Baking The Best Every Day: Great Harvest Bread Co.

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If you’re a regular at West Olympia’s popular Trader Joe’s, you’ve walked right past Great Harvest Bread Co. But you may have missed it, since the bakery is partially obscured behind a large column. Do yourself a favor and search it out next time – you won’t be sorry.

Great Harvest Bread Co. has been serving healthy, high quality breads for over 35 years. Its first store opened in Great Falls, Montana, in 1976. The company has grown to over 200 stores nationwide while holding strong to its original commitment to healthy living and products made from scratch with only the purest of ingredients.

Jim and Kerry Norem, owners of the Olympia Great Harvest Bread Co. have put their own spin on the fantastic franchise, adding sweet treats, hot and cold sandwiches, soups, granola, gluten-free items galore, gift baskets, and more.

They include the company’s mission statement, right on the wall of the warm and welcoming shop: “Be loose and have fun. Bake phenomenal bread. Run fast to help customers. And give generously to others.”

“Great Harvest was interested in putting a store in Olympia, so we came out and spent some time here,” says Jim. “We wanted to move back to the Northwest. Our family is in Montana. We really liked Olympia.”

Jim describes Great Harvest as a really light version of a franchise. He and Kerry are free to make every decision related to their store, from recipes to décor. “We’ve gone from one end of the food service thing to the other,” he says.

The owners and their crew are all locals, serving their friends and neighbors. Great Harvest Bread Co. is a local bakery benefited by being supplied with the best wheat source on earth via the company, from family-owned Montana farms.

Jim and Kerry’s shop has a stone mill and makes its own whole-wheat flour daily. “The freshness clock starts the moment it’s ground,” Jim says. “We use nothing but the best ingredients.”

A loaf of Great Harvest bread is significantly heavier than one you’ll find in a grocery store. “That’s because we don’t use any dough conditioners,” Jim says, describing the additives used by mass-market bakeries to make a large loaf with fewer ingredients and a lot of chemicals you can’t pronounce.

“You always hear about whole grains in the news, and we offer that,” says Jim. “But we offer other breads too; our cinnamon chip makes killer French toast. We have a huge, wide selection of bread here.”

That selection includes caraway rye, focaccia, apple crunch, 9-grain, country French, and more. Some menu items change month-to-month, depending on the season. For instance, Great Harvest offers a gouda stout bread in March, and honey bunny loaves in April, for Easter. A monthly menu is available to take home, so customers know which breads and sweets will be available when.

Jim and Kerry’s bakery offers a lot more than simply superior bread. You’ll find sweets galore – including cinnamon rolls, cookies, scones, muffins, bars and tea cakes. “We have a full sweets line,” says Jim. “The bakers are here at 4 o’clock every morning.”

The menu also includes hot and cold sandwiches, soups, granola, and more. Great Harvest also serves Batdorf & Bronson coffee and an array of cold drinks.

Anytime you stop in at Great Harvest, a wide variety of items are available for sampling. One bite and you’ll realize the difference in quality and taste.

Jim and Kerry have developed an extensive gluten-free line of products, as well. They take steps to assure no cross-contamination of wheat and do random testing to make sure they’re meeting standards.

“And we’re offering flavors in the bread and sweets that you just don’t get anywhere else,” Jim says.

Olympian Emily McMason buys exclusively gluten-free foods for the rest of her family, who all have celiac disease. “The gluten-free breads and sweet treats at Great Harvest are fabulous,” she says. “The flavor and texture are wonderful. You’d never know you’re eating gluten-free.”

If something in the regular line proves really popular – like the cheddar garlic bread, with roasted garlic cloves and chunks of cheddar – Jim and Kerry create a gluten-free version.

“We also have gluten-free pizza with pepperoni,” Jim says, “We mix that with mozzarella, tomatoes, oregano, basil. It’s really good.”

Your average gluten-free cookie often tastes like, well, sand. But not Great Harvest’s. They experiment with their recipes until they hit on the most delicious version possible.

The store opens at 6:30 a.m. every day except Sunday. “On Sunday we open at 7:00 a.m. because there’s nobody out at 6:30,” Jim says, smiling. Great Harvest is open until 8:00 p.m. seven days a week.

Great Harvest Bread Co. also offers catering. From breakfast items to box lunches, or simply coffee service alongside muffins, cookies, and scones, Jim and Kerry and their team can help make any event more delicious.

“We can combine both regular and gluten-free items,” says Jim. “There’s always somebody gluten-free in an office.”

The bakery has provided events with coffee and breakfast items in the morning, and then returned at 11:30 with lunch, followed by an afternoon stop with coffee, tea, and sweets.

Jim and Kerry have varied backgrounds. Kerry is a certified Master Gardener and floral designer. Her talented eye is evident throughout the shop, with fresh flowers on every table, charming displays, and inventive gift baskets.

Kerry’s creativity in floral design and arranging is evident in the array of gift baskets and other collections available at Great Harvest Bread Co. From a round loaf wrapped in beautiful fabric – for just $12 – to a top-of-the-line basket overflowing with bread, honey, gourmet soup mix, locally crafted jam, granola, a cutting board, pancake mix, pancake turner, and more.

Jim flies airplanes and is also a licensed boat captain, in both power and sail boating.

The couple met while Jim was flying for a commuter in Bozeman and Kerry worked in the company’s accounting department.

Getting their latest business venture off the ground doesn’t leave much time for recreational activities, but the couple loves dogs and have two Springer spaniels upon which they lavish attention.

In fact, their shop gives 25 percent of the proceeds of its freshly made dog treats – dubbed “Zolena’s bones,” after their older pup – to local dog rescue organizations, such as Paws for the Cause.

Prices are slightly higher at Great Harvest Bread Co. than those you’ll see on the supermarket shelves; a loaf of honey whole wheat or harvest white is $5.49. But without the dough conditioners and additives, you’re actually buying more product at Great Harvest – and there’s simply no comparison in quality and taste.

“People don’t value quality in the same ways,” Jim says, pointing out that some folks want a Mercedes, while others are happy with a Hyundai.

“We aren’t going to sell bread to every single person,” he continues. That’s not his and Kerry’s goal. The goal is to sell bread to those who expect and appreciate the highest quality.

And the bottom line, according to Jim? “You eat good food, you feel better.”

 

Great Harvest Bread Co.

1530 Black Lake Blvd. (next to Trader Joe’s)

Olympia, WA 98502

 

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