Heather Hardcastle will not be deterred from having her dream realized - establishing Flour Craft, Marin’s first exclusively non-gluten bakery in San Anselmo. Some of the funding for her project is coming from a Kickstarter campaign, which was 11 percent shy from reaching goal on Friday afternoon.
Says Hardcastle, “Our plan is still to open our doors before the end of the year. We've worked very hard to raise the majority of the capital needed ourselves. The Kickstarter money would just give us the final push we need to get over the finish line, within our time line.”
The formally trained pastry chef says she has spent over three years building a strong wholesale business as well as a strong farmers market presence. “. . . we will continue to market to those customers, in addition to walk-in foot traffic at the bakery.”
Hardcastle just hired a “super talented" bakery manager who is helping getting things set up behind the scenes. She says she will be hiring cooks and counter help over the next month or so.
The majority of her vendors have been signed on as well. “We’re excited to be offering tea from Oakland-based Sky-Tea who is custom blending teas, exclusive to our shop. We will also be featuring the exception single origin coffees from Sightglass Coffee in San Francisco.” Hardcastle plans on acquiring the majority of her produce for the bakery from Marin Farmers Markets.
Click here to learn more about the Flour Craft Bakery and here to go to the Kickstarter campaign and see the benefits of being a contributor to a new local business on the rise. The campaign ends this Sunday.
Do you know of a new business opening around town? We want to know! Please contact Tom at tomnovatopatch@gmail.com with all your business tips.
John Sergeant