Bellingham bakery finds niche in gluten-free goods


Many people dream about making the world a better place for others, but Christie Jaquette and Ron Cupples never thought it would come in the form of baking.

Next month, Jaquette and Cupples will have operated Bellingham Flat Bread Bakery for one year, and it has been a whirlwind experience.

At the end of 2010, the bakery at the Cornwall Avenue-Alabama Street intersection, needed a baker with experience in gluten-free goods. Cupples, who has a background as a chef, was originally hired as an employee of Bellingham Flat Bread by then-owner Jila Malek.

Malek, who also operates Styles Salon Spa nearby at 2506 Cornwall Ave., put the bakery business up for sale. Cupples decided to make the leap and buy the business with his partner, Jaquette. Other business partners in the bakery are Rhonda Baxter and her daughter, Kayle, as well as Dave Ellett.

Becoming new business owners means a lot of work building a customer base, but they received some useful insights from Malek about a potentially underserved market – people who are sensitive to gluten.

“Jila had done some research to find this out, and gave us a chance to expand into this market,” Jaquette said.

It turned out there are more people with gluten allergies than Jaquette and Cupples expected. Gluten is a common ingredient in baked goods, leaving many people with gluten allergies searching for alternatives for a lot of food products.

Since they also offer baked goods with gluten, Bellingham Flat Bread is not designated a gluten-free bakery. However, they do go to great lengths to not cross-contaminate their products, including shutting down the bakery and providing a thorough cleaning before tackling gluten-free items.

“We can’t be hard-core gluten-free, but we’ve worked with customers and have found this works for those sensitive to gluten,” Cupples said.

Word has gotten around about the variety of gluten-free products, and that has meant an increase in new customers. Gluten-free products now make up about half of the company’s business, up from a third a year ago, Cupples said.

With the new customers comes stories that makes the owners feel great about providing gluten-free alternatives. Some customers were able to enjoy their first-ever birthday cake because it was gluten-free, while others were able to enjoy a traditional holiday meal because they could have gluten-free rolls or pies.

“During the holidays, we received a lot of hugs and kisses from people who said we were able to raise the quality of their life,” Jaquette said. “When you can marry a business with helping people in the community at the same time … wow!”

One story that stands out for Jaquette was the day a man walked in with his 5-year-old daughter and told her she could have any of the products in the gluten-free section.

“She stood there and said ‘Really?’ twice, because she couldn’t believe the choices she had,” Jaquette said. “It made me wonder how many times her dad had to say ‘no’ whenever they went to the store.”

Making baked goods without gluten is a science to Cupples, with plenty of experimenting. Gluten helps make products like bread rise, and hold together. Different cooking techniques are needed to prevent, say, gluten-free cookies from becoming a crumbly mess.

The bakery is also a bit different in that most of the work is done during the afternoon, to attract customers who want freshly baked goods for dinner.

The bakery also is big on handling special orders, and Cupples has worked with a wide range of recipes the past year to make that happen. The bakery also recently started offering a soup-and-sandwich selection.

Looking back on the past year, Cupples and Jaquette said they’ve learned quite a bit about running a business, with some of the biggest lessons coming in the area of scheduling and handling requests when things get busy.

“The running joke around here is that we may own the business, but the dough is the boss,” Cupples said. “That (baking) is something you can’t rush along.”

Bellingham Flat Bread Bakery is open 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. For details, see bellinghamflatbread.com.

OTHER TIDBITS

? Last month, Go Big Paintball moved from Meridian Street to the Bakerview Fred Meyer Shopping Center, near Five Guys Burgers and Fries. Manager Taylor Long said the new space is bigger, allowing the store to offer more paintball products as well as new products, including items for disc golf. The store also changed its hours to 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.

Long said the company also is busy improving the former Semper Fi Paintball fields near Lynden, a 22-acre parcel it recently acquired. Currently, the fields are in use from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekends. Details about the store and the field can be found at gobigpaintball.com.

?A state liquor license application was filed for a new restaurant called HomeSkillet at 521 Kentucky St., near the Humboldt Street intersection. The applicants are Kirby and Tina White.

?The new Rocket Donuts building project at 1212 11th St. appears to be moving along, with building permit applications recently being filed at the city planning department.

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