Shannon, owner of From the Ground Bakery, makes delicious vegan cakes, cookies, brownies and ‘Bake yer own’ cake mixes, whilst also trying to reduce their businesses’ carbon footprint.
Shannon has been working in kitchens since she took a part-time job in one whilst studying fashion. She loved it so much that she decided to change the direction of her career and has been working in kitchens ever since! She became vegan in 2016, and on realising there weren’t many options when it came to satisfying her sweet tooth she started to experiment by adapting recipes. She also started to make celebration cakes for friends and family as a hobby, but during lockdown 2020 decided to design a website and start selling her cakes. This then led to her opening a shop at the Redbrick Market, and she is currently looking for a physical shop to expand her venture further and open a Vegan brunch café and bakery – we can’t wait!
We asked Shannon some questions:
What do you need to consider to ensure your business is as sustainable as possible?
- Reducing waste – everything is baked to order, and any leftovers are discounted on Instagram, or given to friends and family so they never ends up in the bin
- Buying quality equipment that will last
- Using recyclable gloves and piping bags
- Sourcing Rainforest Alliance and Fair-Trade ingredients, and in bulk to reduce packaging
- Using recycled, recyclable, or biodegradable packaging when packing and posting the products
What do you love about running your business?
“I love the creative freedom, being able to dictate my own working hours, and that it’s so much fun”
And finally, what do you love about Birmingham?
“It’s my home! It has a real community feel, and you will always meet people you know. It has a strong independent feel, which the community really supports, and it’s got such a wonderful spirit, with such a variety of different people.”
You can order sweet treats from From the Ground website (https://www.fromthegroundbakery.co.uk/) or visit her shop at the Red Brick Market.