Patrons come for the fresh, warm bread and leave with brown paper bags full of baking. That's generally how it goes at Golden Grain Bakery in downtown Sudbury.
The bakery in the downtown core has had a 91-year lifespan, starting with ownership by John and Dave Andlar’s grandfather.
Originally located in the laneway by the Dog House Sports Bar, it has had its more prominent space on Brady Street for decades since 1936. After the patriarch, Golden Grain was run by his sons John (father of current owners John and Dave) and Peter.
Today, brothers and co-owners John and Dave said customer loyalty has been paramount to Golden Grain’s longevity, but the key has been a great tasty product coupled with great service.
“Most of our customers today are offspring from the generations of families that were serviced in those very early years,” Dave said.
Work at the bakery, which employs a staff of eight, begins each day at 1:30 a.m. Depending on what is in store, those days can last 12-14 hours, especially during the holidays.
The busiest holiday has always been the prelude to Easter.
“We make pastries, pies and an all-raisin paska Ukrainian Easter bread,” John said. “We used to have line-ups down the street and my father would have to go break up fights in the lot as people grew impatient and boisterous.”
John and Dave have been working at the 6,000-square-foot bakery since they were teenagers.
They know exactly what products make their customers tick.
The bestselling bread is the rye, which also happens to be the most labour intensive to make. It involves creating a culture, which then needs 24 hours to sponge and ferment before being baked in the big oven.
The cookies are well-known in the Nickel City with three flavours up for grabs: chocolate chunk, oatmeal raisin and chocolate macadamia nut.
As for pastries, the cinnamon swirls have always been at the forefront along with apple pies, strawberry rhubarb pies and blueberry pies in the summer.
If all that baking wasn’t enough, the Andlar boys make a special delivery of fresh bread each Wednesday to the Greater Sudbury Food Bank, along with any leftovers from the week.
Golden Grain supplies Sudbury-based Your Independent Grocer brand stores, as well as numerous local restaurants. During the lockdowns, business was tough given restaurants weren’t placing large-scale orders.
When it comes to customer loyalty, the brothers highlighted one yearly visitor who alone makes the case for the quality that comes out of the Golden Grain ovens.
“We have a man from Indiana who travels to Manitoulin Island to his camp each summer,” Dave said. “He calls ahead and orders 150 loaves of bread to take back home with him.
“He says he eats two loaves per week because the flour and ingredients in his bread back home just aren’t the same. The loaves are stored in the freezer and cleared out until his next summer visit.”
After 91 years, there are many relationships built and stories shared, and John and Dave Andlar plan to keep their ovens piping hot for many years to come.
Golden Grain is located at 153 Brady Street across from Tom Davies Square.
The bakery is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and from from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.
Pre-orders are welcome. You can call ahead by dialing 705-675-7341.
Anastasia Rioux is a writer in Greater Sudbury. Let’s Eat is made possible by our Community Leaders Program.
