By Callum Ludwig
One of the Upper Yarra’s favourite bakeries has been firing its ovens up with pride this week after getting some recognition for a number of its customer favourites.
The Wandin Bakery entered into the Baking Association of Australia’s 2024 Australia’s Best Pie and Pastie Competition and National Artisan Baking Competition held in Moonee Ponds on Tuesday 18 June and Wednesday 19 June.
Wandin Bakery took out first place in the Open Sourdough (minimum 600mg) category with their simple but effective Garlic, Rosemary and Sea Salt bread and first again in the standard Sourdough Loaf.
All four of their submitted pies were also classed; their Chilli pie was awarded bronze while their Broccoli and Cauliflower, Butter Chicken and the Plain pie by Jacob Nichols (in the Apprentice category) pies were given silver.
Owners Tracey and Steven Miller said they were very proud of the awards they won.
“The first one that we took out, which was the Victorian prize, was really exciting so then to do the national competition in Melbourne and take out champion was fantastic,” Mr Miller said.
“It was really good considering we were only entering a few things and everything that we did enter placed highly out of thousands upon thousands of entrants and products.”
Production Manager Jake Triggett is the main man behind the stunning sourdough, having joined Wandin Bakery with six months to go on his apprenticeship before going on to hold his current role.
Mr Triggett said it all started because he just really likes sourdough.
“It’s more of a traditional and basic style of bread and while it can be a little more tedious, it’s a lot more technical because you’ve got to keep a culture alive, you’ve got to feed it constantly and keep it nice and healthy so that you get a good flavour in your bread,” he said.
“It’s just something that I always wanted to do and Steve and Tracey have helped me out and let me do it,”
“We’ve got room to grow with the pies as well, only getting silvers and bronze so there’s obviously room for us to strive for better.”
Steven and Tracey Miller have owned the Wandin Bakery since 2021, with it having been previously owned by the O’Donohue family. Clem and Mary O’Donoghue were the most recent owners, having taken over from Clem’s parents Mel and Evelyn themselves.
Mr Miller said they bought it during the second lockdown of COVID so it was trying times.
“We started pretty much straight away trying to build a good solid team and we managed to pick up a great baker in Jake who’s now the production manager,” he said.
“Over time, we have expanded and expanded and Jacob has now come along and he’s our apprentice and he himself is doing really well as well.”
Mr Miller also did his baking apprenticeship at the Wandin Bakery when he first started out.
Mr Miller said having a strong team is something that every small business needs but support from the community also helps.
“They understand how things work, they understand the quality that’s expected and accepted and they strive for everything as much as they can, it’s imperative to have a good team,” he said.
“During the day of the contest, we had customers ringing in to wish us well before we headed off, they knew that we started early as we baked a lot earlier through the night, but they were ringing at three, four o’clock in the morning to wish us good luck.”
Wandin Bakey has already started devising plans for next year’s competitions, potentially including new flavours of sourdough, including a sweet variety, and a continued effort to work on their pies.
Evelyn MP Bridget Vallence also visited to congratulate her local bakery and said it’s fantastic to see a local small business succeeding.
“Who doesn’t love bread, pies, cakes but the reality is that small business is tough at the moment with the cost of business and surviving,” she said.
“You’re not only doing that, you’re actually innovating, winning awards and creating employment opportunities for young local people through your apprenticeships so it’s fantastic to see right here in Wandin.”
