Jackie Robinson – Bakery Manager

Scratch Made at the Co-op

The Co-op bakery has moved twice in the last 10 years. It started in a tiny workspace, sharing ovens with our kitchen. During the pandemic, the bakery moved into a modified Community Learning Center, where the team had room to spread out and realize its potential. Most recently, in August, the bakery moved into the Aardvark building, which has been remodeled specifically for its needs.

Co-op blogger John Ellis interviewed SNFC Bakery Manager, Jackie Robinson about her history with baking, the new bakery kitchen, quality standards at the Co-op and what we can look forward to with the new space.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

From a Single Table to Bustling Production

John: What was your first job and how long have you been working with the Co-op?

Jackie: My very first job in the food service industry was right down the street at Cafe Bernardo. I was a busser, server, and cashier while I was going to culinary school to learn all the things about pastry. That is how I eventually ended up here at the Co-op, which was about five and a half years ago.

John: And did you start as the Bakery Manager at the Co-op?

Jackie: Yeah. The bakery was a lot smaller, literally a table in the middle of the kitchen. We were sharing their ovens and everything. We've expanded the bakery a lot since then.

What is unique and really special about the Co-op bakery, as opposed to a lot of other grocery stores and many other large-size bakeries, is everything we do is from scratch. Which is super special. I think people can taste the effort that we put into the cookies, cakes, and muffins.

The Commitment to 100% Scratch-Made Pastries

John: When you say from scratch, can you tell me about that?

Jackie: Yeah. The cookies, the cakes, the muffins, sweet breads, corn breads, cheesecakes—everything is made from scratch. Pies are the only thing we outsource. We just don't have the time or space right now. During the holidays we make the vegan, gluten-free pumpkin pie using local pumpkins though!

John: Let's talk about the quality of the ingredients. I've seen the list of ingredients that are not up to Co-op standards, but for a bakery, I think of flour and eggs as key ingredients. What do you use?

Jackie: We currently use Giustos out of San Francisco. Like you said, we have a huge list of ingredients we don't use, but one of our really big things is organic grain, organic produce, and organic dairy. Eggs are not considered dairy, but our eggs are also organic and they come from Judy's farm, which is local.

John: The quality is much higher than I would get at a Safeway bakery, right?

Jackie: Exactly… And you can taste that when you try our products.

Above: Some of the made from scratch goods available at SNFC including pumpkin pie, mini-cheesecakes, granola, and sweet breads.

John: That's really cool that you're using special products to make things vegan.

Jackie: Our customers are looking for things that are a little different, but also still delicious and high quality. So, we try to have vegan options whenever we can without totally changing the product.

Above: Bakery manager Jackie Robinson In the bakery kitchen with an assortment of SNFC made from scratch items. 

But it wasn't built to be a bakery. It was a commercial kitchen for community events. So, we got to the point where we needed to move and luckily, we were able to make space in what we call “the Aardvark” building that we used for storage and curbside pickup, So now we have a brand-new bigger space that we don't have to close for classes.

John: That's exciting. Do you have any items that you're planning to make now that you've got this bigger space to work with?

Jackie: Yes. We just tested out some tarts that sold well—a chocolate mousse and a lemon tart, and we would love to have a fruit tart. Maybe for the fall a little pumpkin tart, hopefully a sweet potato tart. And the next items will be croissants or some sort of flaky pastry.

John: Do you plan on creating special products based on seasons and holidays?

Jackie: Yeah. We always have our staples that we switch up throughout the year. We have our holiday staples that come back every season for a certain amount of time. So, this fall, we are working on a pumpkin chocolate chip cookie, which will just have pieces of pumpkin pie in it. Then of course we'll have our pumpkin muffins and our pumpkin cheesecakes and our pumpkin pie that we make in-house.

John: Are you using actual pumpkins or using butternut squash for pumpkin pie? Turns out most of the canned puree pumpkins are actually butternut squash.

Jackie: We are using pumpkins that we get directly from the farm. We buy them, roast them, and turn them into pies. We couldn’t find larger quantities of organic puree. We were only able to find the little cans that you can buy here at the Co-op. It took 34 of those cans to make one batch of pies, and that's just a lot of waste.

I didn't think we had the time to roast our own pumpkins, but when you're opening 40 cans to make one batch of batter, you might as well throw some pumpkins in the oven… Especially if you've got the oven space to do it.

John: Anything else you want to tell me about? Or reasons why I should be buying my cookies there?

Jackie: I would just tell everyone to come here and try it. I think our products speak for themselves. I think you can truly taste the quality of the ingredients and the care that everyone puts into it.

John: Last question. You've been with the Co-op for five years, and that seems pretty amazing. So how do you like working with the Co-op?

Jackie: Yeah, I actually love it. I had no clue what I was really coming into. Before I was here, I was baking from home for myself and doing little pop ups. So, I'd never been in the grocery setting. It was a lot of new things for me, but I love it.

I think it's a great opportunity. We work with the best quality products. Since we are a co-op, we can be creative and do what we want, with limitations, of course. But if there is something we want to try, we can try it and see if we want to sell it and see if people like it. My team here is absolutely amazing. It is a huge collaborative effort.

Above:  Shop the co-op online and have it delivered.

Treats include Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffin, Vegan Pumpkin Ginger Loaf, Pumpkin Jam Bar, Vegan Pumpkin Pie, (GF crust), Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake in 6” or mini.

And if pumpkin isn’t your thing, no worries. The Co-op’s famous cookies, cakes and mini cheesecakes are available year-round, in-store and online.