Unusual Bakeries

Dog Bakeries
A dog bakery is a bakery that produces fresh baked goods for dogs. Since the first dog bakery opened in Chicago in 1979, dog and pet bakeries have opened up all around the world - including Paris, London and other major cities. The ‘Barkery’ in London sells products such as personalised doggy celebration cakes, ‘Bis-scotties’ and ‘Great Dane-ish’.

Bakeries with unusual names

There are a host of bakeries throughout the UK with unusual names. These include:

• Screaming carrot – a vegetarian bakery in Nottingham
• ‘Agatha Crustie’ – a bakery in Sutton
• ‘Nice Baps’ bakery recently opened in Bedfordshire – the local community have already started a petition for the owner to change the name

The Handmade Bakery

What makes this bakery different, is not its products, but the way it is run. The bakery in Slaithwaite, West Yorkshire, is a not-for-profit workers’ cooperative, which operates purely to benefit the local community.

Established by Dan and Johanna McTiernan, who were fed up with the standard of bread available locally, they decided to make their own.

The Handmade Bakery started out by using the local Italian restaurant’s stone-bottomed pizza oven when it wasn’t being used at lunchtimes. They first operated with a subscription system, where people commit to buying multiple loaves of bread, thus their cash flow and minimising overproduction. This benefited the customers as they received large bulk discounts. The local community also received training in exchange for their time.

It wasn’t long before the bakery was open on Saturday mornings. It served everyone - including non-subscribers and local shops. The bakery continues to grow from strength to strength and has just moved to its own premises. It’s even helping locals to earn an honest crust and employs nine staff on a part-time basis.