Sam Ellis has been working with flour and water for the best part of his life. With years spent in bakery kitchens and every other second fixating over the art of baked goods, he decided to stay up late one night in November 2013 to hand-roll, boil and bake bagels. They were wheeled in boxes to the Christchurch Farmers’ Market the following morning.
It didn’t take long for the market gig to boom into the full-blown bread biz it is today. Nowadays, Grizzly Baked Goods is made up of a team of eight bakers, including Sam’s wife Sara, specialising in real sourdough bread, pastries, donuts and – of course – bagels. Each week, countless dozens of baked goods are delivered to cafés, restaurants, caterers and bread-lovin’ homes (order your very own artisan sourdough here or check out which local eateries are stocking Grizzly here).