M&S sourdough exclusive for Wrexham-based bakery

One of the only high street retailers to create authentic sourdough, M&S is now set to break boundaries with a new range of Collection sourdough. Exclusive to M&S and a first in the UK, the loaves are made at Jones Village Bakery, at their North Wales site.

The UK re-discovered its love of bread and lockdown saw the passion for sourdough peak. In fact, the whole world got in on the kneading action and Google’s 2020 Year in Search terms showed sourdough was the third most searched recipe, and all you needed was time and patience.

Now, our lives may have hit fast forward once again but our love of sourdough has not waned.

Enter Collection Sourdough at M&S Food - with its deep, crunchy crust and soft centre, the secret ingredient in the Collection sourdough is time.

M&S Collection Signature Sourdough, from Jones Village Bakery.

Each loaf takes 36 hours to make, so the bread develops an exquisite flavour and irresistible texture. Made from stone-milled heritage wheat flours, from Marriage’s, a family producer that’s been milling flours for nearly 200 years - these ancient grains were first seen in the UK as early as 1620. The techniques used to make it are all about going back to basics. The bread proves slowly, and nothing artificial is added. It’s folded by hand, which develops the protein in the flour, creating an open texture and signature air bubbles, then baked on Italian marble for a deep, dark crust.

Crafting this exquisite bread on scale for their customers is all possible through the very special relationship between M&S and Jones Village Bakery. The bakery has invested in extensive new equipment from Europe, to ensure the bread is made authentically, over time.

Run by brothers and third-generation bakers Robin and Christien Jones, Village Bakery has worked with M&S for 14 years, first crafting Welsh Cakes, which they still make for M&S today.

The sourdough ‘mother’ was developed by Village Bakery’s second-generation family baker Lucas, who trained for seven years in Germany before being granted “master baker” status.

Lucas said: “Making our sourdough is like making beer - it takes patience, knowledge and enough time to get it right."

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The bakery is surrounded by six acres of woodland, open to the public and maintained by North Wales Wildlife Trust. The bread is baked in thermal oil ovens which gives a solid bake and nutty crusty texture. These ovens are energy efficient too and any excess heat is captured to heat water across the bakery

Harry Peak, M&S Bakery Product Develop said: “The UK is really starting to understand what great, simple bread tastes like - no additives, no extras. Great bread is all about time - the more time, the better - and every moment counts for these game changing loaves.

"We’ve worked together with master bakers to craft something truly special and we know our customers will never look back!”

The new range is in all stores now and includes Collection Crafted Signature Sourdough (£4), Collection Crafted Sourdough Baguette (£2) and Collection Crafted Seeded Sourdough (£4).

Infusing with exceptional flavours, the range will expand later in the year to include the likes of Collection Crafted Seeded Sourdough Rolls and Collection Crafted Nocellara & Queen Olive Kalamata Sourdough.