Lakeview Bakery has taken the opposite approach of Glamorgan, looking to nutrition and diet trends and reworking recipes for customers seeking gluten-free baked goods or those without eggs, soy or dairy. “Things are shifting toward plant-based now,” says owner Daren Hinton, whose parents opened the bakery in 1990, followed by a second, strictly gluten-free location in 2010.
There is a grocery store across the parking lot from the original Lakeview Bakery so to keep people coming in, there must be something to set the family bakery apart, Hinton says. “We are constantly looking at what is next and adapting to what customers are looking for.” Lakeview began introducing gluten-free options in the ’90s, and has continued to adjust recipes to meet the needs of those allergic to soy, eggs or wheat, as well as those who have made choices not to consume any animal products, substituting plant-based oils for baking-staple butter.
Even with specialty baked goods on offer, the original Lakeview location still fills its cases with cookies and other tempting treats, including traditional British favourites like Eccles cakes and almond tarts, the recipes for which Hinton’s father brought with him from England when the family moved to Calgary. “We are straddling both worlds; we’re still a community bakery,” says Hinton. “We don’t sell many traditional breads, but we do well with pastries.”
These days, half the business is wholesale: Lakeview has built strong relationships with Calgary Co-op and Community Natural Foods, selling its gluten-free and vegan goods through those stores.
If there is one innovation that has had the greatest impact on Lakeview Bakery over the last 30 years, it’s the rise of social media and the expectation that businesses are available at all hours for queries. But Hinton notes that social media also served as a boost when Lakeview pulled out of a controversial health expo at the last minute — a few retweets and the bakery had one of its busiest weekends to date.
6449 Crowchild Tr. S.W., 403-246-6127; 2515 90 Ave. S.W., 403-457-3555; lakeviewbakerycalgary.com