One of Dublin’s last remaining inner-city bakeries moves into retail

A look at an Irish Times front page shows that when the Bretzel Bakery first opened, in 1870 in Portobello, front page news included talk of Greek Brigands and fields at Clanbrassil Street.

No business can survive that long without being terrific at what they do and today the bakery still makes the incredibly good bread and delicious confectionery.

Owner William Despard took over the business in 2000, and since then has grown it into one of the country’s most successful artisan producers, selling direct to customers and to hotels, restaurants and cafes.

One of the last remaining inner-city bakeries, the Bretzel operated for most of its history out of its premises in Lennox Street, Portobello, baking everything on site, until just a few years ago.

To cater for an expanding customer base, owner William Despard moved the main production to a purpose-built site close by in Harold’s Cross in December 2013, keeping the original shop and bakery in Lennox Street and adding a café in 2014.

Its extensive range of bread includes a San Francisco style sourdough and French baguette, both of which which both won gold at Blas na hEireann in 2017.

Last year the Bretzel Bakery took the top spot, named Supreme Champion, for its Pain de Maison Boule, a naturally fermented large round sourdough loaf. It’s the long fermentation that goes into a loaf of sourdough that makes it far healthier than a sliced pan, which is made in a chemically accelerated process.

Despard is particularly proud of the win best product in all of Ireland, because it puts the humble loaf at the top of a food pyramid.

“So many of the food provenance stories in artisan food are much more emotionally grabbing that it is hard for the humble loaf to take the stage,” he explains.

The secret of Bretzel Bakery’s success is its ability, born of tradition, to make wholesome breads which retain their nutritious qualities, with long fermentation and good ingredients giving great flavour, aroma and digestibility.

The pandemic caused many food service businesses to close, leading to a 70 pe r cent fall in turnover. But people still needed bread, as the early days lockdown obsession with sourdough starters clearly demonstrated.

Its Sourdough September initiative last year saw it give away starter and run tastings every day in Portobello, where customers could also buy flour to make the bread at home.

The fall off in food service saw it focus on taking the business in a new direction too, growing its retail sales.

New partnerships with SuperValu store owners and online platforms such as Sprout & Co have seen it sell like hotcakes, allowing more people than ever can now enjoy it.

Today the business, which is a member of Real Bread Ireland, employs 50 people. Despard, who is a scientist by training, marries science to his passion for bread. Baking is all about chemistry, whether it’s monitoring PH levels of the sourdough, or understanding why a 150kilo mix works better than a 1kilo mix in a bowl at home. “It’s all about understanding the bacteria too, which is what makes the bread healthier,” he explains.

Bretzel Bakery breads are now available in SuperValu and Tesco, opening up a whole new world of customers. “We were very focused on hospitality and catering, because chefs really got us in all of the wonderful brunch places of Dublin. But we are only starting to scratch the surface of retail now,” says Despard.

That is helping move the company out of “emergency mode”. Within weeks it will be unveiling new retail packaging too. When hospitality comes back, the business will have grown significantly, helping to secure its future for another 150 years, at least.