REGINA – After having her daughter, Kimberley Phaneuf picked up odd jobs around town.
“I worked at a few different cafes and just decided I just wanted to branch out, do my own thing, and experiment with local ingredients,” said the new mom.
Phaneuf is trained as a pastry chef and decided to take the leap into starting her own baking business. So far, The Flour Shoppe has been a success.
“It’s been really great. The response to opening up just a year ago, we have a lot of followers on Twitter and Instagram which really helps the business.”
Working at the Regina Farmers’ Market on Saturdays from 9 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. has given Phaneuf more time to spend with her baby.
“It’s really nice to be able to have her at home and have prep time during breaks, nap time and things like that,” she said. “It just makes it easy to do what I love to do and be with who I love to be with.”
Phaneuf is grateful for the opportunity, as booth space at the market runs at a premium.
Market Manager Ada Bennett said vendors need to be passionate about what they do and offer good products.
“We accept about two-thirds and we turn away a third. We’re looking for quality. Our mission statement is the highest quality Saskatchewan goods, which are made, baked or grown by the vendor.”
To accommodate the demand, however, the indoor market has expanded.
“We now have more room to fit our new vendors, who we would’ve had to turn away. We previously had a space that was 2,000 square feet, this is 4,500 square feet,” Bennett said.
The new location is the Shriner’s Centre at 2065 Hamilton Street downtown. It has free parking at a nearby SaskTel lot.
More vendors means there’s more local ingredients for the chef to choose from.
“Every market I try and go and talk to people to see what I can use. I use wild boar bacon from here at the market, I use goat cheese from here at the market in my stuff. Cross promotion works that way,” she said.
Having more competition encourages Phaneuf to get creative with her baking. On Saturday she sold citrus flat-bread, spicy bacon caramel corn, and grapefruit tarts.
Comments