Russian baker: if you want to get healthier - start with bread

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

He himself gets up to the stove. He bakes delicious hearth bread and specialty buns with poppy seeds in front of customers. Treats for free. Feeding fellow countrymen with REAL bread is an entrepreneur's fix idea. His “Gridnev Bread Manufactory” is successfully growing and developing. And he is only surprised when he hears that small business is in our pen …

How does your working day begin, Alexey?

- From bread. I really love to anoint our rye bread with butter, pour it over with liquid honey … I really like the sourness of sourdough bread in combination with sweet! We bake many breads from whole grain flour, which means that my body already in the morning receives a lot of vitamins, microelements, energy. I wake up early: at five or half past five. Knowing that the day will be compacted to the limit, first I sit down at the computer and sort out e-mail, I spend two hours on this. It is necessary to deal with reports, agree on something, answer questions from employees. In addition, the bakery project is not the only one, I also have another business. In a word, the morning for me is the only time when I can concentrate, analyze the situation, and my head works better in the morning.

Is your interest in bread business a family business?

- Not at all. Father is a former military man, mother is a teacher. I just try to lead a healthy lifestyle myself. Some time ago I thought about proper nutrition and realized that in Rostov there is practically no proper bread that would help to stay healthy. And in other regions there is. The idea came to fill this niche. The desire to give the consumer a more useful product resulted in a project called “Don Bakery Traditions”.

Did the Cossacks have their own traditions of baking bread?

- Well, yes. We make wheat bread according to Cossack recipes, for example, "Stanichny", "Khutorskoy", they are prepared with sourdough. We are looking for and restoring baking technologies that were used by our great-grandfathers. Getting acquainted with the information on the Internet, I came to the conclusion that good quality bread was baked only for the elite in the old days, for ordinary people it was different in composition and cheaper. And now, in the era of refined and not always healthy products, I want to instill a culture of consumption of everything natural. My advice to everyone: if you want to become healthier, start with bread. From our bread.

Whose experience did you rely on when making the decision to start a grain business seven years ago?

- I started by going to the famous German Bakery Academy, which exists in Weinheim. I completed a two-week training there. I became convinced that the German grain culture is very worthy. Then there were master classes in Russia. I was looking for Russian enthusiasts who had experience in sourdough recipes for baking. Including analyzed the experience of German Sterligov. Although, to be honest, its overpriced pricing policy is surprising …

But bread with a red sticker "Gridnev" in retail chains is not cheap either?

- Yes, and our craft is not easy. We have a lot of manual labor, it is troublesome to work with leavens. We cannot be compared with a bakery. The factory cycle for baking bread is only 3-4 hours, while in our country it reaches 38 hours. We need additional areas for the dough to "settle", gain acidity, and knead. Therefore, artisan bread cannot be cheap. By the way, in Europe in retail such bread costs from 1, 5 to 2 euros, and this is a completely normal price that allows the industry to survive. I repeat, our bread is natural, mostly whole grain, sourdough. Yeast is generally harmful. For some patients, doctors do not even recommend eating yeast bread. If we talk about nutritional value and dietetics, then whole grain flour, obtained by grinding whole grains, is healthier than the premium one. Indeed, the faster the grain is turned into flour and sent to production, the higher the nutritional value of the product. This applies not only to bread, but also to muesli and sunflower oil. While the shell is intact - the grain is in good shape, as if it is broken - oxidative processes started. We have purchased a stone mill. We use the technology of gentle cold grinding that does not overheat grain and flour, therefore, no more than three days pass from grinding to baking bread. This means that nutrient, biologically active substances are preserved in our bread as much as possible. We have bread that is also baked from ordinary flour. They are cheaper, and the sourdough gives them usefulness.

– Whose grain and flour are you using?

- Only local producers. We buy wheat in the Krasnodar Territory. We get peeled rye flour from the producers of the Rostov region. For biograin, suppliers are also from neighboring regions.

I would like to know more about bio-grain …

- Each product has its own value and usefulness. If the grain is grown by organic farming, it is called biograin. It is healthier than industrially grown. But flour and bread will be more expensive. We buy bio-grain from the Rostov company "Biohutor", from the Stavropol "Onika", we work with the ecological enterprise "Black bread" from the Tula region. I have a high degree of confidence in them. I visited each of the three factories and found that their organically grown grain was not a hoax. Our partners, in principle, do not use any pesticides, stimulants and growth regulators, any mineral fertilizers, they have bio-certificates. I saw their equipment and technologies, I saw how grain is preserved. Rodents are scared away not with chemistry, but with ultrasound. Here, for the sake of money, they will not deviate from their ideology. We have already launched some types of bio-grain bread grown by these agricultural enterprises into production. We also buy spelled from them. It is now popular because it contains less gluten, carbohydrates and significantly more protein than modern wheat, has a low glycemic index and low calorie content.

I know that you began to develop a chain of cafes and bakeries …

- Yes, the market is ripe for this. And it is clear that the easiest way to bring a product to a consumer is through your retail. We bought good hearth ovens, found premises, made a worthy renovation … The first handicraft bakery in the city opened on Evdokimov Street in October last year. Our sales consultants tell about the products, invite visitors to watch the bread baking over a cup of coffee. It is advised to try its different types, sweet pastries. We try not to use commercial yeast, however we sometimes add minimal amounts of yeast to some baked goods. Why? It's just that someone loves wholesome bread, while others prefer delicious. Cheese making - fermentation of dairy products. Our starter culture is also an enzyme that allows you to preserve B vitamins, suppresses disease-causing microbes. Sourdough rye bread can be stored for 20 days, mold does not form in it. Sourdough gives a different aroma to bread, different from yeast.

How many workers do you have in bakery? Do you know everyone by sight?

- 50 people. I know everyone. On Vavilova street we have warehouses for raw materials, production and packing shops, an expedition. The main production employs 4 bakers. They are specialists of the highest qualifications, like the chefs in the kitchen. They are responsible for baking bread using three and four stage technologies. In retail cafes-bakeries on the street. Evdokimov and on Voroshilovsky Prospect, bakers have a slightly lower qualification, they bake simpler breads, but, nevertheless, give out 70 percent of the range.

What kind of boss are you?

- I'm demanding, but not strict. I am attentive. I watch how people relate to the case. I do not accept the format when it is necessary to force work. Those who come only for the sake of money are better off at once. I believe that the main quality of a boss is justice.

And then, when you like your job and it looks like a hobby, then you work with more involvement. I could never do something I don't like.

What do you think a successful business is based on?

- Competence, perseverance, involvement - these are the three pillars on which any business is based. In general, my favorite aphorism is: "A horseshoe will never bring good luck until you nail it to your hoof and start plowing like a horse."

As a fairly successful businessman, what advice can you give to an aspiring entrepreneur?

- Be sure to have a clear business plan. It is advisable to test the project on small investments. How many examples are there when people start a big business, go broke, lose everything, remain with nothing. It is important to be attentive to the business, to calculate everything to the smallest detail. Then it all depends on the skill and professionalism, both personal and the people on your team. I know from myself that you need to learn how to prioritize. We must value such a resource as time. Avoid empty affairs, meetings and conversations. Otherwise, you will not achieve efficiency in management. Where I see that you can trust the performers, I do. But I'm checking.

What helps, what prevents from doing business today, how do you overcome difficulties?

- The main problems are connected, of course, with good personnel. Few want to work in this industry. There are few good technologists, unfortunately they are not taught in our colleges. I have to deal with educational programs myself. There are problems with not understanding the importance of the task that we have set for ourselves. Therefore, a lot of effort is spent on negotiations with the owners of retail outlets who are afraid to take craft bread because of the high cost and non-standard craft packaging. We have to prove that the consumer has matured, began to think WHAT he eats, to take care of his health. We will continue to convince that only the right bread can really benefit people.