Bakers Delight franchisee Duncan Carter opens second Toowoomba location at The Ridge Shopping Centre

Duncan Carter’s family helped shape how Queenslanders buy their bread today — now he’s continuing the legacy by opening his second Toowoomba bakery.

Duncan Carter’s DNA is clearly mixed with flour and yeast, such is the richness of his family’s history with commercial baking.

“It all started about 1909 (with) my great-grandfather — (he had) a factory in Paddington (Brisbane) and what they would do is drive into the town on horseback and sell it to all the places in town and all the homes,” he said.

“Back then it was factory bread, and just bread – there wasn’t any sweet or savoury stuff.”

So it’s no surprise the fourth-generation baker is following in his family’s footsteps by expanding his own footprint in Toowoomba.

Bakers Delight franchisee Duncan Carter, a fourth-generation baker, has opened his second location in Toowoomba at the Ridge Shopping Centre. He holds a photo of his great-grandfather EJ Bedgood.

Mr Carter has just opened his second Bakers Delight in the Garden City, after moving into The Ridge Shopping Centre in Kearneys Spring.

While his great-grandfather EJ Bedgood — a past-president of the Master Bakers Association of Queensland — and grandfather Jack set the family on the course it is now, it was actually Mr Carter’s uncle David Bedgood (a legend of Queensland rugby) who helped pioneer how people buy baked goods today.

“What happened a bit later on was my uncle took over the business and they went into receivership, so then he started hot bread shops in Brisbane, and I think he was one of the first in Queensland to do it,” he said.

“He was in the Kenmore, Indooroopilly areas and that was the new thing – the hot bread shops (had) fresh bread every day so that went off, it was crazy back then.

“I went over and did my apprenticeship with him and enjoyed it, and got into it myself.”

The Bedgood’s influence in baking extends beyond Australia, with evidence showing it was David who helped spark successful hot bread businesses in Fiji and the Pacific Islands.

After taking over the Hooper Centre’s Bakers Delight in 2018, Mr Carter said he was excited by the growth potential at The Ridge.

Bakers Delight franchisee Duncan Carter, a fourth-generation baker, has opened his second location in Toowoomba at the Ridge Shopping Centre.

“I was working for the previous owner and she came in one day and said, ‘I’m thinking of selling in a couple of years’ and I said I’d be interested,” he said.

“The franchise makes you do like an 18 month internal business course, so I did that, bought that one, grew sales and developed a team and I’m doing the same to this one.

“The biggest thing these days is developing a team, because you can’t be there all the time, so your business is only as good as your team.

“(Bakers Delight) asked me to move in here, and it’s a good area and a good centre.”

Mr Carter’s bakeries churn through at least 1.5 tonnes of flour every week and usually sell more than 1000 bread rolls in a weekend.

Bakers Delight franchisee Duncan Carter, a fourth-generation baker, has opened his second location in Toowoomba at the Ridge Shopping Centre.

When it comes to winning products, he said there were two key unit movers in Toowoomba.

“There are about 500 recipes in the book but most people only do about 80 different products, but you can choose different products that suits your area,” Mr Carter said.

“When I started 27 years ago, no one even made sourdough — now we saw as many sourdoughs as we do white, wholegrain or wholemeal.

“The scones are a big one in Toowoomba, and I believe it’s because we’ve got a lot of older people in Toowoomba.

“We actually won a competition a few years ago, we sold more scones than any other Bakers Delight in Australia.”