Whistler BizBeat: BReD Organic Sourdough

Welcome to BizBeat, Pique’s newest web series profiling Whistler businesses and their employees who go above and beyond.

Each week, we will profile another resort employer and one of their staff, who have each agreed to answer the same questionnaire that has been sent to businesses and employees across the community.

This week it's BReD, the organic, vegan sourdough bakery in Creekside. We hear from co-owners Ed and Natasha Tatton, before a Q&A tomorrow with star employee and pastry production manager, Jana Mihalikova. 

The following interview has been lightly edited for grammar and clarity. 

Pique: Describe your business and the products/services it provides, as well as when it launched.

BReD is a B Corp-certified vegan sourdough bakery that opened its doors in 2019. We specialize in sourdough loaves and sourdough cinnamon buns, with house-made vegan cream cheeze frosting, and have many other sweet and savoury vegan treats made using locally sourced, seasonal and organic ingredients.

Everything is made in-house, baked fresh daily and served alongside our specialty beverage program, including locally roasted espresso coffees, signature house-made Indian chai, sustainably-sourced real chocolate hot chocolate complete with house-made coconut whipped cream and vegan marshmallows, as well as many superfood lattes.

What do you like the most about doing business in Whistler?

Whistler attracts people from all over the world, and as much as we love all the locals who support us throughout the year, we also enjoy serving international visitors. Everyone is either on vacation or just stoked to live in a beautiful and fun mountain environment, and so we have a lot in common with everyone who comes through our doors.

What do you like the least about doing business in Whistler? 

It’s no secret that a resort community has many challenges, with staff coming and going between summer and winter seasons, and there are huge fluctuations in revenue in the peak and off-seasons. Employers have to compete for staff by offering generous compensation and benefit packages, which can be difficult for small, family-run establishments.

If you were mayor for a day, what single policy would you implement in Whistler to best support local businesses?

Having seen so many workers affected by the ever-increasing housing crisis, it seems that there are never enough solutions to this. We have missed out on first-class team members who couldn’t find anywhere to live. I would like to say that an empty-house tax would alleviate some of this, but I know that many of our wealthier customers would be negatively affected by this and would probably vote me out! Some kind of RV park or tiny home estate for local workers is probably a more achievable option.

What’s a memorable moment or customer from your time doing business in Whistler?

We once had two separate customers who knew each other meet one another unexpectedly in our store. At the same time, a particular song came on the sound system and they broke into a ballroom dance around the bakery for the whole song, just having a great time laughing. It was totally bonkers and as there was no one else in the store at that moment, so we happily let them go for it. There have been so many memorable moments like that. People are the funniest creatures!

Learn more at edsbred.com. 

Got a business or employee you'd like us to profile? Email reporter Brandon Barrett at [email protected].