Nutritional Information
Cafe Profile: Blanchfield’s Bakery
The Blanchfield’s Bakery’s story began back in 1861 when Paddy Blanchfield, was baking bread and pouring beer on the Coast for the Gold miners at Pipers Flat. In 1892 he relocated to the new bakery site at Guinness Street, Greymouth which is their current location!
Blanchfield's Bakery is a traditional bakery which is still in the same family. It is currently run by father and son duo, Chris Blanchfield (5th Generation) and Matthew Blanchfield (6th Generation) with the help of wives Alison and Sarah and their wonderful crew of staff. This makes them the oldest operating bakery in New Zealand! They certainly love what they do. They make all of their own products with top quality ingredients and locally sourced products wherever possible.
Blanchfield’s Bakery offer a great selection of award-winning pies, filled rolls, cakes and slices and so much more.
Let’s get talking to Chris Blanchfield, who currently runs the bakery with his family.
What is your most popular dish?
All our recipes are original and more than 100 years old. We sell so many items, which are all popular, making it hard to narrow down to just one.
However, one of our custard squares are very loved. We now call it ‘slice of heaven’, after one of our customers called it this! It’s not your standard custard, it’s smooth, silky and gourmet – it truly is a slice of heaven.
What is your pick off the menu?
You can never go wrong with pies, donuts & and a chocolate éclair!
What is your “must have” Goodman Fielder Products?
The ‘slice of heaven’ custard square uses Goodman Fielder cream cheese, flour, butter and Meadow Fresh cream!
Why would you recommend Goodman Fielder Food Service as a supplier, to others in the hospitality business?
The service we receive from our distributor is excellent. It’s definitely gone up a level in the past few years – truly second to none. The technical support and service we receive from reps is amazing too, especially our technical bakery rep. The reps are only ever a phone call away. They are always happy to help and if anything goes wrong they take the time to work though the problem with us. They even pop in some visits.
We also trust our reps to make recommendations on what products to use or what would work in a new bakery item. They are happy to guide us and support us. Having that relationship with your rep and suppliers is extremely important, as we feel supported.
Any tips for anyone who wants to open a Bakery?
It is important to gain first-hand experience in the industry. If you’re buying an existing bakery then it’s
crucial to learn from the current owner – how they operate, their recipes, the service. You need to ensure you are giving the locals and loyal customers the same experience if not better, in your new ownership, as you make changes. It’s also essential to add new things to the menu. It’s better to start slow but continue to experiment and keep the momentum going.
What makes Blanchfield’s Bakery stand-out?
The fact we are traditional scratch bakers, who are family owned and oriented. We consider our staff to be family and aim to keep them with us for a long time. We have been around for a long time and our customers know us because of our friendly staff, customer service and quality food.