Find out about the magic of morning-made bread.

Behind our Marketplace’s full line up of breads and baked goods are the tried and true neighbourhood bakeries of Montreal - working away while the city rests to bring us the freshest products possible. From pure butter croissants from Chez Fred to sourdough bread from Hof Kelsten, and mushroom brioches from Guillaume along with the crazy variety offered by La Fabrique Arhoma, everything is baked fresh in the early morning just in time to land in your basket.

It’s no coincidence that we’ve partnered with such incredible bakers - these vetted teams all provide daily, morning-made freshness by diligently planning and predicting orders in a tight system that never sleeps. But how can they deliver croissants and baguettes to us six hours after the Marketplace closes, when the dough has to rise longer than that?

Our partners monitor the contents of Lufavores baskets in the afternoon making order predictions (based on previous weeks), and then adjust their production at midnight. As Arhoma told us, days when their predictions are wrong become quite chaotic as they have to scramble to make sure they don't overproduce or make too little. It's quite the impressive balancing act, but in short, the more regular the orders, the easier it is for our bakers to plan their workforce and do their job, while making sure nothing is wasted.

We recently visited two of our main bakeries, La Fabrique Arhoma and Boulangerie Guillaume, to get a glimpse inside the life of a baker (and trust us when we say, it was past our bedtime).

La Fabrique Arhoma - Hochelaga-Maisonneuve

We've been working with Arhoma for seven years now and as we’ve grown, so have they. Nestled in the heart of Montreal’s HoMa neighbourhood, we can confidently say they’ve become a staple to many Lufavores. Prioritizing quality and using local ingredients whenever they can, they seem to do the impossible: provide artisanal, handmade pastries at a factory volume. With nearly 1500 products ordered by Lufavores every day, they do it all by hand - no large machines, no shortcuts, just 140 employees that show up and do the work. For owners Ariane and Jérôme, the human touch of their products is priority over all else. If something new is added, then they hire a new employee to prepare it - simple as that.

Every pastry team needs a leader and who better to lead the Arhoma night team than Simon, an experienced and energetic baker who recently moved from France after years of running his own bakery overseas. Not only does Simon supervise the entire night shift process, estimate the orders, troubleshoot, and delegate - he’s also in charge of prepping many of the pastries and keeping everything on track.

Since the dough has to rise, the night team has to work quickly in order to give it enough time to sit. Baking team member Paolo preps and measures out all kinds of bread, before they are passed onto the next stage.

This is where the dough is shaped, a process led by Philippe the head baker. This humble leader has been part of Arhoma since the beginning, and has watched production double, triple, and quadruple over the years.

The feel of the night shift is unmatched, a group of people who love what they do, and do it well. Meet Patrick, a man with a skip in his step - he’s the master of the baguettes, rolling and placing them individually before letting them sit and rise.

Ariane loves working with Jerôme to come up with new ideas for baked goods. They’re not trying to reinvent the wheel, but simply adding creative twists to classics - like pistachio croissants or pecan, maple, and cranberry bread.

They source local ingredients where possible, ordering mainly from Quebec or Ontario, not only for freshness, but to stimulate the local economy. Although Arhoma has grown exponentially over the years, their guiding philosophy of being a human-first enterprise has continued to thrive.

Boulangerie Guillaume - Plateau-Mont-Royal

Our team also set out to visit the hustling and bustling Boulangerie Guillaume. These bakers strive for freshness and consistency and achieve it with their well-designed system that involves planning orders 48 hours in advance. With a goal to mirror a traditional French boulangerie, owners Valériane and Guillaume opened a tiny bakery on Fairmount East in the Mile-End many years ago. But after the news got out, and Montrealers got a taste - they had no choice but to move to a bigger space in central Plateau!

They’ve become masters in predicting and estimating orders. But because their prep starts two days before delivery, the more predictability they have with daily and weekly orders, the better.

With flour from Ontario and local fruits and nuts, they prioritize good quality, whole ingredients over anything else. After all the ingredients are chopped and prepared, it's time to assemble everything. This is where the bakers start kneading the dough, and getting it ready to be shaped.

That’s when bakers like Eric and Rémi come in - working on brioches and baguettes, making sure they’re all portioned properly and carefully. Depending on the product, it will either sit to rise or be placed in the oven right away.

Every morning at 5 am, we pick up the morning-made breads and pastries. Then, we head over to our distribution centre to pop them in your baskets as fresh as can be.

With a total of 50 employees and 11 bakers, Guillaume’s team is busier than ever. They also just opened a new storefront down the street on St-Laurent that’ll allow them to bake more breads, brioches, and pastries than ever before.