Jax Bread Co: Artisan Bakery on the Southside

While researching bread ingredient lists Hammond found that many mass-produced loaves had additives and preservatives used to make them last a long time. When she learned that bakeries could use certain kinds of flours that have been banned in other parts of the world, she and her husband decided they would make their own bread, which turned out to be not as easy as they expected. Eventually Hammond found success with a recipe for Jamaican hard dough bread.

“It came out perfect; we would freeze some and give some to neighbors or friends from church. People would try it and love it,” Hammond said, and soon they began to encourage her to consider baking as a profession.

Which she did. Once her younger child started preschool, Hammond enrolled in the French Culinary Institute in New York. After graduation, she worked at Dean & Deluca and, within three months, was promoted to night supervisor of the bakery.

A year into her job, Hammond’s husband was transferred again, this time to Jacksonville. Once the kids were settled in school, Hammond began baking at her house. “Neighbors would order bagels or pizza, and they asked if I had thought about selling my products at a farmers’ market,” she said.

Hammond felt that was something she could do, so, under the name Boutique du Pain, she set up at several markets in the area. Given the growth in artisan bread sales, which are increasing at about 2% to 3% per year according to one industry estimate, she quickly found an audience for her baked goods. While selling her products at the St. Augustine Beach Wednesday Market, Hammond met someone who would provide her with an instrumental connection.

“Mimi Iannuzzi, a member of the local Slow Food chapter, came up to me and said 'I hear you’re the best baker in Jacksonville. I have a client who is looking for an artisan baker – would you be interested?' That was Native Sun, my first wholesale client,” said Hammond.

Participating in the Slow Food Tour de Farm event led to additional contacts, enabling Hammond to grow her wholesale client list in three years, which now includes The Floridian in St. Augustine, Nola MOCA, Sawgrass Marriott and San Jose Country Club. Early in 2018, she added a retail outlet, selling over 20 different products in rotation on the menu, including pastries and breads, sandwiches, soups, preserves and flavored cream cheeses. As part of the evolution of her business model, Hammond also changed the name.