GILROY, CA – Real Bread Week, an annual observance created by the UK-based Real Bread campaign, is in its 11th consecutive year. Real Bread Week, February 20-28, and the Real Bread Campaign encourage people to buy additive-free bread from local, independent bakeries. Atoria’s family-run bakery is excited to support the campaign. Since 1992, Atoria’s Family Bakery has baked flatbreads like Lavash, Naan and Pita with a handful of simple, pronounceable ingredients and never any artificial colors, flavors or preservatives.
Real bread is a subject that Atoria’s Family Bakery knows something about. The bakery uses quality, non-GMO ingredients and traditional baking methods to create real, authentic flatbreads inspired by their grandmother Atoria.
As a child growing up in the Assyrian villages near Mesopotamia, Atoria used to watch her mother and grandmother bake flatbreads using their family recipe and a rustic hearth oven. Unable to find similar bread in America, Atoria started making her own and it wasn’t long before a dream took shape: to bake her family recipe for the authentic flatbread of her youth and share it with the people in her now home and Atoria’s Family Bakery was born.
“My parents worked hard to make Atoria’s dream a reality and now, thirty years later, it’s the next generation – Atoria’s grandchildren – who are working to share her bread with a broader audience,” said Lilea Eshoo, COO, Atoria’s Family Bakery and Atoria’s favorite grandchild. “The real bread we bake today is a modern interpretation of the bread from Atoria’s childhood.”
Real Bread Week is an opportunity for Atoria’s Family Bakery to showcase its real bread flatbreads and to spotlight the difference between their products and other flatbreads that include chemicals and preservatives.
What’s not in your bread is just as important as what is in it
Nearly 90% of consumers read the back of the package to find ingredient lists and compare nutrition facts (reference). Smaller, nimble companies like Atoria’s Family Bakery are leading the way with clean product labels and innovations that drive sales for an ever-expanding roster of retail partners (reference). For instance:
· Shelf life and freshness: Atoria’s flatbreads are clean label, real bread. Since they don’t use chemical preservatives like propionates, benzoates or sorbates – which can make bread look and feel fresh even after a month on the shelf – they ask our shoppers to refrigerate or freeze the bread to extend its shelf-life naturally.
· Leavening: many flatbreads don’t undergo a leavening process. Atoria’s flatbreads do go through leavening – not just because “that’s the way grandma did it” but also because they believe it creates a more unique and flavorful product. They also use natural yeast and avoid chemical cocktails, which can lead to residual chemical flavors.
· Flavor: it may seem strange to have to say it, but grains should provide the primary flavors in any good bread. Unfortunately, in this age of impatience, many bakeries take shortcuts. They use chemical dough conditions and sulfates to accelerate the maturation of their dough and get more “bread” out the door. At Atoria’s, they never use shortcuts and we have optimized our baking and production schedules to satisfy growing demand for our products without chemical shortcuts.
· Mold: Mold is an age-old enemy of bread. Instead of chemical mold inhibitors, they use natural solutions such as cultured flours, plant-based enzymes and – of course – patient, refined natural fermentation.
· Quality and Consistency: Take your time, pay attention to the details. Work hard. Use your brain. Don’t make something you’re not proud of. Grandma Atoria’s timeless wisdom guides everything they do.
“The best advice we can give to consumers is to read the ingredient list and to look for breads that are baked with simple, pronounceable ingredients,” said Rick Eshoo, Head of R&D and also Atoria’s favorite grandchild. “Consumers need to actively research ingredients for themselves and learn about what they’re putting in their bodies.”
Sharing a Piece of Real Bread Week with the U.S.
Atoria’s Family Bakery Lavash, Naan and Pita make any meal let’s-just-eat-what’s-in-the-fridge easy:
· Protein-packed wraps using Lavash are a great way to fill up on healthy foods at lunch that will keep you full until dinner. Plus, if you’re looking for a lower carb, lower calorie wrap, reach for their Cauliflower & Coconut Mini Lavash, which has only 3g net carbs per sheet.
· Very veggie pizzas using Naan as a crust can make pizza dinners quicker than ordering delivery.
· Their thin pocket breads are super stuffable and can almost fit an entire bag of salad that will make you forgo eating it from a bowl.
Looking for more recipe inspiration? As part of Real Bread week, Atoria’s Family Bakery launched their first Mini Lavash e-book with 30 easy and tasty recipes featuring our line of Mini-Lavash flatbreads, which you can sign up to download here. In addition to recipes like Breakfast Pigs in a Blanket, Lavash Pop Tarts and Cuban Sandwiches, the e-book includes an exclusive discount code to help get their bread into as many hands as possible.
About Atoria’s Family Bakery
Atoria’s Family Bakery is a family-owned and operated bakery based in Gilroy, California. The company bakes authentic and delicious flatbreads in several varieties and flavors. Consumers can find Atoria’s Family Bakery products in over 1,500 grocery stores in the US, including Safeway, Whole Foods, Sprouts, Lucky’s and more. Log on to flatbreadfinder.com to find a store near you. Learn more at atorias.com or buy online at shopatoriasfamilybakery.com.
About the Real Bread Campaign
Co-founded and run by the food and farming charity Sustain since 2008, the Campaign defines Real Bread simply as made without additives. From this universally-accessible starting point, its mission is to make bread better for us, better for our communities and better for the planet. Its work includes campaigning for honest and transparent loaf labelling and marketing; championing small neighbourhood bakeries that support more jobs per loaf; Sourdough September; and the Together We Rise therapeutic and social baking initiative. Real Bread Week is the annual, international celebration of additive-free loaves and the people behind their rise. Everyone is encouraged to buy Real Bread from a local, independent bakery, or make their own at home. www.realbreadcampaign.org.
