Anybody that’s visited our shop & spent any time talking to the Rex Baker, his wife, the staff – will hopefully pick up how very passionately we feel about Rex quality. But what does that really mean for you? Well:
We are the modern version of a truly old fashioned baker, who cares deeply about we sell, taking time to make our food properly and only putting into it exactly what’s needed. Our 4 PRINCIPLES
1/ ALWAYS FRESH: We make & bake bread every single night of the week so that our customers receive the very best of our produce every single morning.
2/ HEALTH: We follow only long fermentation methods of baking because we think that’s more digestible & healthy. And we only hand shape our breads.
3/ ORGANIC: We use only organic flour, use the minimum number of ingredients necessary, which is often just flour, water, salt & a leaven. No preservatives , improvers or other chemicals to artificially extend the life or increase the size of our loaf.
4/ BEST INGREDIENTS: We make everything we can for sale in our bakery, even down to the mayonnaise in our sandwiches. We search constantly for the most special ingredients, local or artisan where possible and let the availability of those ingredients shape our produce.
Highest quality? best ingredients? Why? The truth is that the Rex Baker has already had a ton of opportunities to replace the very expensive ingredients he chooses to use, with ingredients that aren’t so expensive. We all know that there are cafes, chains & shops all over the UK and even right in Little Chalfont that do use cheap ingredients and despite that, think the food they make is good enough for you.
But it just isn’t possible to make good food from inferior ingredients.
That’s why the Rex baker is obsessed with buying the best he can find, and frequently is rather extravagant in what he chooses to use in Rex. He loves to find the widest range of flours, ingredients, combinations. Just now the Rex baker is researching:
- rosewater from Iran
- an English patisserie butter (80% water plus) source
- new flours – wheat, rye, spelt, kamut… Hear him talking about our varieties of organic Shipton Mill & beyond flour range here:
We would rather charge more to cover costs & end up selling fewer of a particular line because some will surely balk at the price point – than sell anything less than the highest quality, just to hit a low target price. To us, Value is an equation of price & quality – not just low priced.
It’s quite a simple guiding principle – create the very best food you can in health & taste & uniqueness – and only if it surpasses own your high expectations, will it sustain customer demand. We always hoped that there would be enough people that felt like we did – that a good bakery can enhance your day & your diet. Anything less for Rex friends would be an unacceptable compromise.
Before we even opened the Rex doors, we were warned that Little Chalfont would be a disaster location – locals weren’t discerning enough to care how their bread was made, what was in it, how it tasted. Well… not only are we finding Little Chalfont is voting with its feet for highest quality…… but we are attracting customers from an unimaginably wide geographic area. People travel to Rex from Bourne End, Bushey, Berkhamsted; from Harefield, Hazelmere, High Wycombe – very exciting to us!
That’s why we are submitting Rex products to the Great Taste Awards. This means that THIS WEEK we are gearing up to make a special limited batch of Rex Stollen for judges’ tasting. We really like this kind of expert judge assessment rather than popularity voting (although thank you all for your votes for us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) . So whilst thank goodness we’re squarely 6 months away from true Stollen Season – if you fancy a stollen – order yours here now! 1st come, 1st served until Stollens sell out
A limited batch of May Rex Stollens will be ready from Wednesday 13th May in the shop – and are reputed to last 40 days (though we still don’t know anybody that waited that long to finish one :))
You be the judge! You can review our Stollen or any other product on the website at any time – and if you do so, you might even get to pick up a freebie in our Review pick of the month!
Have a great week xx
