Johannesburg-based bakery Fresh Earth Bake House is the first exclusively gluten-free bakery in South Africa to be ISO 22000 Food Safety System Certification- (FSSC-) compliant.

ISO 22000 FSSC, one of the highest food safety systems currently in place, is a robust, internationally accepted certification scheme for the assessment and certification of food safety management systems in the entire supply chain and covers the key requirements of many existing food safety standards and programmes.

An FSSC 22000 certification gives a competitive advantage to food manufacturers supplying products to major retailers or branded food companies. This certification means that Fresh Earth Bake House complies with all local and international retailer food safety requirements.

The bakery employs a full-time food safety officer to ensure that all requirements are continually being met.

This is important for companies like Fresh Earth Bake House that want to use their bakery facilities and expertise to produce their own gluten-free ranges. Fresh Earth Bake House currently produces food retailer Spar’s gluten-free range of biscuits, muffins, breads and rusks, as well as cake and bread premixes and a range of gluten-free breads, cookies and muffins for Dis-Chem Pharmacies.

The bakery also produces gluten-free baked goods under the Fresh Earth Bake House label for Pick n Pay. The range available at selected stores includes bagels, seed bread, muffins, white and brown bread, rusks, cookies, vegan rice bread and burger and hot dog rolls. Other Fresh Earth Bake House clients include Wellness Warehouse, Life Bake, Melissa’s and other independent retailers.

Additionally, Fresh Earth Bake House has the capability to manufacture low-carbohydrate bread and other baked goods. This is important for retailers to note, says Fresh Earth Bake House owner and founder Matthew Ballenden, as customers are increasingly switching to ‘low carb’ eating plans.

Previously, the bakery was part of the Fresh Earth Food Store in Emmarentia, Johannesburg. As a result of increased demand for gluten-free baked goods, however, Ballenden made the bold decision to move the bakery to new premises in Booysens, Johannesburg, in 2013, enabling further growth of the business.

Currently, the bakery has a daily output of between 1 500 and 3 000 units, with the capacity to produce up to 15 000 units per day, should this be required by retailers.

Fresh Earth Bake House has a staff complement of 20 local artisans, all of whom have been personally trained by Ballenden to perfect the art of gluten-free baking techniques. A staff trust, which will see 10% of the bakery being owned by the employees, was established in February this year.