/Charlie Crowley
/Charlie Crowley
When you go to the Fulton Street Farmers Market, you'll go to find your fruits and vegetable. You may find some flowers, and you may find some meat and cheese as well. Maybe you'll make a sandwich with a combination of these things, which means you may need some bread. What better place to find bread than at the market itself?
The Great Bread Company, based out of Allendale, has been setting up shop at the farmer's market for almost twenty years. What has become almost two decades of business spawned from retirement.
"The bakery originally started as a retirement project for the original owners, and they started a little sandwich shop after visiting Europe," said Josh Stoneburner. "They started to break into markets because they felt like they didn't want to just have a retail space - they wanted to interact with their customers. We started to do this market and Holland market, both of which seemed pretty close to home."
The Great Bread Company features a variety of breads, and Stoneburner said that the types and how many they have varies by season. He said the winter season boasts around 30 breads, while the summer can be in the range of 19 to 28 breads. They are also unique in that farmer's markets are all the retail they do.
"We do farmer's markets year round. We don't maintain any storefront," Stoneburner said. "After the orginal owners stopped doing the sandwich shop, their daughter bought it, and she moved the bakery to Allendale where we basically ran out of space.
"When it comes to shopping local and really trying to buy local, for us, it really comes down to this is us. When you're interatcing with us, you're interacting with people who have been doing this for 19, 20 years. This is where the bakery makes its income. This is where you feed local people."
Next time you stop by the Fulton Street Farmers Market to do your shopping for the week, be sure to stop by The Great Bread Company. They'll be sure to help you find the bread you need for your next creation in the kitchen.
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