On your marks…
When out and about on your weekly food hunt, keep your eyes peeled for The Real Bread Loaf Mark.
The Real Bread Campaign scheme helps loaf mongers give customers an at-a-glance assurance from a bakery that a loaf is made without so-called processing aids or other additives of any kind. The companion Sourdough Loaf Mark denotes that the Real Bread in question was leavened only using a sourdough starter – handy for people who avoid sourfaux.
The bakeries
Since The Loaf Mark was launched in September 2011, hundreds of bakeries around the world have signed up to the scheme. Of the current users, the majority are neighbourhood bakeries in Britain, though they include one in India and another in New Zealand. Peter’s Yard crispbreads are available across the nation, while the first beer to carry The Loaf Mark will be launched this Thursday…
At the start of Real Bread Week (20-28 February 2021) currently registered Loaf Mark users are:
| Bakery | Town | County |
| Amazing-Grains | Milton Keynes | Buckinghamshire |
| Anna's Kitchen | Brighton | East Sussex |
| Anthony Mark Long | Auckland | New Zealand |
| Badger Bakery | Woking | Surrey |
| Baker Lou | Stockport | Cheshire |
| Bakerman | Darlington | Co Durham |
| Bear Bread Bakery & Kitchen | Colyton | Devon |
| Beck Hill Bakery | Tealby | Lincolnshire |
| Billowing Loaf | Gloucester | Gloucestershire |
| Blackbirds Microbakery | Birmingham | West Midlands |
| Bobs Bread Bakery | North Walsham | Norfolk |
| Borderlands Bakehouse | Southampton | Hampshire |
| Bread and Roses | Alnwick | Northumberland |
| Britain Loves Baking | UK wide | |
| Brookfarm Bakery | Brockweir | Gloucestershire |
| Chalk Hills Bakery | Horley | Surrey |
| Charlton Bakehouse | Charlton | London |
| Companions Bakery | Bedford | Bedfordshire |
| Crust and Crumb 77 | Brighouse | West Yorkshire |
| Doorstep Baker | Bewdley | Worcestershire |
| E5 Bakehouse | Hackney | London |
| Eat Your Crusts | Pershore | Worcestershire |
| Ed Baker | Greenwich | London |
| Emma's Bread | Exeter | Devon |
| Evendine Sourdough Bakery | Malvern | Worcestershire |
| Eviedale Bakehouse | Evie | Orkney |
| FAB Bakery | Newcastle Upon Tyne | Tyne and Wear |
| Flour + Joy | New Paltz | New York |
| Flour and Soul Bakery | Manchester | |
| Forest Bakehouse | Long Hope | Gloucestershire |
| Hobbs House Bakery | Various | Gloucestershire |
| Hunnypot | Elford | Staffordshire |
| Kbroffee | West Wickham | Cambridgeshire |
| Kennington Bakery | Kennington | London |
| Kipton Baker | Kettering | Northamptonshire |
| Knead Bakehouse | Witney | Oxfordshire |
| Knead Good Bread | Woodhouse Eaves | Leicestershire |
| Lekito | Guildford | Surrey |
| Loaf Affair | London | |
| London Road Craft Bakery | Kettering | Northamptonshire |
| Lucy's Loaves | Twickenham | Middlesex |
| Mark's Cotswold Bakery | Chipping Norton | Oxfordshire |
| Martins Bakery | Various | Manchester |
| Maya | Weybridge | Surrey |
| M's Bakery | Bournemouth | Dorset |
| My Loaf | Cardiff | |
| Natural Bread | Oxford | Oxfordshire |
| Off The Rails | Glaisdale | North Yorkshire |
| One Mile Bakery Exeter | Exeter | Devon |
| Orkney Sourdough | Kirkwall | Orkney |
| Peters Yard | UK wide | |
| Pure Brot | Kihim | Maharahstra |
| R+R Bakery | Blackburn | Lancashire |
| Riverside Sourdough | Cardiff | |
| Ross Bakery | Ballasalla | Isle of Man |
| Scarpello | Derry/Londonderry | County Donegal |
| Sour Haus | Worcester | Worcestershire |
| Sourdough Sophia | Crouch End | London |
| South By West / Doorstep Breads | Worthing | West Sussex |
| South Downs Sourdough | Alresford | Hampshire |
| Sugardough | Hove | East Sussex |
| Tensheds Bakehouse | Hedingham | Essex |
| The Bakehouse & Findhorn Bakery | Findhorn | Moray |
| The Bakery by Knife & Fork | Deddington | Oxfordshire |
| The Cambridge Oven | Cambridge | Cambridgeshire |
| The Celtic Bakers | London | |
| The Earth's Crust Bakery | Castle Douglas | Dumfries and Galloway |
| The Kitchen Front CIC | Harpenden | Hertfordshire |
| Tides Kitchen | Newport | Pembrokeshire |
| Wee Boulangerie | Edinburgh | Edinburgh |
| West Street Bakehouse | Comberton | Cambridgeshire |
| Wild Baker | Ewelme | Oxfordshire |
| Wildside Bread | Edinburgh | Midlothian |
| Withies Delicatessen | Stoke St. Gregory | Somerset |
These are just a fraction of more than 1000 bakeries that have listed places to buy their additive-free loaves on the Real Bread Map.
Shoppers: Discover places to buy additive-free loaves
Bakery owners: Read more and sign up to the scheme
How the scheme works
Rather than being an accreditation or certification, with the costs associated with inspections, testing and other necessary processes, The Loaf Mark scheme simply requires users to sign an annual usage agreement and pay a nominal admin fee. This makes it accessible to even the smallest of microbakeries. The sliding payment scale recognises the marketing value to businesses and the ability of larger ones to make an extra contribution towards the charity Sustain being able to continue its work championing Real Bread and the people behind its rise.
As part of its proposed Honest Crust Act, the Real Bread Campaign continues to lobby for the display of full ingredient listings to be made mandatory for all loaves. In the meantime, the Campaign urges all loaf makers and retailers to do so voluntarily, whether or not legislation in their part of the world requires them to.
Published Tuesday 23 February 2021
Real Bread Campaign: The Real Bread Campaign finds and shares ways to make bread better for us, better for our communities and better for the planet. Whether your interest is local food, community-focussed small enterprises, honest labelling, therapeutic baking, or simply tasty toast, everyone is invited to become a Campaign supporter.
