The bun's inn the oven

Related tags Bread Baking

John Royce at the Kestor Inn
John Royce at the Kestor Inn
The idea: A craft-baker by trade, licensee John Royce took over at the Kestor Inn three years ago. Passionate about his craft John realised that...

The idea: A craft-baker by trade, licensee John Royce took over at the Kestor Inn three years ago. Passionate about his craft John realised that including a baker's shop would be a great way to get people through the doors and 18 months ago the Kestor's bakery shop was established.

The pub has since enjoyed a 15-20% annual growth. Starting with just one small table, the bakery now covers three to four large tables and on some days the bakery makes more than the pub!

How it works: Thursday at the Kestor is bakery day. Doors open at 11am for punters to have a coffee and some of John's cakes before purchasing his handmade bread, rolls, pasties and other baked treats from a stall in the pub.

How is it promoted: With no other stores nearby, the Kestor's bakery shop has become a central meeting point and focus for the village. News of its success has travelled by word-of-mouth and via the local press, so that people from other villages now visit to sample and buy John's bakery items.

Top tip: "We treat all our products with TLC. Everything is handmade with no additives or enhancers giving it an old fashioned quality. Obviously we can't compete with the supermarkets on price because it's so labour intensive, but there is a niche market that is prepared to pay more for a quality product.

Many of our customers are from the older generation who remember when bread was always made this way; they buy it as a treat for themselves."

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