Sourdough September success
In the year when nurturing a starter became a popular pastime, the Real Bread Campaign’s annual, international was celebrated more widely than ever before.
There’s no way to know just how many people all around the globe took part. One indication of its global popularity, however, was the more than 5700 social media post from nearly 60 countries* we saw – and those were just the Instagrammers who used the right hashtag!
See the 100+ people who emailed their sourdough selfies to us during the month.
Our initiative also generated international media coverage from England to the USA, Scotland to South Africa, Ireland to the United Arab Emirates, and other places between and beyond.
Campaign supporter Daniel Nemeth talked about Seasons Bakery's beetroot sourdough on BBC2's Nadiya Bakes, and even Barack Obama posted a video declaring how he’d nurtured “a mean sourdough starter”, though perhaps that was co-incidental…
Feedback
Of respondents to our post-event survey:
- 80% Made sourdough bread for themselves, friends or family
- 67% Found it a great way to connect with other people – friends, family, locally or the global community of Real Bread lovers
- 62% said that the Real Bread Campaign running Sourdough September is ‘very worthwhile’, with a further 22% saying it is ‘worthwhile’
- 38% Learned more about making sourdough bread
- 23% Gained more social media followers / likes
- 27% Made sourdough bread for sale
- 14.5% Increased sourdough bread or pizza sales
- 14.5% Used the opportunity to get media coverage / publicity for their businesses
PLEASE help us update and add to this list by completing our survey before 16 October!
What went on
Highlights of the fun and fundraising around the world included:
- Jim Bennett of Bannockburn House Trust in Scotland said they “developed skills in sourdough making for 30 people in a very poor area.”
- Four Campaign ambassadors amongst the experts leading The Bread Collective’s sourdough Bread Chat
- A surge in bakeries signing up to use The Sourdough Loaf Mark
- Balcony Shirts raised more than £1000 through sales of our limited-edition FLOUR WATER SALT TIME t-shits and aprons
- Katia Lebart’s Wee Boulangerie in Edinburgh doughnated profits from all sales of their oat sourdough during the month to the Campaign.
- A sourdough loaf made by Real Bread Campaign ambassador Peter Doughty-Cook took the top prize in Britain’s Best Loaf
PLEASE help us update and add to this list by completing our survey before 16 October!
Give us your dough!
If you enjoyed Sourdough September and want to support the charity behind it, please:
... and Sourdough Slingers t-shirts are still available from Campaign ambassador, and The School of Artisan Food’s head flour arranger, Wayne Caddy. He's kindly making a doughnation to us for each one sold. To place your order, drop Wayne a line at: sourdoughslingers@thecaddys.com
What you said
“A great way to connect local community with non-local sourdough enthusiasts." Sibyl Leon, BREAD Encounters, USA
“I’ve pushed Sourdough September as much as possible for our market stalls and sales have been excellent at all three events in the month. Last Hexham event sales [...] a big success. Your hard work is very much appreciated by us real bakers” Andrew Smith, Bread and Roses and Campaign ambassador, England
"I think is really useful to spread the word about the benefits of consumption of Real Bread and mitigate taboos about bread." Natalia DelPozo, Ecuador
“I thought it was lovely. It was great to see the mosaic of selfies grow and lockdown has meant sourdough has gone from something done by (mostly weirdo) nerds like you, me and the rest, to something all sorts have at least tried.” Justin McAteer, homebaker, England
“I'm really happy that there's a month where we get to celebrate Real Bread and raise awareness for what it's all about” Phoebe Baker, homebaker, England
“It's a great way of spreading the message of the Real Bread Campaign and making more bread-eaters aware of genuine sourdough.” Peter Doughty-Cook, Peter Cooks Bread and Campaign ambassador, England
“We do really appreciate your great work /merchandise/info.” David Hoyle, Findhorn Bakery, Scotland
"I used it as a motivator to push me to launch a new business. I'm just grateful that you run these, as they motivate us to at least TRY and get out there with a bit more energy and initiative, although we may not always manage it." Maggie Rich, Off the Rails, England
“I think it is a great way to promote sourdough and helps people get in to the baking industry.” Stephen Collom, The Baking Brothers, England
“I enjoyed feeling part of a bigger movement.” Anna Davies, homebaker, England
"I like the idea of making sourdough bread more mainstream. Bread comes in many shapes and form, I get that some people might find it stupid to pay more for bread than a coffee but at least that might give them a better understanding as to why that is." Mathieu Carpentier, England
"I was so delighted that we were able to participate in Sourdough September this year. It makes my heart glad to think of sourdough loaves proving in little flats in Gorbals." Catriona Milligan, Bridging The Gap / High Rise Bakers, Scotland
Sourdough September will return next year, before which Real Bread Week 2021 runs from 20-28 February.
*Argentina, Australia, Austria, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, England, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Norway, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Scotland, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad & Tobago, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, USA, Wales, Zimbabwe
Montage credits
In (roughly) order of receipt, thanks and ©:
Andrew Weston, Jo Bottrill, Bob Wright, Matt Wilding, Tom Kelly, Cath Lloyd-Williams, Ildiko Toth, Catherine Vulliamy, Chris Burton, Peter Edwards, Pauline Beaumont, Eddy Sleiman, Sam Cornish, Karen Drury-Peppercorn, Amira Antar, Sarah Wisson, Jane Mason, Brød, John Frenzel, Dan Schelling-Tisza, Sara Ward, Louise Williams, Marta and Istvan Nadhazi, Erica Matos, Julia Ault, Florian Lasnes, Carl Joyce, Kathryn Warhurst, Lopamudra Mukherjee, Melinda Foster, Patrick Kelly, Gaetano Scaramuzzo, Simon Spence, Ulla Ujonen, Helena Chen, Daniel Leader, Allie Smith, Catherine Pritchard, The Headless Chef, Justin McAteer, Sophia Handschuh, Christina Ng, Dave F, Roger Grogan, Adrian Clarke, Liz Teague, Alex, Ayala Daisley, Phil Barrett, Robert Munrayos, Jess Mooney, Wayne Caddy, Rami Badawi, Maksymilian Smółka, Danielle Ellis, Onur Sar, Better Health Bakery, Barack Obama, Dan Nemeth, Regina Young, Emi Ang, Ria Oramahi, Carolina Isolabella, Raquel Sánchez de Pedro, Felicia, Dhananjay Chandriani, Jumana Electricwala, Sam Conrad, Dora Baracskai, Federico Botta, Silvia Cocco, Kate Zimmer, Damian Power, Jilly Dougan, Ian Brownhill, Rita Bernal, David Griffiths, Eniko Fejer, Ian Waterland, Joe Parke, Heny Salim, Wendy Tsang, Karin Jonsson, Deborah Rota, Julie Allen, Eszter Faulkner, Enrica Sablone, Mariam Stepanyan, Simone Keates, Maggie Rich, Ilgin Beaton, Chris Stafferton, Keith Kirby, Mantee Ramsaha, Dan Booth, Deborah Cook, Jane Vanstone, Kirsten, Anna Western, Sugendran Ganess, Nicky Fergusson, Ceris Clarke, Vicky Feldman, Scott Sexton, Lockdown Bakehouse, Cindy Zurias, Jennifer Brown, Liz Wilson, The School of Artisan Food, Sabine Walter, Andrew Chinery, Steven Collom.
Published Tuesday 6 October 2020
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.
