Wholesale Bakery - Artisan Bread
Irish Times Best Shops 15
August '15
Thank you to all our customers who nominated us in the category of Best Shops - Farmers Market Stalls. The shortlist was anounced on Saturday and we have made it through to the Final. We are absolutely over the moon to get this far, the farmers markets is how we began and while we have grown they are still as important to us. Winners announced 29th August.
The Examiner - French connection: 8 top covetable croissants
Competition - Junior Bakers
Closing Date September 15th
We are running an Art Competition for our Junior Customers. The prize a baking class with Declan for the winner and 5 friends. You can paint, draw or sketch a picture that best describes bread to you. Anything from the Grain to the Bread to the Market Stall. Please see our Facebook Page for more details
Mr Bread - Apprenticeships
May '15
So here's the story; Most artisan bakeries in Ireland struggle to get bakers who are trained in traditional methods of baking. This art has been dying out since the emergence of the sliced pan and factory made bread. We need to recruit from Europe where it is still a craft. Declan see's apprenticeships as the way forward. Not everyone is destined for University but what are the alternatives. Crafts are dying because we no longer support apprenticeships in this area. So Declan decided to write to the minister to encourage their reintroduction. Now mail merge was obviously not working well that day as he's reply was addressed to Mr Bread. Some red faces in that office but we'll take the error as it pushed the subject into the headlines. Watch this space for more updates
The Financial Times
May '15
When a small Cork company gets a mention in The Financial Times, well it's something to be very proud of. Jancis Robinson and Nick Lander were visitors to Litfest this year. Nick Landers wrote an article about his visit to Sage Restaurant and Midleton Market. This is version of the article on Jancis Robinsons Website
Midleton Market 15year anniversary
June '15
Imagine it's 15years since Midleton Market started. The market was way ahead of it's time, some seeing it as a step backwards for selling fresh produce. Now 15 years on we have farmers markets all over the country. It's not just about the products, it's about the community and bringing people together. It's a place to meet friends and family but also to talk to the producers and traders who can tell you exactly when and how their products are brought to market. We are lucky in Cork to have so many wonderful markets, it makes shopping easy and socialable. David Lebovitz who worked with Alice Waters for over 15 years and now lives in Paris visited the market while here for Litfest. He wrote a beautiful piece which reminded me how lucky we are to be part of such a progressive movement.
May '15
Well we were there again this year proudly showing our Real Bread Ireland Logo. This year was definitely back to the theme of promoting real food and drink and educating about sustainability. Discussions about direction good & bad. Some wonderful speakers amongst our favourites, John McKenna, Joanne Blytham and Alice Waters. This is a hub for all food enthusiasts to gather and share ideas. For us we had many conversations about what Real Bread is and we shared our sourdough starter to promote baking at home in whatever form that takes. See our gallery for some photos from the event.
Real Bread Ireland
January 2015
In January 2015 at The Meet the Bakers part 2 Real Bread Ireland was set up. It's purpose is to identify real bread, to educate, inform and promote real bread and encourage more people to get back into baking in Ireland. It will bring together bakeries who are servicing their communities and also home bakers.
Chatelaine Magazine, Canada
March 2015
"Ireland is having a food moment” says @Chatelaine for a mouth-watering guide to Cork get the March issue, out now! Delighted to included in the March issue...small photo but there's the Boss. Irish Food reaching far & wide
Sourdough Starter
24th March 2015
If you always wanted to make bread yourself but find the idea of creating a sourdough starter daunting we are happy to gift you starter. Ours is running into 20yrs old now and was originally made from grapes. We often get asked what exactly is sourdough starter ( Levain ) "The purpose of the starter is to produce a vigorous leaven and to develop the flavour of the bread " As an Artisan Bakery it is also in our remit to educate & to encourage home baking. Please ask at the farmers markets if you'd like some starter for yourself, don't be afraid of sourdough there are loads of methods out there including No Knead Bread
Seaweed Bread
3rd December 2014
Seaweed is something we have in abundance and is full of nutrients so we decided it's time we tried it in our bread. We have teamed up with Noribake from James Cunningham a Galway native.The benefits are worth it from making you feel full longer to anti staling. It does not taste of salt but there is a wonderful flavour to the bread. We will be baking a small sourdough loaf to start with for our farmers markets. See below link for lots more info on seaweed as a food.
Buttermilk Bagels
3rd December 2014
The final product for this year is our Buttermilk Bagels. Available now to order. Delicious and full flavoured
Christmas Products
3rd December 2014
Thanks to Clodagh McKenna for a mention in the Sunday Business Post in her Christmas Product Section. We are delighted to have Stollen back again. For those who don't know this is a traditional German Christmas bread that our bakery manager describes as "using our bread dough with real vanilla our own homemade marzipan dried fruits.soaked in real lemon and lashings of brandy...It will be available from the 4th December at all Farmers Markets
3rd December 2014
We have had a real challenging year, lots of changes at the bakery. New products to introduce, trialing new flavours for our bread, & of course fighting the heat this summer. Bread is a science and when climate changes so we have to alter how we make our bread. So with all that we were absolutely thrilled to receive the McKenna award this year. We have a few but we never take it for granted that it will happen. The McKenna is the one we feel represents Irish producers the best.
School Visits
3rd December 2014
Declan is a teacher, that is his talent. We love having schools & colleges up to the bakery to show them how real bread is made. If you have a students you'd like to bring up please contact us at info@arbutusbread.com. We like to keep the groups small so if it means 2 visits then that's not a problem.
New Sourdough
3rd December 2014
Almost a year ago Declan was at the Meet the Bakers in Kilkenny & when asked why we didn't make a stronger sourdough a very honest answer was commercial cowardness. When Arbutus first did Sourdough, people weren't used to the flavour so we did a French version which is quite mild. Declan decided this was the year for the more aggressive one. We now have a white & wholemeal sourdough which would have more San Francisco attributes. Farmers Markets only for the moment. We hope you enjoy.
Best Sourdoughs
06th June 2014
It really is a scary moment when someone calls you and says "there's a review of your bread in a newspaper" Well we were over the moon with 9/10 for our Seeded White Sourdough. Mind you Declan won't be happy until it's a 10
Ballymaloe Litfest
16th May 2014
We had an amazing time at the Litfest. It really is the who's who of the food world. The Big Shed showcased some of the best Irish Artisan Producers and we were thrilled to be part of the weekend.
New to the Farmers Markets
March 2014
We have added this delicious Danish Poppy Seed Braid to our range at the markets. Can be bought in slices or whole
January 25th 2013
A great evening hosted by Keith Bohana and Highbank Orchards
From a Michelin-starred restaurant background to a bakery set up in his garage, Declan Ryan could easily ditch the bread industry for storytelling. His experience, travel, work ethic and passion all package up together so nicely.
We are still being "discovered" thank you to all our loyal & new customersIn this year's Best Irish Food Finds over 80% of the food products, as recommended by Irish food lovers that responded to my Twitter Question, started off in Farmers & Country Markets around the island of Ireland. This is wonderful news for the future of new Irish Food producers, their products and food markets.
SEPTEMBER 2013
Great Taste, organised by the Guild of Fine Food, is the acknowledged benchmark for speciality food and drink. It has been described as the ‘Oscars’ of the food world and the ‘epicurean equivalent of the Booker prize’. Quite simply the Great Taste logo is the sign you can trust when buying food and drink in your local, quality retailer.
We were delighted to be awarded 3 Great Taste Awards for our Wholemeal and White Sourdough, also our Tomato & Herb Foccacio.
This was our first time being part of the awards
Donal Skehan comes to Cork
Donal Skehan came to the bakery for a photo shoot for "Feast" a seasonal dining journal
Sunday Business Post - Interview
13th July 2014
We were delighted to be included in the Special Food Supplement with the Sunday Business Post