Katy Stroud started Crust & Crackle Bakery in Sauble Beach in October 2020. She had struggled to find the right food to feed her family which suffers from food allergies and sensitivities. Two years into the business Katy needed extra manpower for help with delivery and prep. Enter her husband Matt. He quit his job as an electrician to help in 2022, and they now both operate the business as their full time jobs.
As well as teaching pastry courses at Georgian College and running a catering business, in 2020 she was baking 10-20 loaves a week, working her way up to about 100 loaves a week in 2021. Now in 2024 an average week in the cooler months is 300-400, while during the summer it’s 500-600 loaves every week, all baked in their home kitchen which has been renovated into a bakery production kitchen. It is a busy spot. All of their breads are created using organic and/or sustainably grown grains and produce, partnering with several farmers and producers throughout Grey and Bruce counties to provide loaves that represent the flavours found in this area.
Since they don’t have a brick and mortar store they needed locations to distribute customer orders. Not everyone is interested in driving to Sauble for their bread, especially in the dead of winter. It can be quite desolate out there when the snow flies. They developed a strategic plan to work with local businesses that would in turn become pick-up locations. Over the past four years they have built up a delivery route that includes 13 locations in Grey Bruce and one farmers’ market. The Meaford location is at Pom Pom, and delivery is Thursday afternoons.
Sourdough starters are interesting. They seem to become a character in bakers’ lives, with names such as Bread Pitt, Bread Zeppelin, or Breadney Spears. Katy didn’t purchase her starter, she grew ‘him’ from day 1. His name is Percy, named after a character in the movie Carrina Carrina, and he is seven years old. Everyone seems to look for ‘San Francisco’ sourdough, but Katy promotes Sauble Beach Sourdough, with its own unique flavour.
I have ordered bread from them every week – our favourites are the Toasted Seedy, with pumpkin seeds, and the foccachia, which can vary according to the season. And, as Katy says on her website, Let’s eat great food together.
crustandcrackle.ca
