4 Reasons Why you Should Buy Bread from your Local Bakery
Bread has been part of human history for centuries. It plays an integral role in our daily life and is a symbol of culture, history, hunger, wealth, war, and peace. It is indispensable and has been key in human survival.
At G&P we care greatly about our bread and we put a lot of passion and love into making it!
Factory produced bread is affordable but it’s all with a reason and has not much to do with the bread as it should be. The majority of it is packed full of sugar, milk, preservatives and flavour enhancers.
At G&P we do bread differently. Our bread has very few ingredients, it’s vegan, has very low salt content, no sugar and zero preservatives. We can also guarantee that it will stay fresh for at least 4 days if stored properly. The key to ensuring that our bread is full of flavour is the proofing process. The longer it proofs for, the better the flavour. We don’t utilise proofing cabinets to make our bread rise faster, we only give it a spray of water now and again to prevent skin formation and leave it to do its thing. For this reason our bread may not always have the perfect shape but definitely have all the characteristics that a truly artisanal bread should have!
Hint: Scroll down to view 4 reasons why you should buy bread from your local bakery
If you would like to experience the true old fashioned taste of bread as our great grandparents used to make it, then we recommend giving our sourdough a whirl. Twice a week we bake sourdough loaves, they’re truly authentic and only have 3 ingredients involved in the process.
We’ve lovingly named our sourdough starter Charlie. he’s a year old now and every day we feed him with a pinch of salt, water and flour every two days of making and 16 hours of fermenting. We feed Charlie morning and evening with flour and mineral water (we don’t want any chlorine in here because we care) and we keep him happy and warm all year round. He recently made his debut at our Byley shop where you can try sourdough pizza at its best, baked on pizza stone for the perfect crust!
If you ever feel adventurous and want to try something different - pop into our Bakehouse and have a chat with our team. We have plenty of options available from white organic flour to wholemeal, malted grain, rye and spelt. If you love these loaves then to take it a jump even further with our flavoured bread - packed with olives, sun dried tomatoes, jalapeños, herbs, or even your favourite beer if you feel extravagant that day!
Here are four reasons why you should treat yourself to our amazing bread.
1. You’re helping the environment
Buying your essentials locally is one of the most sustainable things you can do. There’s lots of reasons why buying bread from your local bakery can help the environment in little ways.
- You’re reducing your carbon footprint by not travelling as far
- You’re not supporting large supermarkets (the industry emits 17.3million tonnes of carbon dioxide)
- You’re using less packaging
- Our bread is made using minimal waste; we make just enough for the day and it’s rare we ever throw loaves away, once we’re out, we’re out!
2. It’s Vegan (and better for you)
Did you know our sandwich bread and sourdough is totally vegan?! When creating our loaves we don’t use milk or any dairy products. Our bread is the simplest, organic form of bread using minimal ingredients to keep it no-nonsense and rubbish free. There are no hidden preservatives or crazy E numbers that are often found in the ingredients list in supermarket bread. When eating homemade, vegan bread you’re reducing your saturated fat intake, saying goodbye to swelling in your gut, sometimes caused by dairy, and reducing your daily salt and sugar intake. Winner!
3. You’re supporting local businesses
Supporting your local business means keeping your high street alive. Our Ginger and Pickles Bakehouse is situated slap bang in the middle of Tarporley High Street, a bustling road full of gorgeous small businesses. When purchasing from a small business you really are doing your bit for the community and we encourage you to try and do most of your shopping on the high street!
When looking for the best team to make the Bakehouse flourish, we made sure that we employed local people particularly when choosing our bakers, cooks and baristas. Our main aim was to create a lovely, friendly community atmosphere with a team from local and surrounding areas. We're making sure we try our best to keep the high street alive by providing skilled jobs and learning opportunities to local people in the area.
4. It’s made using only the best ingredients
Our bread is made using Shipton Mill bread flour, this speciality bread flour is milled in Gloucestershire. They use traditional grains that haven’t been over hybridiest or enhanced, the quality of this grain is ideal for traditional uses like ours.
No preservatives, no additives, no rubbish. We use only 5 ingredients when making our white loaves early every morning. Minimal ingredients means that each ingredient we use is top quality. Most bread you see in supermarkets are made using a hefty amount of ingredients, most of which include additives, milk powders, flavourings and preservatives to keep it fresher for longer so it stays on the shelves.
When you eat at any of our stores, the bread we use comes straight from the Bakehouse in Tarporley, dropped off every morning by our main bread delivery man Sean. So rest assured you’re eating the good stuff in every G&P tearoom you visit!
With all this in mind, if you haven’t already, visit our Bakehouse if you’re local to Tarporley in Cheshire or even if you’re just passing through. As well as bread; we also sell delicious homemade pastries, cakes and savoury treats, perfect for picnics or an upgrade from your daily supermarket lunch bread meal deal.
