From Niverville, with loaves Forgotten Flavours Artisan Bakery fills Pennyloaf void on Corydon Avenue with wild yeast repertoire By: Gabrielle Piché Posted: 5:19 PM CST Monday, Nov. 18, 2024

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This article was published 18/11/2024 (689 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After nearly a year, the smell of fresh bread will once again fill a Corydon Avenue bakery.

The sign out front no longer reads “Pennyloaf Bakery,” and the staff inside are no longer employed by former clothing mogul and entrepreneur Pepper Foster.

Instead, an emblem for Forgotten Flavours Artisan Bakery faces passersby. Owners Chris and Maria Holbrow busy themselves inside 858 Corydon Ave., preparing for the Winnipeg shop’s first day open Tuesday.

“We’re trying to complement the space and ensure that we can fill a void that was very sad to see go,” Chris Holbrow said. “We have a great product to offer.”

The product has allowed Forgotten Flavours rapid growth over the past two years.

In 2022, the Holbrows launched an artisanal micro-bakery in their Niverville home’s basement, which they’d converted into a commercial kitchen.

There Maria would produce loaves of wild yeast bread, which takes longer than sourdough. There’s a 48-hour fermentation process.

Forgotten Flavours — a nod to wild yeast bread’s rarity — may be the only bakery of its kind in Canada, Chris said.

Maria leaned into her love of baking while raising three children at home. It’s where she practised and “basically recreated” a wild yeast repertoire.

She started baking a dozen loaves per week for Niverville locals in fall 2022. By winter, the number had ballooned to roughly 80.

Maria hustled between the ovens, bread proofer and milling machines while her husband worked a corporate job. Meanwhile, customers clamoured for more — especially those with digestive issues and diabetes.

Forgotten Flavours expanded into food stores in Niverville and Winkler. It became a staple at farmers markets in St. Norbert, South Osborne, Wolseley and River Heights.

The couple could sell 400 loaves in a day at the St. Norbert Farmers’ Market, they estimated.

“The demand has grown so vast,” Chris said. “Customers were asking us, ‘Where can we find your products once these summer markets are done?’”

First, the Holbrows focused on a bigger production facility — baking 16 loaves per hour wasn’t cutting it.

In February, they moved to a 5,000-square-foot site in Niverville. The lion’s share — 3,500 sq. ft. — is designated for baking; the remaining 1,500 sq. ft. will become a storefront and bistro next month, if all goes as the Holbrows’ plan.

The couple imported ovens from Italy, spanning 1.2 metres wide and 2.4 m deep. Maria can now bake about 140 loaves per hour.

Large-scale mixers, proofers and refrigerators also occupy the space, as does a machine to make wild yeast pasta. The Holbrows invested “heavily” in equipment, due to difficulty finding staff.

“We are searching high and low for people for our Niverville location,” Chris said. “If we want to continue to grow, we, obviously, depend on people.”

He’s hired two employees in Niverville, but believes the need for staff will grow alongside demand. He left his office job around 18 months ago to assist Forgotten Flavours’ ascent.

“It’s an expansion that has been going quite quick,” he relayed. “We just want to be sure that we don’t rush (into) failure.”

For that reason, the bread sold in Winnipeg will still be made in Niverville, where Maria rules the kitchen.

She’ll bake in the mornings, and a van will take the fresh bread to Corydon Avenue for an 11 a.m. shop open Tuesdays through Saturdays.

Coffee and wild yeast pastries, pastas and cereals will also be on the menu.

It’s different than Chris envisioned: when Winnipeg customers asked where they could find Forgotten Flavours as summer markets ended, he expected the brand would, eventually, be in city food stores.

Instead, the central shop “kind of fell in our lap,” Holbrow said, adding he’s grateful.

James Fiebelkorn owns the building. He tried to sell it after the Pennyloaf crumbled late last year; he was co-owner of the company and has alleged business partner Foster hadn’t invested any money.

In January, bakery staff told the Free Press they’d quit en masse over concerns of Foster and his wife’s management of the business.

“I was personally carrying the costs of that building,” explained Fiebelkorn, an accountant. “I made an honest effort to try and sell … (but) I could see this was not working.”

Fiebelkorn also owns the Niverville building Forgotten Flavours operates in; he suggested the Holbrows rent on Corydon Avenue, too.

“I’d rather lose money and help someone than lose money and have no benefit,” he said. “I really hope that the Winnipeg market will … embrace Forgotten Flavours.”

Holbrow plans to hire a full complement of staff for the Winnipeg shop. Although it opens Tuesday, operations will ramp up slowly. Coffee likely won’t be available in the first week, Holbrow noted.

“I’m happy a bakery is going back in. I think they need that there,” said Karen Nissen, an employee at neighbouring business Peepers Swimwear.

Pennyloaf Bakery used to draw lineups, she added: “You don’t really want to have an empty place for too long.”

Fiebelkorn said he plans to convert more of the property into commercial rental areas.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com