Bourke Street Bakery began with a little corner bakery in the winter of 2004. Founders Paul Allam and David McGuinness were bakers and chefs who shared a love of good food and an appreciation for community. Through the seasons Bourke Street Bakery has grown into a Sydney institution amongst people with the same love affair.At Bourke Street Bakery we make everything by hand, freshly baked every day of the week 362 days of the year. We source the highest quality ingredients and we buy local and organic wherever possible. The combination of great produce, artisanal skill and hard work creates the honest, rustic and oh so delicious sweet and savoury bites that Bourke Street Bakery has become known for.We may be bigger now though we keep our feet on the ground by looking after our environment and wider community.With the opening of our seventh bakery, Bourke Street Bakery is committed to the helping the environment, as you’ll see at our new Banksmeadow bakery. We own our own closed loop environmental waste system, the first business in Australia to do so. All organic waste is processed through this system and within 24hrs is converted into compost that we’ll give away to our customers and suppliers. With our cardboard baler and careful ordering we are as close to waste neutral as possible.  We’ve installed enormous silos to store our flour supplies, so there’s no more flour packaging or road trucks hauling in our insatiable appetite for flour each week. Our native garden is irrigated with recycled grey water and in amongst the trees and you’ll find our 5 busy bee hives which produce all the honey for our baking needs and cafes.We believe in community, and beyond making great bread, pies and tarts, we do our little bit of good for our local community too. Bourke Street Bakery’s biggest community gift is voluntarily setting up and actively managing The Bread & Butter Project – Australia first social enterprise bakery. The Bread & Butter Project wholesales artisan baked goods to Sydney food lovers channelling 100% of their profits into improving the lives of those less privileged in our community through training, employment and social support. We are also daily supporters of OzHarvest, Fighting Father Dave and creative partners of the Griffin Theatre Company.Bourke Street Bakery shares it’s secrets with professional and home bakers in The Ultimate Baking Companion, now published in 6 languages. Our second publication, How to Bake Perfect Bread, is a collaboration with The Bread & Butter Project and all profits from this book are returned to the social enterprise mission.