Why is our project important?
Nourishing the community
- There is a demand in Leicestershire and Rutland for healthy, gut-friendly sourdough bread made with 100% organic and locally sourced ingredients. However, there are not many bakers in the region with the unique expertise to make this high quality product. We want to fill this gap and crowdfunding will allow us to expand our production and take our sourdough out to a wider geographical area.
- The use of wild yeasts dates back to Egyptian civilisation. We are dedicated to help preserving the techniques of making true sourdough, which commercially produced brands that use fermentation aids are currently driving to extinction. As well as continuing to make bread in the time honoured fashion, having commercial premises will give us the space to use our educational expertise to share our knowledge about sourdough through workshops for the community and schools.
Lance & Ami run a micro-bakery from their kitchen in Bisbrooke, Rutland. This is Ami speaking!! Lance gave up a career in IT and I took early retirement from teaching to follow our passion for real sourdough in 2018.
Why our bread is unique
The ingredients for our gut-friendly breads are locally sourced, including flour from Wessex Mill and Whissendine Mill. The artisan processes of natural leavening, proofing, rounding, shaping and retarding the bread takes 30-36 hours. Only when these stages are right can it be baked. Knowing every stage has been done correctly is where the baker's skill is crucial.
We are known for our interesting varieties of sourdoughs - including charcoal & caraway, turmeric & fennel, citrus rye, sesame and a lovely Omega 3 mix. I also make a range of fresh spicy condiments, drawing on my Bangladeshi heritage, to accompany the breads and to give people a new flavour experience.
Why we knead your support!
Our local community has been incredibly supportive of us from the beginning. From baking 5 loaves a week less than a year ago, we are now baking close to 1,000 loaves per month. We gave up our old lives, gained our 5* kitchen inspection rating and started reaching out to find our customers. We now supply sourdough to over 10 local cafes and a deli.
However, now we want to bring real sourdough, that made with 100% self fermentation and no yeast, to even more people. To do this we need to move out of our own kitchen and into a business unit with a bigger oven and larger capacity.
How would we use the money?
To ensure we are as transparent about our crowdfunder as we are about our dedication to locally sourced artisan sourdough, here is a breakdown of how we intend to spend the funds, if our project is successful. Luckily we already have the baking and educational expertise to ensure there are no additional costs attached to increasing our baking schedule and to offering workshops and classes.
£7200 oven - Factory Reconditioned Compacta 3-2-8 RH with W/D Steam or similar
£200 commercial shelving
£800 marketing support - as we are bakers and educators we know that we need support with getting this crowdfunding project heard about, as well as reaching new customers should the project be successful.
£750 producing/posting rewards
£150 launch event at new premises to help raise awareness of our project
3% crowdfunding platform fee
We also have a stretch target of £20k - should we reach our initial target. This will support our move to a larger premises, including rent of £4500 per six month period. However, we have planned for the business to support these costs initially should we only reach our primary objective. The show will go on!
Where can Bisbrooke Bread be found at the moment?
We have a network of the highest quality stockists, who sell our loaves or use them as part of their award winning menus. Find out more on our website. Our stockists include:
1: Direct from our Bisbrooke home - order and swing by to collect from our micro-bakery.
2: Fika in Oakham @fikaoakham
3: Budgens in Uppingham @discoverbudgens
4: The Tiny Bakery in Leicester @thetinybakeryle2
5: Served at The Marquess of Exeter in Lyddington @marquess_exeter
6: Served at The Falcon Hotel in Uppingham @thefalconhotel
7: Served at Skylark Bakery in Leicester @skylarkbakery
8: Served at the menu at 100andsix in Leicester @100andsix
9: Served at The Leicester Coffee House @leicestercoffee
10: Served at The Coffee Counter in Leicester @thecoffeecounteruk
11: Part of the platters at Pate-licious Market Harborough
12: Available to pre-order at the South Wigston News & Deli