Plan

Much has happened since the last communication, so I will begin with an explanation of the above document. Although the map is not complete, it does encompass much of the strategy Sour Flour is pursuing.

We can begin with the actual bread side of things, and that starts at Bagel Monday. Bagel Monday is one of the first routines to be established within Sour Flour, and it is a way to start the week fresh. On December 14th we had our first Bagel Monday out of a commercial facility, Gastronaut, and produced 160 bagels with the help of Roger and Katie. We had 25 different customers; some were picked up at the kitchen, some went to United Market (21st and York), and some were picked up from the Bike Messengers who hang out on Montgomery and Market. Moving forward, we are expanding our relationship with United Market, and plan to have more bagels and bread stocked there. Bagel Monday is also a time to reflect on the previous week, and plan the next. If proper planning has been in place, there will be extra bagels which we save in the freezer (Bagels freeze amazingly well).

Moving forward with the plan, Bread Training is a key focus for Sour Flour. In the beginning phases, we did all training out of my house, but there is now more demand than this facility can support. So for the time being, we have moved to home visits while we are in search of a more appropriate central location. In addition to hands on training, we are developing a Training Manual, which will explain the bread making process as we see it. We will have photos, videos, and writing from different people’s perspective. We would like to make it as simple as possible for people to produce tasty bread at home so they can share it with their friends and family. To help with the transition from simply buying bread to baking it, we have started Dough To Go, which allows people to pick up dough in any phase (as a starter, as mixed dough, already shaped), and bake it at home.

The grander plans for Sour Flour are for a Communal Oven. There are two routes we are exploring for the oven: buying a professional steam injected deck oven, or building our own masonry oven. The type of oven we are looking to buy costs $30,000 for the smallest version, and has a huge set of requirements (concrete floor, 1″ drain pipe, 2 different vents, proper gas pipe, 3 phase electricity). TMB Baking are the experts in this arena, and are helping us with the planning. Building a masonry oven requires finding an expert, and also would end up costing a huge sum of money. In addition to the actual oven, we need a place to put the oven, and eventually will need other supplies (racks, baskets, linen, etc.). However, once everything is setup, it will be a place that provides for an enormous amount of people.

Away from the bread plans, Sour Flour as an organization has a few areas of focus as well. Communication is one thing that we are striving to improve, and this post is the beginning of our efforts. We have focused highly on offline communication up until this point, but we will be increasing our efforts in the online arena. We strive to communicate effectively each and every day, and will be updating the website far more often with photos, writing, and video. We will also start regular meetings so that the Sour Flour Community can grow stronger.

Finance has been one aspect of Sour Flour that has not been talked about too much. The initial goal for Sour Flour was to give away 1000 free loaves of bread. Now that we have surpassed that goal, we are still providing free bread, in addition to free bread training. But in order to continue to operate, Sour Flour needs funds. Our first 6 months of operation were sustained through my salary at CNET, but I have now left that job. To continue forward, we have recently started accepting donations, and have raised $3,554 so far. To get the greater capital we will need, we are working on a business plan to show investors that Sour Flour is a profitable venture. However, before we reach that stage, we are still in need of short term financing, and are considering several options. Ideally we would continue to get enough donations to keep all bread and training free. In addition to donations, we are considering selling a premium bread at United Market to get revenue coming in. Other options we are exploring are taking on loans, working part time in another bakery, and generating money through Gourmet Gastronomer.