Inspiring Conversations with Greg Carpenter of Crooked Tree Breadworks

Today we’d like to introduce you to Greg Carpenter.

Greg, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Good, crusty, flavorful bread was missing in Northern Michigan in the early ’90s, and that was a problem for me. At that time I was working for a premium maker of Michigan fruit preserves, American Spoon Foods, and no bread that I could find locally measured up to our products. Since I was working in the R&D dept, we put our heads together and methodically learned how to bake traditional, sourdough bread, using our own starters and the best flour we could find. One thing led to another and I opened Crooked Tree Breadworks in 1996, providing scratch-baked, traditionally made bread and baked goods to the Little Traverse Bay region.

We pride ourselves on our open production; everything we do is visible to the customers from the customer counter, giving an authentic, aromatic view into how we make our products… Over the years we have expanded our product line to include some shelf-stable products including Addictive Granola, Pub Nuts, and Orange Balsamic Pecans. We primarily focus on fresh products, baked daily, for our retail customers, but we also ship our products, via our web store (www.breadworks.com) nationwide. Our network of distributors delivers our shelf-stable products to retailers throughout the midwest.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Is starting a small business from scratch ever a smooth path? We had some challenges. Initially, selling a loaf of crusty sourdough bread at twice the cost of a supermarket loaf took some convincing. but once we got our products into people’s mouths the loaves began to sell themselves.

Far harder were the challenges of balancing long, early hours with the needs of my family, figuring out how to turn a profit while making a low-margin, labor-dependant product, learning to discern the difference between a good path toward sustainability and a bad one, creating a self-sustaining culture of positive excellence among staff in a very difficult, seasonal labor market, and learning where to use (and not to use) technology. Added, unexpected challenges include the Low-Carb Diet fad, Gluten Phobia, and the pandemic. We worked our way through each of these challenges by keeping our eye on what we did best, and not worrying about what we weren’t doing.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Crooked Tree Breadworks is a producer of handmade bread and baked goods located in Petoskey, Michigan since 1996. I am the founder and sole owner of the company. Our signature products are our heart-baked, naturally leavened bread in several varieties, including Sourdough, Pepper Parmesan, Roasted Seed, and Cherry Pecan. We never take shortcuts in production, and the flavor and texture of our bread come directly from the time and effort that goes into their making.

We never add anything to our products that do not directly affect flavor (no preservatives, etc). For us, the flavor comes naturally. We extend those same standards to our Addictive Granola and our line of roasted, seasoned nuts, including Pub Nuts (a savory-sweet peanut that goes great with craft beer), Orange Balsamic Pecans, Curried Pistachios, and Spicy Glazed Almonds.

What makes you happy?
I am happiest when I am in a flow state, working on something, or engaging in an activity at a level where I lose track of time, and other thoughts don’t distract me. I achieve it in several ways: designing new systems to keep Crooked Tree Breadworks current and exciting, cross-country skiing, taking a long way home after work on my motorcycle, riding my bicycles, playing and listening to music, cooking dinner, sharing the couch with my wife as we get engrossed in a movie or show.

I’ve learned how to go there a little bit every day. It is critical to my happiness, and when I don’t get enough of it I find I am less creative, not effective at managing the bakery, and less satisfied with, well, everything.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.breadworks.com
• Instagram: @crookedtreebreadworks
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=crooked%20tree%20breadworks