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The Bread Guy story: How founder went from Kelly of Cults apprentice to national award winner in 10 years

The 32-year-old was shocked when his business was crowned Scottish Baker of the Year.

The Bread Guy Gary M. Kenny Elrick/DC Thomson
The Bread Guy Gary M. Kenny Elrick/DC Thomson

He started off with ‘no money and a rolling pin’ before becoming ‘The Bread Guy’, selling his products to his many loyal customers.

And now, Gary McAllister has told The P&J that he is “shocked” his business has been crowned the Scottish Baker of the Year.

The 32-year-old who founded the firm with his sister Donna in 2019 is now the youngest baker to win the accolade – organised by Scottish Bakers – in the competition’s history.

“It’s a fantastic achievement.

“To be getting to that level six years after starting the business is just phenomenal.

“You’ve got some really tough competition in there.

“A lot of big guys that have been doing it for over 100 years.

“Even to be competing against these guys is amazing, but to actually come home with the award is phenomenal.”

The Bread Guy team celebrating at Scottish Baker of the Year Awards.
Gary McAllister (centre), wife Gemma (left) and co-founder Donna (right) celebrating their win: Image: Scottish Bakers.

Just how did The Bread Guy go from finishing his apprenticeship 10 years ago at the now defunct Kelly of Cults to being the head of one of Aberdeen’s most prominent food businesses?

“We started off started off with no money.

We rented a small industrial unit in Inverurie just behind the Morrisons and we got an oven for about £800 from a scrapyard,” he told The P&J.

“So we went to Morrisons and we bought a rolling pin and one of the digital scales that people have in their houses and that was it.

“We had a stainless steel table and a mixer, and that’s all we had.”

The Bread Guy now has five stores across the north-east, including four in Aberdeen, which are located at Great Northern Road, Hazlehead, Thistle Street and Torry.

From one customer to nearly 100

It is at the latter one where all of Bread Guy’s famous bread, baked goodies and pies are made, whilst there is also a shop in the Aberdeenshire town they started out in.

And the bread slicer that they bought at the very start, which they estimate to be around 100 years old, is still working.

Before the shops, the Bread Guy was a wholesaler.

The first company they supplied – and still do to this day – was No.10 Bar and Restaurant in the city’s West End.

“We started off with one customer and now we’ve got a portfolio of almost 100 wholesale customers,” the founder said.

The Bread Guy team celebrating their win.
The Bread Guy team showing off all their haul from the recent awards ceremony.

The business’ rise to stardom was confirmed after the win when north-east chef and owner of Rosemount restaurant Tarragon, Graham Mitchell, left a message to congratulate them on the success.

Hosted at the Hilton Hotel in Glasgow, the Scottish Baker of the Year awards was attended by the great and the good of the industry, but how did he feel when his bakery had won?

‘Shell shocked’

“When the Bread Guy got shouted out, I was shell shocked.

“I was like, ‘do you need to go check that?”

He added: “It was phenomenal, I was shell shocked the whole night. I couldn’t believe that we’d won it, I really didn’t see that coming.

“The first one we won was the Retail Craft Baker of the Year.

“I thought ‘that was us, I’m over the moon, we’ve done fantastic here’.”

Since the victory, people have even been posing for selfies and taking pictures outside the Torry base.

Mr McAllister says that “customers are over the moon” about the success.

The Bread Guy in Torry.
The Bread Guy in Torry is one of five stores across the north-east. Image: Chris Sumner/DC Thomson.

And the owner is hoping his success inspires aspiring bakers to make the grade in the industry.

He describes young workers as being “the future of the Bread Guy”.

“If you don’t look after the new and upcoming bakers then 25 years later when the bakers retire it’s a struggle, Mr McAllister said.

‘It’s been a fantastic journey’

“Grassroots training, getting them from the bottom and training them up. Basically letting them know the sky’s the limit and nothing’s stopping you guys from what I’ve just won.”

Describing his path from Kelly of Cults to becoming Scottish Baker of the Year in one sentence, he said: “It’s been a fantastic journey.”

As well as the two mentioned accolades, the Bread Guy also won the following awards at the weekend:

  • National Gold for Made Without Gluten Bread
  • National Silver Buttery
  • Regional Silver for Blue Murder Sourdough
  • Regional Silver for Lasagne Pie
  • Regional Silver for Scottish Seaweed Focaccia
  • Regional Bronze for Softie

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