Sunraysia Bread and Butter Bakery takes out top gong

SUNRAYSIA Bread and Butter Bakery has taken home a number of awards at the recent Victorian Bread Show.

The popular bakery took out the top gong for its gluten free bread, second place for its white sourdough and third place for its plain meat pie.

Apprentice Gemma Monteleone also took out second for her white square block in the concentrated block category.

Sunraysia Bread and Butter Bakery owner Dean Picken said it was a great achievement for his staff.

“It is a team effort,” he said.

“They put in a lot of work during the course of the year and for them to get results like that it just shows them what their hard work can do.”

The bakery has participated in the Victorian Bread Show for about four years and often takes home prizes.

For Ms Monteleone, who is in the second year of her apprenticeship, the competitions provide her with a confidence boost.

“It really shows you how you rank with other apprentices around Sunraysia,” she said.

“You can also see how you can improve and get better.”

Ms Monteleone took home several awards last year from various bakery competitions and has even acted as a junior judge in the past.

“It’s really good to see how everything is judged and how everything works behind the scenes,” she said.

Mr Picken said they were hoping to enter a few more competitions this year but at this stage were unsure if any would go ahead because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The panic caused by the outbreak of coronavirus has seen more people utilising the Mildura and Irymple Sunraysia Bread and Butter Bakery stores.

Mr Picken said more people were coming in to purchase bread as supermarkets struggled to keep up with demand.

Although Mr Picken said the increase in buying was good for business, he did question whether it was necessary.

“We’ll just keep making bread, there’s no dramas there,” he said.

“Until we’re told to stop by the health department we’ll just keep doing what we do.”