It’s 11:50 a.m., and every Trinity student is scrambling to find something to eat in between lectures. If you’re close to the Business School, you’re in luck. Look across the road outside, and you might see the inviting shop windows of what has become a staple of Pearse Street: Bread 41.
Finding it is one thing; ordering is another. The warmth, the soft lighting, and the delicious smells all combine to create a welcoming atmosphere, but here, you’re only one of many students queuing up for a sweet treat to get you through the day. A long queue has formed, stretching along the counter, with people eagerly looking around in the hopes of scoring a seat just as someone else is leaving. Six staff members are busily engaged in tending to the growing number of customers. But where did they all come from? What is it that draws us to Bread 41?
“What meets the eye as you walk through the door are shelves of every kind of loaf imaginable, and when you turn towards the counter, the shelves continue”
Unlike most spots in Dublin, Bread 41 usually opens at 7 a.m. and closes as early as 3 p.m., signifying that this is a bakery, not a café. When the business students drop in before noon, the bakers have already been up for many hours. Bread 41’s main selling point is just that: bread. Bread that is more well-made than anywhere else in Dublin. What meets the eye as you walk through the door are shelves of every kind of loaf imaginable, and when you turn towards the counter, the shelves continue.
An unexpected culture shock of moving to Ireland was the apparent lack of bakeries. There’s no shortage of cafés or coffee shops, but finding fresh bread has proved more difficult. Unlike many places across continental Europe, Ireland does not boast a bakery on every street corner. Of course, most grocery stores contain a small bakery. But picking up a bread loaf from Tesco does not compare to doing the same at a bakery. You lose out on the experience of walking into a bakery, interacting with a server, and sitting down for a moment of peace while enjoying your chosen snack.
Exposed brick, concrete floors, and wooden furniture combine to create an industrial style not commonly seen in bakeries. Capitalizing on current trends, the interior caters to young people and makes up an important part of Bread 41’s marketing strategy. The rustic aesthetic plays into the idea that Bread 41 makes everything from scratch. Granted, it is one of few bakeries to mill its own flour, something that according to its blog makes all the difference in both the quality and flavour of the bread. The suggested benefits of ready-milled flour matter less than the fact that it mills flour at all. It builds trust in the bakers and, in turn, the company. Bread 41 becomes a bakery that supervises its bread-making process from start to finish.
More broadly, it fits into Bread 41’s bid for sustainability. Among the many café chains, Bread 41 and its list of all the Irish farms that supply it with ingredients must feel like a breath of fresh air for most customers. A major part of its strategy is establishing itself as a local, Irish company, and convincing customers that in supporting Bread 41, they are supporting Irish farmers.
But bread is not the only thing Bread 41 offers. Far from it, there is a whole range of pastries on display on the counter. Of particular interest to international students are its holiday-themed and seasonal baked goods. Arriving in Dublin in late January after spending the holidays at home in Sweden, I had little hope of finding a semla that would, by then, have filled every Swedish bakery. But to my surprise, Bread 41 had just what I was looking for.
“Over six short years, Bread 41 has successfully established itself as an alternative to generic coffee chains”
Over six short years, Bread 41 has successfully established itself as an alternative to generic coffee chains. While it advertises itself as a simple bakery that focuses on using few, quality ingredients, its business strategy has many more components. It has found an untapped market in central Dublin’s bakery scene and it is not going anywhere soon. On the contrary, Bread 41 is currently expanding its business to Greystones, and its website suggests several other locations are in the making. But 41 Pearse Street will continue to be the staple for Trinity students in need of a sweet treat to get through the day.
