Episode Details

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Jenny Berg of Crumb Sourdough Microbakery joins me for a conversation about what it actually looks like to build a home-based bread business and how many different paths that can take.

Jenny started baking sourdough in 2020 and eventually turned that obsession into Crumb Sourdough Microbakery in Central Oregon. Along the way, she helped organize a grassroots effort to change Oregon’s cottage food laws, built a wholesale business supplying local grocery stores and farm stands, and worked her way up to producing 230 loaves a week on her own.

We talk about why she moved away from direct-to-consumer sales, how she found and approached wholesale accounts, wholesale pricing and payment terms, her production schedule, and why predictable income has been worth giving up some margin.

We also talk about something that doesn’t get said enough: growth doesn’t always have to be the goal. Jenny shares why she’s no longer interested in building an empire, how she thinks about quality of life and burnout, and what it means to create a business that is actually enough.

And at the end, Jenny gives a beautiful answer to the question I ask every guest: What does Saving Bread mean to you?

Find Jenny + Crumb Sourdough

Crumb Sourdough Microbakery website

Jenny on Instagram — @crumb.sourdough.microbakery

Cottage Food Resources Jenny Mentioned in the Episode

Forrager — Oregon Cottage Food Law

Forrager — Oregon Domestic Kitchen Law

Institute for Justice — Selling Homemade Food in Oregon