Inspiring Conversations with Kyle Purcell of Rich Grains Bakery

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kyle Purcell. 

Hi Kyle, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
Let me start by thanking all the people who have contributed to making my dreams come true. I own a micro bakery called Rich Grains Bakery, which would not have been possible if it wasn’t for Abbie, my beautiful wife, and all the countless support from our families, friends, coworkers, and community. They all are what make me want to bake every day!

I have always loved being in the kitchen. My professional baking journey started in Saline High School when I joined the culinary arts program. While in school, I landed my first job in Busch’s commissary kitchen. There, I learned how to be a bakery associate and quickly progressed to becoming a cake decorator. After graduating high school, I entered Washtenaw Community College and earned my baking and pastry associates. With my degree in hand, I began to dabble in research and development and created a scratch cake line at Busch’s Fresh Food Market. However, I’ve always wanted to focus more on the artisan bread aspect of being a baker.

After 5 years with Busch’s, I took a leap and started working at Zingerman’s Bakehouse in the summer of 2015. Being immersed in the bread world drove my passion for bread baking. Even on my days off, you could always catch me trying to perfect recipes. I couldn’t stop getting enough knowledge of bread, fermentation, and the nuances that could change the whole process with one ingredient. It kept me looking for more flavor profiles, and different combinations and experimenting with the fermentation process to achieve complex characteristics.

After meeting new folks, learning from other bakers, and all the experiences I gained after 6.5 years of working at Zingerman’s, I wanted more for myself. I decided to achieve my goal and take a risk. This decision led me to leave my job at Zingerman’s Bakehouse. It was a big change, but I knew I had tons of support on my side. I remember having a lot of conversations about moving forward with Rich Grains Bakery. Good and bad. Weighing the pros and cons of doing business for myself. My friends, family, and my loving wife all gave me the same answer–go big and go all-in. That’s when I decided to live my dream!

Rich Grains Bakery started in March of 2022 with several goals. Goal number one was to sell bread at the Saline Farmers Market. Goal number two was to find wholesale accounts. The final goal number was to find commercial kitchen space to bake in. This road took me down the path of seeking out rental space. The costs of rental kitchen space were out of my reach; it was too much to be sustainable for me while starting up. Fortunately, I was blessed with the help of Vicki Zilke (Owner of Zilke Farm Kitchen). She had the space that I needed to be able to expand my wholesale account base. She took me in right away with tons of support and the key to commercial kitchen space.

I jumped right into the Saline Indoor Farmers Market in April 2022. It was my first opportunity to show off my bread to the community. I was beyond excited. This was it. I could finally check off my first goal. That day something just clicked. People were buying it and coming back for more! It was joyous, it was wonderful, it was what I wanted.

I couldn’t be happier with my decision to take a risk and do things for myself. In the first year of being a micro bakery owner, I’ve checked off the goals on my list. Sell bread at a market… Check. Find wholesale accounts… Check. (You can catch my bread at Dan’s Downtown Tavern in Saline, MI, and Original Gravity Brewing Co. in Milan, MI) Find Commercial Kitchen Space… Check! (Thanks Vicki)

Rich Grains Bakery has a whole new list of goals and a whole new year ahead of us. I cannot wait to find out what else is in store for the bakery. Great times, friendly people, and fantastic breads, rolls, pretzels, etc. Let’s keep the vibes going and bake together!

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?
The biggest challenge as a single owner of a micro bakery is being the person for all things. That means you’re the person that buys the ingredients, doing sales pitches, deliveries, packaging, invoicing, shaping, scaling, and baking–the whole nine yards. You’re the person for it all, and life doesn’t just stop when you need a break. You’re always busy which in and of itself is a good challenge to have.

A low-key challenge of a sourdough baker is always making sure your sourdough starter is ready to go. It needs to be fed in a schedule 24/7 but that’s the fun in it!

Nevertheless, every day is a different challenge when it comes to owning your own business.

I’ve been told, “Do you know how much work that’s going to be?” I kind of smile when I think back on that question. Of course, I know how much work it’s going to be. But I have a lot of people in my court from friends, family, my wife, and all the folks I’ve met over my first seasons at the Saline Farmers Market. Just keep going, keep my head down, and face the struggles as they come. They will always be there. Challenges are great. I’d be disappointed if I couldn’t face them with my support team.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Rich Grains Bakery?
This bakery is focused on making artisan French-style offerings. It’s a requirement of all Rich Grain’s bread to have a percentage of freshly milled organic whole-grain flour. These grains are traceable back to the field in which they grow allowing a consumer to know where their food comes from. Oftentimes most commercial flours are hard to trace back to the field in which the grain grew in. Industrial roller-milled flours are ripped of their nutrients and put back into the flour afterward, commonly resulting in “enriched flours”. Using the whole kernel to make flour keeps the fats and nutrients intact, resulting in a more flavorful and rich whole-grain flour.

We’d love to hear about what you think about risk-taking.
You always hear that life is all about taking risks. It is very true–in order to grow as a person and as a business you have to take risks. When you think about taking a risk, you never know what the final outcome will be. The only way to find out is to go down that path. Risk is made that much easier with a support team. If you have the right people behind you, risk can often be more manageable.

Pricing:

• Rich Grains House Loaf $8

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/richgrainsbread/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Richgrainsbakery