Wildgrain subscription service brings par-baked artisan goods to the doorstep of consumers

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Wildgrain subscription service brings par-baked artisan goods to the doorstep of consumers

10 Dec 2021

Liz Goodwin

Liz Goodwin is a Texas-born journalist and photographer. Although a Southerner at heart, she fell in love with the Midwest at the University of Missouri where she earned her bachelor's of journalism. When she’s not writing or behind a camera, she loves to cook, find new restaurants, and spend time outside. Her favorite baked goods include croissants and crackers, especially when topped with fig jam and brie.

SOMERVILLE, MA — From the latest in fashion to fresh pork chops, if you want it delivered through a subscription service, odds are it’s already on the way. And now, Wildgrain is bringing that on-demand convenience to bakery lovers.

Wildgrain is the first subscription service that features bake-from-frozen and par-baked sourdough breads, artisanal pastries and even freshly made pasta. All items, which are shipped with dry ice, go from freezer to table in 25 minutes or less due to a perfected shipping and baking process.

The idea was born in 2019 when co-founders Johanna Hartzheim and Ismail Salhi were living in Paris and Hartzheim was pregnant with their first child. She began baking her own sourdough bread to focus on cleaner carb consumption, and after they moved to the US, Salhi figured out how to scale and ship the products nationwide.

“We started looking into the market opportunity and seeing if there was a fit for this,” Salhi said. “We offer two boxes, the bakery box without pasta and the curated box with pasta. You get it at the frequency you want, put it in the freezer, and then when you want it, you bake it.”

Hartzheim said that the par-bake process is a large part of what makes Wildgrain unique. The skeletal structure of the bread is set with the rising process; then the crust is browned at home, resulting in that fresh-baked smell and taste in significantly less time.

“You get all the benefits of fresh baked bread plus the convenience,” Hartzheim said. “It took a long time to figure out the par-baking process, especially for the pastries. I had to experiment for maybe a year and a half until I found when they have risen properly, and you can take them out without them deflating again.”

In the early days, the co-founders were making and freezing all the baked goods themselves. They soon had to rent a commercial kitchen in Massachusetts, and then the service skyrocketed in popularity with the pandemic baking craze. That’s when the pair began partnering with bakeries in order to help them keep up with demand.

“We trained them to make our loaves while using our home as a test kitchen to prepare recipes and do taste tests,” Salhi said. “Once we’re happy with the result, we teach the bakery the technique, the ingredients and the whole process. Then they start producing for us.”

Hartzheim described the partnerships as a win-win because it allowed them to give bakeries and pasta makers some business while allowing Wildgrain to keep the subscriptions coming. Today, the company has three fulfilment centers on the East Coast, West Coast and in the Midwest that receive the par-baked product for shipping to customers around the country.

The products feature seasonal inclusions such as pumpkin cinnamon rolls in October and blueberry biscuits in July and use organic flour whenever possible. The products are also focused on clean and natural formulations and ingredients. Freezing the par-baked products allows Wildgrain to focus less on shelf-life and more on keeping the ingredient list simple.

“That’s a huge part of how we can sustain and build products with clean ingredients,” Salhi said. “We can also help bakeries scale up their production while keeping their artisan process.”

Photos courtesy of Wildgrain.

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