By TANIA PHILLIPS
FOUR months ago, baker James Fisher and his partners lit the first flame in the restored woodfire oven at the Cannibal Creek Bakehouse in Garfield.
Since then, with no major signage, they have been relying on word of mouth to bring in the customers to their bakery that just over 12 months ago was still a Ned Kelly and Tarot themed gift shop.
The oven, which had not been used for 30 years, is now hard at work again pumping out good quality bread including the bakery’s signature fruit loaf.
“We have been going to 12 markets around the area,” James, who had been teaching people the art of bread making in their own homes for the past few years, said.
“More and more people are coming back to the bakery.”
He said the idea was to get the bakery’s name out there and also let people try just what they have available.
The bakery itself is now open three days a week on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday afternoons making a variety of breads.
He said they are “well ahead” of where they would have predicted they’d be when they first lit that oven up in September.
“We are at square four on the snakes and ladder board,” he joked.
“I recognise we have a long way to go but we are getting a better idea of where, in fact, we are.
“But it’s all going well.”
He said interested had been great and given the size of the oven they had a lot of scope to increase production but they were looking to grow the business at a sustainable rate.
