There is no shortage of boulangeries in ParisJohanna Hartzheim, co-founder of bakery delivery subscription company Wild grainshows entrepreneur. “It's such a cultural thing to have a fresh baguette. You buy a baguette every day, fresh croissants on every corner. It's always warm because they mix the bread so much that (every time) it comes in, (it) just has out of the oven.”
Image Credit: Courtesy of Wildgrain. Johanna Hartzheim.
So when Hartzheim and her husband and co-founder Ismail Salhi moved from the French capital to Boston in 2015 to work on their music device company Qleek, carbohydrate options weren't cutting it.
Unlike Europe, the US did not offer fresh bread and pastries block by block. Goods lasted longer on bakery shelves and those in supermarkets often came with a laundry list of unknown ingredients, including fillers and shelf stabilisers. “That's not fair,” Hartzheim says. “Bread should be flour, water and salt, that's all.”
Hartzheim has always loved baking, but she was “a little afraid” of bread, which comes with a unique set of challenges. However, motivated out of options and wanting to eat as well as possible while pregnant with Salhi's first child, she turned to a friend's father, who had been making sourdough for years, for mentorship.
Soon, she was spending every weekend learning all aspects of baking bread, and before long she was producing more than she and her family could enjoy.
“For sourdough, whether you make one loaf or 20 or 50, it's the same amount of work because of the time that goes into it,” Hartzheim explains. “The night before, you have to refresh the start, and then the next day, you have to mix the dough, let it rest, and then, every hour, fold the dough. So if you just increase the overall volume, it doesn't changes the amount of time it takes.”
Hartzheim shared her loaves with friends and neighbors and then began experimenting with prebaking, in which bread is partially baked and left to rise before baking all the way through.
“People still want to eat better (and are) more aware of what they are feeding their bodies.”
In 2020, the pandemic was hitting Hartzheim and Salhi's first business hard, as personal events were one of its biggest acquisition channels. But Hartzheim saw an opportunity: There was one gap in the market – the same one that had originally inspired her to make her own bread.
“It's very difficult (when) the closest thing you have is a Walmart or something like that where you get great bread and not-so-nice artisan bread,” says Hartzheim, “and I think Americans are becoming more aware of healthy eating. It's been all the rage, but people still want to eat better (and are) more aware of what they're feeding their bodies and giving their children. Now that I am a mother, it is important for me what I give to my children.”
The solution? Hartzheim envisioned delivering artisanal, slow-fermented breads and other baked goods to people's doorsteps.
So in 2020, Wildgrain joined. The company received $750,000 SEED round check from venture firm Bolt, which had also invested in Hartzheim and Salhi's previous startup, Qleek, before the launch. “It took off quickly, which was unexpected, but wonderful,” says Hartzheim. “We incorporated the company the same week my son was born, so it was crazy.”
Image Credit: Courtesy of Wildgrain
Despite the chaos, Hartzheim was well equipped to handle the new venture. She had been baking bread for over a year at that point, and her friends at ButcherBox, a Boston-based meat delivery subscription company, offered helpful tips for subscription model. Sourdough scalability she had discovered that would also be a great advantage.
“Most bakers didn't like the idea of baking bread, freezing bread.”
However, like most new businessesWildgrain faced some challenges along the way.
At first, the idea was to ship raw dough to customers. That way, people could bake their bread from scratch and enjoy maximum freshness, Hartzheim explains. Unfortunately, many people have struggled to successfully roast the raw product, often lacking the necessary equipment, such as a dutch oven, which mimics a professional oven, locking in moisture and creating the right puffiness.
“If you don't have that (equipment) and you just dump the dough on a sheet, it will rise weird and look terrible. It's a lot about the look since we sell our bread online,” says Hartzheim. “People like to post it on Instagram and (we) work with influencers a lot. That's how we reach our audience. So if it looks bad and just an ugly piece of dough, no one's going to say, 'Oh, that's delicious. Let me buy this.”
Additionally, Hartzheim needed more hands in the kitchen if the business was to be successful. She and Salhi found a shared kitchen to serve that purpose, but the pandemic presented another obstacle: Only two people could work in the kitchen at once.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Wildgrain
Fortunately, Hartzheim's original bread-baking endeavor—the parfum baking method—provided a two-pronged solution to the complex product offering. AND limited production capacity. The process would ensure customers baked the perfect bread every time, and local bakeries could use it to increase Wildgrain production.
The next natural step was to find bakeries that would be open to freeze their bread before the baking was finished—no easy task, as it would turn out. “Most bakers didn't like the idea of baking bread, of freezing bread,” Hartzheim recalls. “It's kind of against the grain of artisanal bread.” But with business down amid the pandemic, Hartzheim convinced them. It was “a huge turning point,” she says.
“As long as you're motivated and passionate, I feel like you can do anything.”
Wilgrain's dynamic approach and willingness to roll have helped it continue to grow over the years. The company currently ships anywhere in the US, offering a no-commitment membership and customizable boxes full of frozen items that cook in 25 minutes or less, with no defrosting required. The six-item box is $99 and the 12-item box is $159, both available at plant-based options too.
Although the price-per-item cost is significantly higher than what would typically be found on supermarket shelves, Hartzheim says customers are willing to pay a premium for better-for-you baked goods — in part because the at-home baking trend of the pandemic taught people how difficult the process can be. The brand, in only its fourth year, is earning eight figures.
For aspiring entrepreneurs hoping to enter the food industry and beyond, Hartzheim says the key is not to be afraid—and to do what it takes to put yourself in a position to succeed.
“Just go for it because it's something you learn as you do,” says Hartzheim. “It sounds like a cliché, but as long as you are motivated and passionateyou can do anything. I didn't know anything about tracking, importing, all that stuff, but it's not rocket science. You can learn anything or find the right people who know these things.”
it Women Entrepreneurs® article is part of our ongoing series highlighting the stories, challenges and triumphs of running a business as a woman.