From the beginning, Mike and Mia had a clear vision of the kind of bread they would offer. They wanted to produce delicious sourdough bread, the traditional way – using long fermentation times and natural leavening to create loaves with bold, complex flavours, a dark, wonderfully crisp crust and satisfying chew.
While their offering was initially limited, the quality of their product was exceptional, and it didn’t take long for Baker Bleu’s ‘dark crust magic’ to generate a cult following. Long queues started to form each morning along what was otherwise a very sleepy part of Glen Eira Rd, as people came from near and far to buy bread that was often still warm from the oven.
Ten years on, Mike and Mia have grown Baker Bleu from that single Elsternwick shopfront to multiple locations across Melbourne and Sydney. They now supply bread to some of Australia’s best restaurants, and they remain closely tied to the communities around each of their own shops. Their offering has expanded to include delicious sandwiches and pastries, as well as Market Lane coffee and a wonderful selection of pantry staples.
Our partnership with Baker Bleu started in the business’s early days. Tyson, our Wholesale Manager, was a regular Baker Bleu customer, having fallen in love with their bread. Over time, he got to know Mike and Mia, and they began a conversation about how to integrate coffee into Baker Bleu’s offering. It wasn’t long before freshly brewed filter coffee was offered alongside their bread, and eventually their shops evolved to offer espresso drinks and beans for home, too.
It’s been inspiring to watch Baker Bleu bloom over the last decade and grow without compromise, and it’s been a joy to work with them because we care about so many of the same things. Above all, we share a deep commitment to quality – one that starts with the very best ingredients, sourced from people we know and trust, many of whom we’ve worked with for years. (We also agree that great bread and great coffee are at their best when shared!)
Partnerships with passionate, like-minded people like Mike and Mia are incredibly special to us. To celebrate ten years of Baker Bleu – and ten years of working together – we sat down with them to talk about their baking philosophy, the value of forging good business partnerships, and what’s next for what is now one of the country’s most beloved bakeries.
