Artisan Bread
Artisan Bread is a bakery/café/pâtisserie with a passion for organic produce. If there is an organic option, they have to take it. Everything at Artisan is made from scratch.
Coffee is the primary beverage; they buy coffee from Kafferäven Per Nordby, who buys straight from the farmer, so everybody is paid fairly, and the coffee is of good quality. Over the last five years, Artisan Bread has built up a network of producers and suppliers. “It’s so much more fun to work with, for example, Fredrik at Åshammars farm than it is to buy vegetables from a wholesaler. When we buy from people that we know, it’s always of good quality — from wholesalers, you never know,” says Gustav Fagerman, one of the owners. Artisan means “craftsmanship,” that’s what this bakery is trying to embody. “It’s an open bakery, and our customers can watch us work. We want to be upfront with what we are doing,” says Gustav.
Who are some of the producers and suppliers you work with that share your values?
Wästgötarna, Åshammars trädgård, Warbro Kvarn, Stackängens bigård, and Kafferäven.
How do you minimize food waste?
Every night when we close, we call our neighbors and give everything leftover to them.
How do you prevent bullying, sexism, and other intolerable behavior in the workplace? Is there a clearly-stated policy?
We are an open-minded workspace. Everybody is accepted, no matter what color, race, or gender. We don’t have a written policy, but if there are any issues, we will address them. In terms of work-life balance, we are very proud of our 5-3 schedule for our production team. They work five days one week and three days the next week so that they always get two days off every other week. [1] So, a full-time employee in bread production works an average of 4 days a week. We’re going to try to implement a similar schedule for the café workers in the fall. We want employees to work for the company for a longer period of time. But personal development is important too. We encourage our employees to take time to explore their passions.