The comforting smell as it heats up, a staple for breakfast, a shared loaf during a holiday or just a warm piece at the end of a long day. These are all of the things that drive Dave Deutsch’s belief that “bread is a basic.”
Deutsch began Bread Drop Bakery just a couple of months ago from his hobby that grew too large for his own four walls.
“Instagram definitely was serving me up the midlife crisis reels of sourdough, and my daughter was home from spring break, and I mentioned to her that I was thinking about trying it, and so she encouraged me, and we made a starter together over that week, which became our friend Gabriel,” Deutsch said.
Sharing his bread is his favorite part of the process, so he began giving loaves to friends and family. He then started a limited drop system for people to “reserve” a loaf and get it delivered directly to their door. He calls it more of a project than a business with a unique model asking customers to “pay what you feel” even if that means nothing at all.
Oak Park is home to over a dozen bakeries specializing in a variety of treats, but Deutsch offers a unique take on a traditional storefront.
“I don’t think I’m a bakery by any means of the sense, I think that it’s the vernacular that people have gotten used to associating with baked goods,” Deutsch said.
Deutsch does every part of the process himself starting at 4:30 a.m. to get most of the process done before he clocks in for his full-time job. He posts the notices that bread is available, drives around Oak Park to deliver it and handles the follow-up with customers.
With his limited manpower, he is still able to do three to four drops a week selling about four to six loaves each time. The customer is able to try the bread and determine what they think it is worth before paying. Deutsch said the drops have been successful so far, selling fast and receiving more support than he thought he would get initially.
“I don’t want to push the payment because it could be that they don’t have the money right now or maybe it didn’t hit, that’s okay too,” said Deutsch. “This is the type of community where this thing works.”
As it is early-on in the creation process, Deutsch said he is still working out how to continue this project while prioritizing a positive experience for customers and his own career.
“I think my bread and butter will be my job,” said Deutsch. “I do have ambitions to do these bigger and have people pick up from me, but I just have to figure out the missing piece of that.”
Bread drops are announced on Instagram and Facebook, and customers can reserve their loaf on the website.