Linden Loaves is the toast of the town – and it all started with Caro and Matt Tapson’s love of bread.
Hands up: who baked sourdough during lockdown? Most of us, right? But how many of us turned those time fillers into a thriving business?
Caro Tapson did – but, she admits, she never expected what started as a weekend experiment to turn into a full-blown bakery supplying many of Johannesburg’s favourite restaurants and coffee shops.
“I was actually new to baking sourdough when this all started,” she says, explaining that although her background is in sustainable agriculture, she and Matt had been running a successful production company for several years before lockdown. “Work slowed down – a lot. And even after regulations softened, ours was the kind of industry that was really affected by things like Covid-19 protocols. A sudden infection could put a halt to production for days.”
While considering how to bolster the business, Matt was also busy baking. “He’s always loved bread – if he could get by eating nothing else, he would!” Caro laughs. Eager to share that love with his family, Matt often made a loaf or two on the weekends, experimenting first with fast turnaround loaves and then, after he discovered sourdough, working on this technique. Caro didn’t join him in the kitchen, though: “Our baking styles were too different! Matt always follows a recipe with care, while I tend to throw everything together.”
Matt’s meticulousness is one of the reasons every Linden Loaf turns out with a beautifully crispy crust and a soft, chewy centre – but the Tapsons’ only found out just how good their bread really was when they made their first sale. Caro says that this came about after Matt decided to use the extra time on his hands to build an Alan Scott oven – a brick oven specially designed to ensure a perfect bake. It was a gruelling process, Caro recalls: “He actually lost 10kgs building it!” It also generated a lot of interest among followers of Caro’s Insta gardening account, The Seedling Stokvel, where she featured news of its progress on her lockdown series, The Lockdown Allotment. “A number of my followers asked if we would consider selling our bread when the oven was finished, so we decided to do it. We set up a Shopify account, took orders for people to come and collect, and kept our fingers crossed that the loaves would come out okay.”
The Tapsons’ first load comprised eight loaves, which they considered heavy going – but which barely registers against the 100 loaves they now produce on a typical weekend. So, how did they get from a small base of carb lovers to a major supplier? “We realised that if we wanted this to grow into something, we’d need regular customers. Although Matt had cherished a nostalgic idea about chatting to people when they came to buy their bread from us, the reality was that we’d fare better selling in larger quantities to a few restaurants – so I dropped off a loaf at The Linden Deli to see if we could build a relationship.” Caro’s experiment turned into a long-standing, high volume weekly order – and paved the way for the next customer, Melville’s Service Station.
Growth wasn’t especially speedy, Caro says, but it was steady, thanks to word of mouth and networks – steady enough to warrant investing in professional equipment. And, when one of Linden Loaves’ new customers asked for an assurance that the bakery would keep on baking, the Tapsons’ knew they were in it for the long haul. “That was exciting, but it also made us realise that some adjustments had to be made. Our production company was getting busy once more, and Matt simply didn’t have the time to service clients as well as bake.” So, in January 2021, Caro agreed to mimic Matt’s focus on following formulas so that she could take over the dough work.
It was a tough time, she recalls. “Making sourdough is an around-the-clock process – if you’re not baking, you’re making fires to heat the ovens – plus, there was all the family stuff that comes when you have two kids.” As tiring as it was, Caro took to the work immediately. “I’ve always been a business owner, and I love the idea of growing a business – it’s a fascinating process. With the bakery, there’s the advantage of knowing what’s going to come next: it’s highly predictable, so although it’s hard work, there are no nasty surprises. Plus,” she quips, “I’ve become super strong from all that kneading!”
With Linden Loaves’ trajectory showing no sign of slowing, Caro and Matt decided to bring on some extra hands, and Linden Loaves now has two employees. Caro is hoping that, in time and with the additional capacity, the business will be able to increase its output: “We’re currently making about 370 loaves a week, and we’ve set a goal of 500 – that’s 100 loaves a day,” she says.
The big question is: Is it still possible to enjoy sourdough when it consumes your every minute? “Oh, yes. I still eat it every single day. Aside from enjoying it as a meal, I love that something so simple has been able to create an income for my family, and now for the people we employ,” Caro says.
Details: Follow them on Insta @linden_loaves and visit lindenloaves.co.za for where to find their bread.
Caro’s tips for scrumptious sourdough
Caro’s favourite way to enjoy sourdough? “With your favourite people around a table. Serve up lots of toppings, from cheese to pesto and hummus. I always have mine with a boiled egg for breakfast, and of course it’s great with soup. That’s the wonderful thing about sourdough – it goes with anything and it’s so versatile. The options are endless.”
Decadent Belgian chocolate knots made with naturally leavened enriched dough intertwined with a luxurious Belgian dark chocolate. The perfect Valentines treat that comes in boxes of four. Available from lindenloaves.co.za from February 10 to 14.
Text: Lisa Witepski • Main photo: MEGAN BRETT
