A Bath couple are set to open an artisan bakery and café in a new riverfront community being developed on the site of a former dairy.
The Good Loaf Café will be launched by Emma Savage and Alan Bennett, pictured, at Avonside in Melksham – an area that was originally housed a Unigate Dairy.
Promising homemade, wholesome food in a relaxed and friendly setting, the café will also sell artisan breads made by Alan, who was formerly head baker at Bakers of Bath, the oldest bakery in the city.
A range of cakes and sweet treats will be made by Emma and mum Sharon Savage, while the café will also sell all-day brunch options, hot sandwiches and seasonal daily specials.
The whole menu will be available to take away and include children’s meals plus various vegan and vegetarian options.
Emma closed her previous business, Bath fashion outlet Grace & Ted, which she ran with Sharon, after the pandemic hit and decided instead to turn her passion for baking into a business.
She said: “We’re so excited to open up at Avonside and join the community. We can't wait to get everything in place in The Good Loaf Café’s first home and start serving up the freshly baked breads, cakes and meals which we make ourselves.”
The bakery and café forms part of ambitious plans for Avonside, pictured, by developer London-based Create Real Estate, which aims to make the most of the site’s town centre location and riverside setting by creating a vibrant quarter for both leisure and business.
Create intends to keep the original features and industrial character of the 2.5-acre site while adding al fresco riverside spaces.
Emma added: "We knew from our very first chat with Create that Avonside was the place for us. The vision for the area was really refreshing and we made up our minds at that moment that it was something we wanted our bakery and café to be part of.”
Create Real Estate director Ricky Humphreys added: “We are delighted to welcome Emma and Alan to the Avonside community.
“As part of Avonside’s transition to a creative quarter and leisure destination, it is our vision to bring together an exciting mix of independent food and drink businesses along the riverside, supporting start-ups in particular.
“After the successful launch of the now permanent Scoff Pop-up street food concept, The Good Loaf Café marks the next step towards making this vision a reality.
“We’re having conversations with a range of other exciting independent businesses and are open to exploring a diverse mix of opportunities for the space at Avonside.
“We’ve been working with Emma and Alan to deliver a unit bespoke to their concept and now we can’t wait to watch The Good Loaf Café take off.”
Create is also working on redevelopment schemes in Bristol and Cardiff.
