Alfonsina is a living, breathing microbial community, feasting on flour and water and oxygen.

She lives in the fridge, wrapped and tied up in a cotton cloth. As she ferments she builds immense pressure to the extent that she feels like a rugby ball. (Yes, she has exploded before too!)

This fermented mix of water, bacteria and wild yeast can create offspring loaves every day for hundreds of years but if you don’t nurture them regularly, they will die.

Alfonsina is fed every day, and, when she is grumpy, she even gets a bath and a special meal.

She was started in 1919, and we celebrate her birthday every year in June. 

The vast majority of sourdough bread you buy from large bakeries and supermarkets is only sourdough in name (because it's a buzzword that sells). Sourdough is, more often than not, sourfaux!

Sourfaux contains added yeast and other ingredients that simply don't belong in real bread, naturally fermented bread. To fit into the demands of supplying bread on scale, as quickly as possible, to consumers, these establishments cheat.

Customers are drawn to "sourdough" which they believe to be a healthier choice. In most instances the "sourdough" bread you buy is no different from the "sliced" breads in plastic bags; it simply has not been produced by a true sourdough process.

Read the product labels! Fake bread is unfortunately a reality.

When you buy our products you are guaranteed a lot of "NO"s. The philosophy of the way we make our bread, also extends to everything we sell.

NO nasties. NO shortcuts.

NO added yeast. NO GMO. NO preservatives. NO colourants. NO artificial flavours. NO stabilisers. NO gums & syrups. NO flour improvers.

Stoneground flours from selected grain. Dairy & meat from pastured herds. Nitrite free charcuterie. Free range eggs. Seasonal fresh produce. Extra virgin olive oil and unrefined fats. Raw sea salt.