Why we started Barlow Bakehouse
For years Will had an idea sitting in the back of his head. A bakery. Nothing grand, just something Will would always thought about and never had the time to actually try.
Then Will got a sabbatical.
A few months off work with no particular agenda, and for the first time Will had the headspace to find out whether the idea had any legs. So Will started baking more seriously, coming up with new recipes, and figured the best way to test it wasn't on family and friends but on strangers with no reason to be kind about it.
The first market was Kingsday 2024. People bought things. They came back. That told us we had something worth pursuing.
From there it grew the way these things do when you actually pay attention. Annet took on helping everything that wasn't the baking itself. Prep, packaging, market days, keeping things moving when there was too much to do and not enough hours. Barlow Bakehouse runs because both of us are running it.
Each market taught us something the last one didn't. Eventually Will made a proper website with an online shop, a range that kept expanding. Barlow Bakehouse went from an idea Will had been sitting on for years to something that takes up most of our waking hours, which is either a success story or a cautionary tale depending on the week.
If you're new here, I'm Will, and this is Annet (on the right). The range covers granolas, cookies, brownies, sausage rolls, banana bread and more. All made in small batches in Haarlem, available online and at markets around the city.
If you already know us, hello again.
This blog is where we'll write about the things that don't fit on a product page. The stuff that goes into making a market work, the flavours that didn't make the cut, opinions about food that we’ve been keeping to ourselves for too long. It'll be worth reading, we think.
- Will & Annet
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