Our History
Country Style celebrates 60 years of family baking this year. Tony and Christine Wood founded the business in 1961 and have never stopped since, not even for their wedding day.
“We made a couple of mixes of rolls, some loaves and a few cakes that day, just for our regular customers to tide them over, and then I had to go to get ready for church,” Tony says.
The baguettes in this newspaper photograph were specially baked on the wedding morning so that friends and family could create a commemorative “Guard of Honour” out of bread.
Delivering quality, convenience and great taste to their customers has always been the aim. “When Tony and I first started the business we used to sell straight to the consumers from our shops and vans and they told us exactly what they wanted,” Christine explains. “If there wasn’t enough fruit in a pie or the crust on the loaves wasn’t quite right we soon heard about it! Today we work a lot more with retailers and food service companies but it’s still number one priority to always deliver precisely what the customer wants.”
In 1962, as in 2012, the Woods were baking hand crafted breads and producing specialty morning goods but the product range has evolved over the years. Now they make a vast range of breads and patisserie, many of which are based on recipes from different parts of the world. The recently launched artisan breads are made to processes which are, in some cases, hundreds of years old from all continents of the globe.
“All employees, both past and present have played their part in making our business what it is today. Our success is down to them,” both Tony and Christine remarked.
By continuing to apply innovation with an emphasis on quality and taste to master baking it is hoped that customers will be served for many more years to come.