The Iconic Braidwood Bakery, nearly 100 Years of Pies and Tradition.
The Braidwood Bakery has origins steeped in tradition and is proud to continue a legacy that began in 1932 with the famous Leeson family. For nearly 100 years, the Bakery has been a great place to stop and relax between Canberra and the south coast, providing the great home-style produce, coffee and welcoming country atmosphere that have made it so iconic.
Current owner John Woodman and his family purchased the bakery in 2005, after virtually stumbling across a ‘for sale’ ad at a tea house in Lake Bathurst. “For many years we’d toyed with the idea of owning a bakery, as baking damper has been a family tradition for generations”, explains John.
Since purchasing The Braidwood Bakery, they have also built another bakery in Goulburn named ‘Trappers Bakery’, which provides all the home-style pastries, pies, bread, and sweets that travelers know and love.
The Bakery has been an iconic staple of the Braidwood and surrounding community for decades and it is their outstanding customer service and dedication that has kept their customers coming back. Day in and day out, the bakery offers a tradition that has become a constant comfort in this ever-changing world.
The bakery employs thirty local people, both juniors and adults, and is involved in sponsoring many local sporting associations. They also provide a great meeting place for locals and continue to be a truly authentic country bakery.
John believes that people keep coming back time after time because they know what they’re going to get – “Great tucker and friendly service with a smile”.
John works hard at fostering a friendly and wholesome culture amongst his staff, which rubs off on their valued patrons.
“i started out in real estate before i realised there was a lot more dough in dough.”
– john WOODMAN, owner of braidwood bakery
Most Popular Pie and Signature Item
John describes that their best-selling pie is “without a doubt the good old fashioned Traditional Steak pie.” The bakery offers a wide variety of delicious pies, savory pastries, sweets and of course bread. John’s personal favorite pie is a toss-up between the Chunky Steak and Pepper, and the Steak, Cheese and Bacon pies.
The bakery also does a ‘Pie of the Week’ which, depending on people’s fancy is always a bit of a hit. For instance, concoctions like Satay Beef, Thai Chicken and Veg or Chilli Con Carne are often rotating weekly offerring a more unique option to adventurous customers.
John explains that the bakery’s signature product is without doubt the famous Tin Loaf, which, “really has to be seen to be believed”. Put simply, this staple item is a normal white loaf which looks like it has just kept rising and rising and rising in its’ tin. A must-try for your next visit to the bakery!
What’s Next?
The Braidwood Bakery business model has seen plans to move locations to provide more customer parking, however, this idea has been put on the back burner for the time being.
In terms of new menu items to look forward to, the team are always rotating new products in the pie range, and they also continue to test new sweets to keep things fresh. What they mostly find, however is that people keep coming back because they know what they want and they know that they are going to get it, time after time.