Riverside Bakery CIC is a super small-scale sourdough bakery based in Cultenhove, in Stirling, Scotland. We are a Community Interest Company (CIC), which means we operate as a social enterprise, reinvesting any profit into the social and environmental aims of the business. We also are very passionate about contributing to a better food system for everyone - where food is good for people, planet, a
nd communities. Some of the ways we do this are by delivering by bicycle, using local and organic ingredients - with everything handmade using slowly-fermented techniques such as sourdough. We also collaborate with charities, schools, and organisations across Scotland to share skills and knowledge about sourdough baking, heritage grains/flour, and social enterprise. We sell mainly by pre-ordering through the online farmers market platform Neighbourfood Stirling (which also supplies Balfron) - and also pre-ordering for pick-up at the Bakery itself, Stirling University, and Stirling Health Food Store. We also sell at the Stirling Farmers’ Market and at ‘Weigh Ahead’ in Dunblane. Sign up to our weekly newsletter to get all the details on how to order. Rosi is the leading baker-lady at Riverside Bakery CIC. She does all the prep, baking, and bicycle deliveries - along with all the behind the scenes stuff like orders, cleaning, book keeping, and communications. Rosi has recently taken over the bakery from Théo, who has been running Riverside Bakery CIC since its beginnings in 2014. This was a gradual process over the last year or so, where Rosi has been apprenticing regularly and taking on more and more responsibility. She is a passionate advocate for good bread and better food systems, has so much enthusiasm for everything she does - and she makes super delicious bread! Théo continues to be one of the directors of the bakery, supporting where he can. As a CIC, any profit the bakery makes will be used to support: "Initiatives which focus on local and/or community food production which will positively affect Stirling and Stirlingshire, by providing one or several of the following: food education, food sovereignty, equality, local food network, Scottish grain growing and milling, incentive for food businesses or social enterprises, local food events." (taken from our Community Interest Statement)
You can find our bread:
- Stirling Neighbourfood - every week, pre-order online (we also supply Balfron via the same platform)
- Direct ordering through our newsletter/via email - to pick up at the Green & Blue space at Stirling University
- Direct from the Stirling Health Food Store
- Stirling Farmers’ Market - every 2nd Saturday of the month, 10-4, Port street.
- Weigh Ahead - bulk food shop in Dunblane, Scotland
A History of the project:
In September 2014, three friends and flatmates living in Riverside, Stirling starting making their own sourdough bread at home. Théo, Tom and Nils, working from their kitchen, experimented with recipes from their respective countries of origin (France, Czech Republic and Germany) and beyond. Their sourdough creations soon drew a crowd - with friends wanting sourdough bread from the ‘Riverside House’ for themselves. Théo went on to do a ‘Baking for Community’ course from Bread Matters - learning more about sourdough baking and on how to set up a social enterprise bakery. Riverside Bakery became formalised as a Community Interest Company (CIC) - a social enterprise model that ensures any profit made is reinvested into social and environmental aims. Starting small and growing slowly, Riverside Bakery CIC started by providing bread direct to customers through a weekly newsletter ordering system, and delivered by bicycle and trailer. Soon Riverside was providing bread to various pick-up points around town each week, as well as selling monthly at the Stirling Farmers’ Market, and through the (now defunct) Food Assembly online selling platform. The weekly click’n’collect Stirling Neighbourfood is going strong - and one of the best ways to access our bread. The end of 2015 saw the Bakery move to a shared commercial kitchen in Cultenhove, at the Hillview Community Centre - with enough space for a proper oven! Our most enthusiastic customer from the beginning, Rosi, started to volunteer with the bakery regularly in 2018 - learning the art of slowly fermented bread making. In 2019 Rosi became an employee of Riverside, running the weekly bake when Théo was away. The two have been working together to hand over the bakery enterprise to Rosi completely from April 2020 onwards. Théo is now onto pastures new, but continues to support the bakery as a Director, and is involved in the wider local grain economy & real bread work across Scotland. Ashley, another Director, helps mostly with social media for the bakery. Please get in touch if you have any questions at all, we’d love to hear from you! Rosi, Théo, & Ashley
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