Today we’d like to introduce you to Kenneth Santos.
Hi Kenneth, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I never planned on selling my baked goods, never thought about operating a cottage bakery and being a professional baker even though I had always baked on a fairly regular basis starting as a teenager.
I was trained as a classical musician, pianist and piano instructor. Occasionally I would give a student, especially after a good lesson, a loaf of bread to take home to enjoy with their dinner. One day a parent of one of my students asked if they could order/buy a few loaves for a dinner party that they were hosting. I agreed to help them out and that is how it started.
I was only baking a few loaves a week for the parents of my students and not every week, but I started thinking that I could do more. That this could be something bigger. I started doing research and discovered the term “cottage food industry” and learned about some fantastic bakers that started out of their homes/garages.
I continued teaching and baking and nothing really changed much until Covid. Covid, rightfully so, scared a lot of students and their parents and many took time off from lessons. I tried zoom lessons and videotaped lessons, but they didn’t work well for me or my students. Many students that paused lessons eventually stopped. Out of financial neccessity, I began enlarging my bread client base, baking more regularly and enjoying it every step along the way!
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Maybe I have been lucky, but there haven’t been many obstacles along the way. One of the biggest challenges is working/baking with a standard home oven and making it function as a true bread oven – a very different beast! Creating the right environment in a home oven is challenging, but with experimentation, it can be done. Refrigeration is always a challenge – there is never enough refrigerator space, but with careful planning, you can make it work.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Like I stated earlier, my professional training has been in the field of music, classical piano, and I have been teaching for over 40 years. Many of my students have continued their musical studies professionally and I am very happy that I had a part in getting them there. But food has always been my second love.
I am most proud of the fact that almost all of my breads are baked fresh on the day that they will be picked up. It would be easier to bake a day or two in advance, but it wouldn’t be freshly baked. Chad Robertson of Tartine in San Francisco has that philosophy and I readily adopted it to my breads and bakes.
I strive to use the best ingredients, organic whenever possible, and respect each ingredient as much as possible. One more thing that I am proud of.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
For anyone wanting to get into the “cottage food industry” or any independent craft business, you must be passionate about your work and product. The knowledge you have must constantly be questioned, challenged and expanded in order to grow. And you must include heart in your work. Reasonable expectations as to how much you can do as a solo trade person and how much you can make financially must also be seriously evaluated and considered. Disappointments are to be expected, but with patience and perseverance, you can achieve your dreams.
Contact information:
- Email: kjsps@sbcglobal.net
- Facebook: facebook.com/KJsArtisanalBreads
