How Did it Start?
Tina is a self-taught baker with a passion for genuine sourdough bread.
Having started a family, she felt she wanted to do something that would fit in with a busy home.
After attending a couple of workshops in 2019, she felt inspired to start her own business, and the Eat Your Crusts journey began.
Tina received amazing feedback on her bread. Many customers and friends who were sensitive to bread and wheat said they could digest and enjoy it far more easily than shop-bought bread they had avoided for years. That's when she knew she had something special.
She started supplying customers in local villages nearby, and then more recently branched out to Crowle Village Shop in Worcestershire.
This is how the Overbury connection came in. Tina’s bread was spotted by Penelope in the Kemerton Coffee Shop and she was asked to supply bread to Overbury Court.
She is currently working on sourcing drop off points within the local area. If you would like to collect some from us at the Estate Office, please let us know by emailing: [email protected]
Sourcing & Supplying Locally
Having friends in farming, Tina naturally wanted to make bread using the high-quality ingredients available locally.
She uses a range of suppliers for her bread, including:
· The Fold Granary, Bransford
· Wild at Wichenford, Worcester
· A 100% regenerative British flour (RISE Re:Gen), which includes wheat grown in Overbury.
Recently, she has been excited to add heritage grains into the mix, such as:
· Maris Widgeon wheat flour grown on farms in Castle Combe, Stow-on-the-Wold and Tetbury
· Mariagertoba flour (Population Wheat) from The Fold granary in Bransford (outside Worcester)
· April Bearded (heritage wheat) from Wild at Wichenford (Worcester)
Growing the Business
Tina’s business has been able to grow through local funding opportunities set up to help promote the rural economy. This includes the Wychavon Rural Fund that enabled her to purchase a larger commercial fridge and a Rofco B40 bread oven, which has allowed her to store and prepare a larger quantity of bread.
Supporting the Rural Economy
Rural communities face unique challenges - particularly those based around the farming industry.
Increasingly unpredictable climate and weather conditions leave little guarantee over the harvest, which, alongside the replacement of land-based subsidies with new but limited schemes such as the Sustainable Farming Incentive and Countryside Stewardship, places increased uncertainty on the income to farming enterprises.
Rural landowners have been encouraged to diversify their business, but many worry about the security of investing in and pursuing other ventures.
Bakers like Tina are part of the solution: by transforming commodities produced locally into ready-to-eat foods, they add value, while preserving the rich heritage of artisan bakeries in rural communities.
The value extends beyond the bakery itself. Selling at farmers’ markets and local retailers also helps reinforce knowledge of and access to local produce and food systems, encouraging support for rural businesses, and this creates a tangible link between farms and the community.
“Here at Overbury we believe it is incredibly important to promote the rural economy, encouraging local talent, creating opportunities, and ensuring money stays locally. We need skilled professionals and bright, young people just as much in the countryside if not more than in the big cities. The more that happens here, the more that money circulates locally.” – Liam Aggett (Estate Manager)
If you would like to buy Real Bread from Tina, and help support the local food system please visit her website: www.eatyourcrusts.ooooby.org