Sunshine Coast Sourdough bakery thrives after owner started making bread in garage

A Buderim bakery’s sourdough is flying off shelves after its owner started selling the bread from his garage two years ago. WATCH THE VIDEO

Having spare time during the start of the pandemic, Greg Turner began whipping up sourdough in a small oven in his garage before delivering the bread to friends at the crack of dawn.

Little did the keen baker know his early morning adventures would act as the catalyst for a now-thriving bakery in Buderim.

“I would have never imagined it would take off like it has,” he said.

Launched late last year, Mr Turner, 30, is the head baker and owner of micro-bakery Sunshine Coast Sourdough Co, selling mostly handmade sourdough bread, pastries and sweets twice a week.

The three-person bakery, tucked away in an industrial area on Kayleigh Dr, bakes 260 loaves of bread a week compared to just 100 when it first opened.

Greg Turner owner of Sunshine Coast Sourdough Co, Buderim. Picture: Patrick Woods.

The England-born baker – raised in a family where the kitchen was the “heart of the home” – baked sourdough casually since 2016, but plunged into it in early 2020 when the pandemic gave him more time on his hands.

Mr Turner, who then worked full-time as a cafe manager, bought an oven and started baking small batches of sourdough in his kitchen and garage before delivering them to people at 6am each week before starting work.

“It was tough at times but I did it because I was passionate about sourdough,” he said.

Fast-forward to last year and Mr Turner had engineered his love of sourdough into a career and bought a small bakery, adopting its customers too.

Sunshine Coast Sourdough Co owner Greg Turner with his assistant baker Hayley Dyer. Picture: Patrick Woods.

Sunshine Coast Sourdough Co is now a hit with customers who enjoy the bread and the experience of entering an action-packed bakery.

“It’s special in that people can walk in the bakery and see me, the baker, see the food and bread being processed,” Mr Turner said.

Mr Turner, working with his wife and another baker, dreamt of opening a bigger bakery, specialising in his three great loves: sourdough, pastries and coffee. He also hoped to sell his sourdough at cafes across the coast.

Sunshine Coast Sourdough Co is open on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 8am to 12pm, but customers typically pre-order online as Mr Turner said they “often sell out in the first couple of hours of opening”.

Originally published as Sunshine Coast Sourdough bakery thrives after owner started making bread in garage