bake right now. I’m really proud of all we’ve accomplished in the past five years, but I honestly feel like we’re just getting started.”

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Craft to Crumb Product Showcase | Starship Bagel

PRODUCT

SHOWCASE

Starship Bagel serves thousands of Texas residents artisan bagels from three strategically located storefronts. Get a peek at a few of the bagel shop’s most sought-after menu items.

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Photos 1-4 by Paul Torres; photo 5 by Alison David | All photos courtesy of Starship Bagel

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M I L L E N N I A L FA L C O N C R E A M C H E E S E , S M A S H E D AV O C A D O , T O M AT O , SPROUTS, PICKLED ONIONS AND RED PEPPER FLAKES

PRE TZEL BAGEL D I P P E D I N LY E , S P R I N K L E D W I T H S A LT A N D B A K E D U N T I L G O L D E N B R O W N F O R A M A LT Y, C H E W Y F I N I S H

PL AIN BAGEL MADE WITH KING ARTHUR’S SIR LANCELOT HI- GLUTEN F L O U R A N D F E R M E N T E D F O R M O R E T H A N T W O D AY S

S U P E R N O VA L O X A N D B A G E L CL ASSIC BAGEL AND LOX PILED HIGH WITH CAPERS , T O M AT O , O N I O N A N D C U C U M B E R

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Craft to Crumb Baker Profile | Jeremy Motley

MIDNIGHT BAKER

While most slumber, Starship’s overnight baker is making award-winning bagels by the dozen. BY ANNIE HOLLON

No matter the specialty, it’s not uncommon for bakers to work odd hours to ensure bakery cases are filled by the time the shop opens. For Jeremy Motley, the overnight baker at Starship Bagel in Lewisville, TX, it’s less an early wake-up call and more a bagel-making all-nighter. Single-handedly, he churns out hundreds of bagels for the bakery’s three storefronts and various wholesale accounts, all before most people hit snooze in the morning. Photo courtesy of Starship Bagel

Jeremy hasn’t always been the primary baker. When he first joined the shop two and a half years ago, he worked in the front-of-house, waiting for a baking position to open up. “I’ve done it all,” Jeremy said. “I started on the sandwich station, and to help out, I did bagel packing, barista, cashier, bagging, delivery; whatever needed doing, I’d do.” Jeremy’s no stranger to baking. Backed by years of experience in the food industry, his first foray into the baking sector was nearly a decade ago at a national

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bagel chain. Though learning how to make artisan bagels the Starship way was a new challenge. “I baked at other places, but none of that experience transferred,” he shared. “This is a very different style. When I started working here, baking was a clean slate; it was all new to me.” In July 2024, Jeremy transitioned from being the bakery’s utility player into the baking department. He went all in on learning the method.

On an average day, Jeremy arrives at the flagship shop and baking hub — affectionately known as the Mothership — around midnight, setting up the kettle, oven and toppings, with some background music to boot. He boils, tops and bakes hundreds of bagels until about 5 or 6 a.m., ducking out before the shop opens at 7.

Part of this high standard of quality is what made him hesitant to adopt the par-baking technique Starship’s founder Oren Salomon learned about during the 2025 International Baking Industry Exposition. While against it at first, taking a bite of that bagel fresh from the oven ahead of BagelFest changed Jeremy’s perspective.

Starship Bagel took home the Best Bagel prize at BagelFest 2025 in November. Jeremy played a vital role in the bakery’s big win, crafting the entries in Texas, which were then blast frozen, shipped to New York and baked off the day of the competition. As a result of the recognition, Jeremy and the dough and baking teams have had to step up the output. Prior to the win, the team was producing about 12,000 bagels a week. After, it jumped nearly twofold, requiring the Starship bakers to make nearly 2,000 bagels before 8 a.m. daily to keep up with increased demand.

“I cried because the bagel was that good,” he said. “I was like, ‘This is a better bagel. There’s no way around it.’ Everything I thought I knew about dough and baking bagels was gone ... It’s an otherworldly bagel. Once we roll them out at the other stores, it’s going to be mind-blowing.”

A few years into his role with this Texas bakery, he’s found his groove — and love — for bagel making, always learning and finding new ways to improve on the process. “Being able to make an actual, honest-to-God bagel — and not only a bagel, but one of, if not the best, bagel in the entire world — is astronomically amazing,” Jeremy said. “Some people don’t like going to work, but I love it; I can’t wait to come in here.” That late night labor of love is what keeps Starship’s cases stocked with award-winning bagels ... and the midnight baker wouldn’t have it any other way.

LISTEN NOW Jeremy Motley shares his hands-on approach to bagel making.

“I really don’t know what happened this year, it’s crazy,” he said. “My first fear was that we wouldn’t be able to keep up, but we’re doing much better than expected.” As Starship’s primary bagel baker, Jeremy holds himself not only to the bakery’s quality standards but also his own, even in the face of higher traffic than ever before. Photo by Avant Food Media

“I refuse to dip my quality to meet demand,” he said. “There are just things you’ve got to figure out, like, ‘How could I make four times more bagels in the same amount of time?’ We made it work.”

Craft to Crumb Business Insight | New Revenue Streams

BUILDING INCOME

THAT LASTS

Five ways to diversify revenue without burning out. BY CHEF KIMBERLY HOUSTON

Bakers are makers, creators, problem solvers, early risers and late-night finishers. They are often the first hands in the kitchen and the last ones to leave the shop. They produce the pastries people celebrate with, the bread families rely on and the treats that remind customers of home. But behind the artistry lies a daily grind that few outside this industry truly understand. In today’s retail baking landscape, that grind is getting heavier. Ingredient prices rise without warning. Staffing comes in waves … full one week, short the next. Customers shift their habits based on seasons, trends and algorithms. And while bakers always show up with devotion to their craft, many are financially standing on a single, fragile leg: one primary revenue stream. That’s a vulnerability the industry can no longer afford to ignore. Bakers have always been resilient, but resilience isn’t just about pushing through long hours or handling challenges with grit. It’s also about building a business that can withstand change. Diversifying revenue isn’t a trend; it’s a safeguard. And more importantly, it’s a way for bakers to reclaim time, margin and stability

without sacrificing the love that brought them into the craft. For many independent bakeries, the bulk of revenue comes from walk-in sales. But the rhythm of retail bakery life is deeply seasonal, and a slow week can shift the entire month. Diversification is about redistributing risk and unlocking new ways to serve customers. This isn’t about doing more for the sake of doing more. Bakers already wear enough hats; they don’t need another job added to the list. D iversification involves identifying opportunities that align with the bakery’s strengths, customer base and capacity. It’s not about hustling harder. It’s about creating revenue streams that support the lives and the b usinesses bakers are trying to build. There are five categories where bakers often see the most success when expanding their income: Products that travel beyond the case. Signature mixes, jams, sauces and shelf-stable goods allow a bakery’s best flavors to leave the shop and live in customers’ homes. Even small runs

“Diversifying revenue isn’t a trend; it’s a safeguard ….. It’s a way for bakers to reclaim time, margin and stability without sacrificing the love that brought them into the craft.” Chef Kimberly Houston | pastry chef, educator and business strategist

can offer high margins and steady add-on sales. Experiences that turn customers into a community. Workshops, tours, tastings and decorating classes aren’t just revenue drivers; they also deepen the connection. Bakers are teachers by nature, and customers crave behind-thescenes moments that feel special and personal.

subscription boxes and limited- edition pastries create urgency and excitement, often becoming an annual tradition that customers look forward to. Before diving in, it’s important to evaluate every idea through four simple filters to ensure it’s the right opportunity. Fast win | Can it launch in 30 days?

Partnerships that can multiply impact. Whether it’s wholesaling to a local coffee shop, crafting corporate gift boxes or collaborating with a brewery for a pairing flavor, partnerships allow bakers to reach new markets without adding more hours to the workday.

High margin | Does it earn real profit?

Digital products with infinite reach. Many bakers underestimate how much knowledge they carry. A simple e-book, recipe guide or virtual class can generate revenue repeatedly without requiring physical kitchen space or daily production.

If an idea meets at least three criteria, it’s worth exploring. This clarity matters in an industry where burnout runs high and time runs short. Bakers don’t need more tasks; they need better levers.

Seasonal specials that can spark anticipation. Holiday kits,

Brand fit | Does it align with the bakery’s identity and customers? Repeatable | Can it run season after season without reinvention?

The future belongs to the bakers who build stability. Diversification is ultimately an act of love, not only for the business but also

for a baker’s wellbeing. It allows breathing room. It offers a cushion on the slow weeks and fuel on the high-volume ones. It creates a path where passion and profit can coexist. Bakers already give so much of themselves. D iversification gives something back. In a craft built on precision and heart, the business model deserves the same care. And when bakers strengthen their revenue foundation, they’re not just protecting their shops. They’re also preserving the artistry, heritage and joy that define this profession. Chef Kimberly Houston is a pastry chef, educator and b usiness strategist who helps artisan bakers and creative entrepreneurs build profitable, resilient and aligned businesses. She is the founder of Houston Collective and the creator behind Teach Me How to Bake and Kitchen Table Dreams. Kimberly also serves as the events and engagement manager for the Retail Bakers of America and hosts the organization’s The Perfect Rise podcast. Contact Kimberly at kimberlyihouston.com.

Craft to Crumb Design Tech | Bread Scoring

SETTLING

THE SCORE Bread scoring is more than just a technical necessity. By moving beyond the practical slash — whether with seasonal flair or daring experimentation — bread makers can elevate their loaves while providing the proper ventilation needed to attain the ideal texture. With patience and practice, loaves can go from functional to artful. Craft to Crumb partnered with Cheyenne Santana of Dough Lovely Sourdough to show what designs can be created with a simple bread lame. Materials needed: Bread lame or razor, small pair of shears, toothpick

WATCH NOW Click to watch Cheyenne’s bread scoring video tutorial.

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02.

Near the bottom of each section, make shallow, angled cuts alternating from left to right that resemble wheat stalks.

03.

Use small shears pointing outward to snip the dough, forming a repeated leaf-style shape that fills the row.

04.

Repeat snipping technique on the row closest to the loaf’s edge, framing the wheat stalk lines.

05.

Use a toothpick to add decorative ventilation points along the remaining blank row.

06.

Eight to 10 minutes into the bake, rescore the loaf’s original expansion cuts and place it back in the oven until fully baked.

All photos courtesy of Cheyenne Santana

01.

Outline the main, four-way cross with a lame or razor. Inside each panel, add three parallel cuts following the main lines.

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SOTTORIVA

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ROLL LINE

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Craft to Crumb To Build A Bakery

Photos by Brian Samuels (left) and Kristin Teig

FLOUR BAKERY + CAFE

IN FULL BLOOM BY ANNIE HOLLON

There’s something truly special about the neighborhood bakery. For local customers, it’s an intimate “third space” stocked with from-scratch creations. Working in this type of environment early on was formative for Joanne Chang, and she carried that culture into the creation of Flour Bakery + Cafe. With 10 — soon to be 11 — brick-and-mortar locations across Boston and a 6,800-squarefoot commissary supporting them all, the bakery has cemented its place as a community staple. But businesses don’t earn that kind of repute overnight; Flour’s journey is decades in the making.

SPONSORED BY KING ARTHUR BAKING CO. To Build a Bakery features growth stories from bakeries of all scales. Explore the series at crafttocrumb.com/TBAB.

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Craft to Crumb To Build A Bakery

“At the time, there wasn’t a bakery in Boston that I felt did what I wanted to do, so I said, ‘Well, if it doesn’t exist, then I’m going to see if I can create it myself.’” Joanne Chang | co-owner | Flour Bakery + Cafe

While now an established industry professional with several cookbooks and a James Beard award, Joanne never imagined p ursuing baking as anything more than a hobby. After graduating with honors from Harvard University, she dove headfirst into corporate life. She had no intention of pivoting until she reached a crossroads in her career. “After two years of consulting, all my peers were going to business school or staying and growing within their companies,” she said. “I just knew that wasn’t for me.” She veered left, nabbing a job as garde-manger cook at Biba restaurant. From there, she fell in love with the foodservice industry, and eventually, the structure from the pastry bench beckoned.

“I was always hanging out at the pastry station, trying a little bit of this and that, learning new skills and playing around with the mixers,” Joanne said. Her career as a pastry chef began at Bentonwood Bakery, a scratch bakery in Newton, MA. After various other roles in the bakery world over the course of six years, Joanne saw an opportunity not only to move back to Boston but also to take her career into her own hands. “At the time, there wasn’t a bakery in Boston that I felt did what I wanted to do, so I said, ‘Well, if it doesn’t exist, then I’m going to see if I can create it myself,’” she said. While working as a pastry chef at Mistral in Boston, Joanne assembled the business plan for her

WANT MORE ON FLOUR BAKERY + CAFE?

There’s more to the story at crafttocrumb.com.

Photo by Leah Willis

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prospective bakery, drawing inspiration from her previous roles. Her experience at Bentonwood, specifically, was a major influence on how she approached Flour. In fact, she reached out to her former boss for insight on how to build a b usiness in a similar way. From there, it was time to find funding. Rather than take out business loans, Joanne opted for investments from family and friends, raising more than $300,000.

The thought of expanding with a second location didn’t cross Joanne’s mind until years later. With insight from Christopher Myers, her restaurateur husband and co-owner of Flour, she realized adding another storefront would help keep the bakery strong, opening the door for its team members to flourish further. “Opening the second location allowed them to move up into positions that previously weren’t open to them,” Joanne said. Joanne and Christopher opened the next Flour location in 2007 … with many more in the years following. Identifying spots near an anchor location — whether it be a school,

Photo by Kristin Teig

Finding the first storefront took Joanne about two years, during which time she locked down musthave resources. Once she signed the lease on a space in Boston’s South End, she hit the ground running and opened Flour just three months later.

museum or hospital — became foundational to locking in future storefronts. Close proximity to public transportation is also a key consideration that’s valuable for customers and Flour Bakery employees alike. “We want to be accessible to everyone,” Joanne said. “In Boston, there are pretty good subway and bus systems, so we always make sure that we’re close by.” Since its founding in the early aughts, Flour Bakery + Cafe has come a long way, and Joanne has learned a lot, including the importance of communication. “You’re not a one-person shop,” Joanne said. “You’re going to have people working for you, and you’re going to have expectations of what

their job is and what great performance is. If you don’t communicate that to them, then you have little chance of them being successful.” Joanne pulled from past roles to inform aspects such as menu items and equipment, as well as what it takes to work in this industry. She urges those considering opening a bakery to do the same. “Just like you wouldn’t operate on somebody or go try a case without having practiced it,” she said, “I wouldn’t open a bakery without working in a bakery.” As with all its growth until this point, the future of Flour lies in its next generation of employees looking to grow in the business and in finding new neighborhoods in which to establish roots.

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Craft to Crumb Bakers Doing Good

BAKERS

DOING GOOD GOOD GOOD GOOD GOOD GOOD GOOD

Many retail bakers are inspired to give back to the communities they serve. Check out a few bakeries standing out in the philanthropic space.

PORTO’S BAKERY.

This bakery chain is committed to community involvement for each of its six locations through a wide range of initiatives. Porto’s partners with Children’s Hospital Los Angeles on campaigns such as Giving Tuesday and Make March Matter to provide resources, support the Helping Hands Fund and ensure continued care for patients. The bakery also donates all unsold pastries and breads to the Union Rescue Mission, helping feed people facing food insecurity.

Photo courtesy of Porto’s Bakery

Photo courtesy of Kindred Bakery

KINDRED BAKERY. With the tagline “breaking bread and barriers,” this New York City establishment uses the art and science of baking to open doors for people who may be excluded from traditional career pathways. Kindred provides hands-on training in professional kitchens, equipping participants with socialemotional learning and STEAM-based education from industry experts in baking and pastry.

Photo courtesy of SugarBot Sweet Shop

SUGARBOT SWEET SHOP.

Photo courtesy of Kneaders Bakery and Cafe

KNEADERS BAKERY AND CAFE.

SugarBot Sweet Shop in St. Charles, MO, provides employment for neurodivergent, LGBTQIA+ and previously incarcerated individuals. By implementing secondchance hiring practices specifically for justice-involved community members, the bakery successfully reintegrates individuals with criminal records into the community and elevates its operations by building a skilled, capable talent pool.

This fast-casual bakery and cafe in American Fork, UT, partners with non-profit organizations to donate day-old bread to food banks and charities across the country. Over the past 20 years, the bakery has donated more than 1 million loaves to 60+ organizations. Kneaders also created the Knead Dough Fundraiser Program, hosting community-led fundraisers and donating 20% of event sales to the cause.

Craft to Crumb Look | Listen

LOOK | LISTEN

Our multimedia collection features interviews, bakery tours, education, demos and more that give artisan bakers a fresh perspective on industry trends and issues.

BagelFest 2025: Fresh Takes Sam Silverman, founder of BagelFest and BagelUp, talks about how the day celebrates bagel makers, why the annual festival is a must-attend event, and the various ways the gathering positively impacts the category.

Behind the Bake: Moxie Bread Co. Go behind the scenes at Moxie Bread Co., a newly minted B Corp bakery that supports clean food, community and local farmers by using 100% heirloom grains in its bread and pastries.

Inside Look: Dough Lamination Expertise at AMIE Bakery Executive pastry chef Alyssa Hurlstone laminates croissant dough while owner Amie Smith explains the specialized technique and what Hurlstone’s extensive industry expertise brings to the Cape Cod shop.

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“YOU HAVE TO HAVE A LEVEL OF

PATIENCE

WITH WHAT YOU’RE CREATING, THE PEOPLE AROUND YOU AND YOUR CUSTOMERS. SOMETIMES THAT’S HARD, BUT IT’S A TREMENDOUS VALUE TO HAVE.” — AJ SARNO | OWNER | ISGRO PASTRIES

At the Bench is an exclusive audio series hosted by Richard Charpentier, CMB (right), CEO of Baking Innovation. Richard chats with top artisan bakers and bakery owners from around the country about the trends and challenges facing retail bakers today. To hear this full episode and more from the series, subscribe to the Craft to Crumb YouTube channel.

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