Mayfair Bakery’s gluten-free baked cheesecakes headed for NT prisons, oil rigs

A Port Adelaide bakery is expected to double its production this year as it takes on contracts from the most usual of clients.

Behind the cozy shopfront of Port Adelaide’s Mayfair Bakery, owner Phil Donnelly bakery has found a recipe for success.

Mr Donnelly is expecting to double last year’s production of the bakery’s gluten-free baked cheesecakes – some of which will be heading to unexpected clients.

From next year, Mr Donnelly will be supplying the dessert to three correctional facilities, oil rigs and a US Air Force facility in the Northern Territory through a distributor.

Mayfair Bakery owner Phil Donnelly and his gluten free cheesecakes. Picture: Ben Clark

“I think it’s going to be interesting to see how it’s received,” he said.

“Where our product ticks a lot of boxes is the fact that it is gluten free, it tastes good and freezes well, so the distributors will be able to send that as a dessert option throughout the jails as well.”

The bakery’s gluten-free baked cheesecakes – baked at the Port Adelaide site — will also be heading for NT supermarkets after recently launching in Foodland, IGA and Drakes stores in South Australia.

With the new clients, Mr Donnelly is expecting to double the number of cheesecake sales from 450,000 last year to 900,000 within the next 24 months.

It’s a success story years in the making. Mr Donnelly’s family took over the iconic 150-year-old bakery in 2014.

When Covid ravaged the hospitality industry, Mr Donnelly decided he needed to find another revenue stream for the business.

“I think (supermarkets) were probably one of the only sort of traders in South Australia to be really winning, so I thought if I could focus my attention into getting into that market, it’s going to ensure our future,” he said.

Mr Donnelly will be supplying the dessert to three correctional facilities, oil rigs and a US Air Force facility in the Northern Territory through a distributor. Picture: Ben Clark

With the new clients, Mr Donnelly is expecting to double the number of cheesecake sales from 450,000 last year to 900,000 within the next 24 months. Picture: Ben Clark

“If the cafe is sort of closed down and we lose that revenue stream, that way I can still have a cash flow coming in but from a different arm.”

It was at around 1am one morning when Mr Donnelly sent off an email to Drakes with sales figures for the gluten free dessert.

Just a few hours later, he received a call from the supermarket.

“They gave me a to do list of everything I need to do to get my product into the stores. It took me about four years because it’s quite a long and in depth process but we eventually got here.”

But Mr Donnelly has even bigger plans for the future, eyeing the international market.

“We began conversations in July with a distributor in China and Singapore so I guess we’ll just keep the conversation open,” he said.

Originally published as Mayfair Bakery’s gluten-free baked cheesecakes headed for NT prisons, oil rigs