A THRIVING independent bakery has seen its business boom during lockdown after expanding its offering to help budding bakers create their own delicious treats at home.

Stanway’s Blackberry Bakery was forced to close its normally bustling cafe when nationwide lockdown measures came into force towards the end of March.

However, due to popular demand, the business reopened for takeaway customers at the weekends.

And with its loyal customers asking for a bit of added help during lockdown - in the form of flour and baking essentials - the owners were only too happy to help out.

The firm is now selling all kinds of flour, as well as sugar and yeast to customers, who are struggling to get their baking bits elsewhere due to supermarkets’ dwindling stocks.

Demand is so high, the bakery has already sold more than 11 tonnes of flour, with another seven tonnes available now and more on the way regularly.

Owner Anthony Gazda, 39, said: “Lots of customers were asking us where they could get flour, we were happy to help.

“We were forced to shut the cafe but because the community asked we decided to reopen for takeaways.

“We have been open Saturdays and Sundays.

“Last Saturday the queue outside the shop was about 250 metres long.

“We have had queues from 6.45am until 3pm. Our waiting times were between 30 minutes and an hour because we were so busy.

“I have been running the bakery for ten years and I have never seen anything like it.”

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Demand is now so high, the bakery has decided to open for takeaways seven days a week, from 9am to 3pm each day.

As well as the usual sweet treats, bread and pastries, bread flour, plain flour, self-raising flour, icing sugar, caster sugar, Demerara sugar and much much more are also available to baking enthusiasts.

Mr Gazda hopes the bakery’s rise in popularity will continue once lockdown is over as residents flock to support smaller, community minded, firms.

He said: “Greggs and the other bakeries have been shut which has given us an opportunity to show the customers we have something better than the other big chains.

“Last Saturday we had a family who live nearby but had never used us.

“They came in and said our sausage rolls and pastries were the best they’d had and they wouldn’t get them from Sainsbury’s again.

“I hope the population will change their habits after this and support small businesses like ours.

“I am happy because a lot of people living very close to us had never noticed what we were doing before, but now they have seen us online and online or been told about us by other customers and they are coming.

“The biggest question for us is whether people will remember us when the other bakeries reopen.”

For more information about Blackberry Bakery, visit facebook.com/TheBlackberryBakeryLtd.

Here at the Gazette we’re calling on our readers to get behind businesses like Blackberry Bakery to help them pull through this crisis and look to the future post Covid-19.

We’re using our Backing Essex Business campaign to highlight the incredible work our small businesses are doing.

Our newspaper will shout about the firms which are still operating.

Use the hashtag #BackingEssexBusiness to shout out a business, or tell us how your business is adapting by emailing gazette.newsdesk@newsquest.co.uk.