San Francisco bakery known for sourdough stays hot despite rising costs
Inside an unassuming bakery in San Francisco, something's happening that might just have you believing in carbs again.
"This is not your Wonder bread," Jamie Sams told CBS News Bay Area.
Sams runs the kitchen at Jane the Bakery. On busy mornings, he and his team can crank out up to 600 loaves.
Each one requiring about five days from start to finish—proof there's nothing half-baked about taking your time.
"It's a really simple idea of using what's already in nature," Sams said.
Owner Amanda Michael said they wanted to go back to how bread was made thousands of years ago.
"We're using the whole kernel of grain, so the germ, the endosperm, nothing is stripped out of it," Michael said.
Not only do they mill grain on site—it's grown on their family farm, taking every loaf from seed to slice.
It seems the bet is paying off. Customers like Sharon Garrison said it's the best thing since, well, you know.
"There's no way to describe it… it's an experience," Garrison said.
Across the country, sourdough has been on the rise, fueled by the pandemic-era obsession with baking, and it's still going strong.
"There's so much greater interest in the commercial sector in functional bread, breads that are healthy," said Karen Bornarth from the Bread Bakers Guild of America.
Bornarth said shoppers are pickier now. And while that has pushed bakeries to step up their game, artisanal bread takes work—and that costs more.
"The ingredients may not be expensive but the hands that make them are worth a lot of money. So keeping it accessible for people, keeping it affordable so that the market can grow is the real challenge," Bornarth said.
With the global sourdough market projected to surpass $3.5 billion by 2030, it seems clear: the notion that people are done with bread is, well, toast.
