Today we’d like to introduce you to Hannah Hofrichter.
Hi Hannah, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
I grew up making challah every week with my mom, who learned from her mom, so bread has always been a part of my story. My mom actually overnight-shipped fresh homemade challah to me when I was a first-year college student, but refused to ever do that again, so I learned how to knead by hand and bake bread in a toaster oven – I don’t recommend it!
Once I got older and had better tools available, I started making challah more regularly. I ventured into sandwich breads when I got tired of buying bread (all the time) for my husband to take to the office for lunch. I offered to make bread for other families nearby while I was baking anyway, and that was the very beginning of Proof Home Bakery (2016).
What was primarily a bread business soon grew as I shared Facebook photos of the treats and cakes I was making for my children’s birthdays and for holidays. Friends started reaching out to ask if I could remake a favorite type of bread or cake they hadn’t had recently. I found I enjoyed trying new recipes to fit their requests and adding to my repertoire. Pretty soon, Proof Home Bakery became a go-to answer to the frequent neighborhood group posts of “Who can make me XYZ?”
Now, I continue to make challah and breads, but because I make everything fresh to order, I am also able to cater to families and individuals that need breads and other tasty bakes like muffins, cookies, and cakes to meet their unique dietary needs. I derive a lot of pleasure from tweaking something tried and true to make sure more people can enjoy it.
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?
For the most part, Proof Home Bakery has had a smooth road. I am very lucky to be a part of a few supportive local Facebook groups where I have had the privilege to bake for neighbors, and I have been luckier still that the vast majority of my business comes from happy repeat customers and word-of-mouth recommendations. I don’t advertise outside of my local groups and only very recently set up Instagram account.
Because Proof Home Bakery takes so many special requests for baked goods, pricing has been a constant hurdle. My husband, Michael, has been kind enough to create more than one iteration of an ingredient cost database that allowed me to ensure I was pricing things fairly. Over time that developed so that I could price new recipes faster and adjust to rising ingredient costs. I never want to overcharge someone, so I spend a fair amount of time making sure my prices reflect reality. I have had to institute some policy changes following a situation where one client ghosted me after canceling a large order that had already been started. Aside from those things and trying to figure out how to use Instagram, I have had enough orders to keep me busy!
We’ve been impressed with Proof Home Bakery, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Proof Home Bakery is a one-woman bespoke bakery. I specialize in fantastic flavors and textures while meeting the dietary needs of my clients, whether that is needing something without gluten, vegan, or keto, for example. I am always happy to tweak a bake to make sure it meets my customers’ palates. Everything I make is baked fresh to order, so everything can be customized, and nothing is ever sitting around on a shelf!
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
It is always interesting to watch what’s going on in the baking world. I have seen a growth of home-based cottage bakeries, and I am pleased by how so many of us prize collaboration over competition. In the last few years, I’ve received fewer basic challah and sandwich-type requests as people tried their hands at pandemic baking. Instead, I have seen a lot more requests for baked goods that meet dietary needs, whether that’s vegan, non-gluten, or paleo, and I do a lot of baking for families that are eliminating individual ingredients for potential allergy interactions. I think that more customized baking will continue to be popular since it is fresher, tastier, and personalized to individual needs.
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/ProofHomeBakery
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/ProofHomeBakery
