Inside the British bakery boom: how the UK fell in love with artisan pastries

For Milly Kenny-Ryder, author of Britain’s Best Bakeries, much of the momentum comes from people seeking out the homemade goods they enjoyed during lockdown.

‘There was something satisfying about creating a homemade treat and really thinking about the ingredients and where they come from,’ she says. ‘We’re still baking and cooking more at home than we were before, […] and now, when we do go out, we want to get something that we can bring back home […] that will nourish us in the same way,’ says Kenny-Ryder.

The style of these so-called ‘hype’ bakes should also be taken into consideration. The most popular artisan bakeries, like Edinburgh’s Lannan, which routinely sees people waiting in hour-long queues, focus on European bakes and viennoiserie. These bakes are ‘almost impossible to make in a home environment,’ according to Kenny-Ryder. The patience, expertise and even strength (some laminated doughs have over 50 layers of butter) mean attempting to make them at home is rarely going to yield good results. ‘I think there’s something very exotic about French viennoiserie and that’s why I think people are willing to queue for it, and willing to spend,’ says Kenny-Ryder.

Ollie Gold, founder of London’s Pophams Bakery, agrees. ‘The more people we have in the [bakery] market, the more people become educated about what a high-quality product is,’ he says. It takes the team of 11 bakers at Pophams’ sites three days to make a croissant, says Gold. ‘There are so many variables at every stage of that process. We see it as a minor miracle if we have a great tray of pastries on the trolley in the morning.’

Clearly, there is still appetite for boundary-pushing food but with the increased cost of living, the way people seek this type of food out has changed. ‘We’re not going out for lavish Saturday night dinners anymore,’ says Kenny-Ryder. ‘Going to a bakery and spending five pounds on a beautiful pain suisse that’s got chocolate specially made and so much care and attention is like a miniature gastronomic treat,’ she says. While paying up to £10 for one pastry might seem expensive, it’s a more affordable way to experience artisanal, expert cooking on a regular basis.

For Jenny Oakenfell, the owner of Long Boi’s Bakehouse in Manchester, even if pandemic community spirit carried the bakery through its first three years, there are other factors driving its popularity in 2024.

‘We’ve stayed busy enough [over the past few years] to stay open. But this year has just gone crazy,’ she says. Oakenfell thinks the level of popularity seen this year is in part related to the decline of pub culture. ‘Before [Covid-19], people would go to the pub three times a week. Now they go once a week and instead, on a Saturday morning, they’ll get their bakery treat. That’s where they spend their money.’

It’s a similar story for Gold, who says that ‘in the last 18 months, I’d say we’ve had our biggest growth.’ He says that Pophams is drawing a new morning crowd, inspired by slow-living antipodean coffee culture. ‘Post-Covid, there’s been a slowing down and more people coming to enjoy each other’s company around food. People working from home has been massive for us. Our sites are in residential areas, so Mondays can be crazy busy,’ he says.

The appetite for artisanal baked goods is showing no sign of slowing down, and more and more creative bakers are helping the industry to keep up with the demand. South London’s Milk cafe has opened a new bakery, Milk Run, which already sells out by early afternoon. Islington’s Quince is a permanent fixture on social media feeds with its beautiful seasonal bakes and other similar outlets are popping up across the UK.

You might think this would brew a sense of stiff competition between the artisan bakeries but both Oakenfell and Gold say that’s not the case. ‘What’s special about the bakery market is that we all work together as a community,’ says Gold. ‘People differentiate themselves and are known for one product, while others are known for something else. It’s a really nice community to be part of and we’re proud to have made our mark.’

Read on for a selection of some of the best British artisan bakeries setting the standards in 2024.

Five brilliant British artisan bakeries to visit

 

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Tŷ Melin Bakery

Cardiff

Tŷ Melin, which means ‘mill house’ in Welsh, is a homecoming for baker-patrons Lance and Angharad Conway-Gardner – the bakery shares its name with Angharad’s childhood family home. The pair have worked at some of the best names in the baking biz between them (Bertinet, Hart, Bread Ahead, Pavilion) and have returned to Wales to sling their bouncy sourdough loaves and ‘croissant bombs’. The latter are crisp croissant dough shells with delicious fillings like pistachio custard.

Open Wednesday-Sunday 8.30am-2pm

tymelinbakery.com