Got a 'knead' for bread during the pandemic, buy a kit from a well-known bakery

A well-known bakery in Highland Park is hurting just like so many other small businesses.  

The founder of Mr. Holmes Bakehouse did what so many others did after the stay at home orders, he pivoted.         

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A smaller selection of baked goods are still available for delivery. 

But when Aaron Caddel saw people looking for bread or the ingredients to make their own.  

He quickly created a website to sell baking kits. 

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After all, he had a warehouse full of flour, sugar, and yeast, the kind of ingredients that grocery stores had trouble keeping in stock.             

 It didn’t take long for orders to come in, and now, Mr. Holmes Bakehouse kits have been shipped to 47 states.

“It’s insane, I never expected anything like that,” he said.        

The idea to sell bread baking kits came easily, harder was figuring out how to make sure the kits could be mailed and arrive intact. 

“Different companies have a different quality factory seal that's on it.  A number of these kits are getting onto planes and sometimes, the kits actually exploded.”                

 Now there are five kits offered, bread, cookies, scones, pasta, and brioche, with more in development.

Caddel believes even after the stay at home orders are lifted and he is once again providing flaky croissants and delectable cruffins to restaurants and hotels, he’ll still be selling the kits. 

Mr. Holmes Bakehouse Kits for Christmas, anyone?             

He also is partnering with schools that’ve lost their fundraisers for the year.  

The school would get 20% of the proceeds from each kit sold.

“It’s kind of a cool thing because parents can now fundraise from the family in say, Maine or New Hampshire or something like that. 

It’s a covid safe way of doing fundraising for schools.