Happy Esther at Esther's German Bakery Happy Esther at Esther's German Bakery (May 27, 2005)

Couple's heavy loaves, pastries come from old-country recipes

By Allison Gerard

The low-carb craze is losing momentum, but Esther's German Bakery jumped on the bandwagon at just the right time, and their business has been growing rapidly ever since.

Actually, owners Robert and Esther Nio did not set out to market their whole-grain loaves as low-carb, but after hiring a consultant who advised them of the trend, they thought why not. The grain-and-seed-packed breads from their native country are naturally low-carb due to the low amount of flour used in favorites such as pumpernickel and dark rye.

Now, with the low-carb craze dwindling and people looking toward good-for-you carbs such as whole grains, Esther's German Bakery seems to have what it takes to be successful.

"I think we'll make it, but we are being careful to not grow too fast," Esther said.

Currently all the breads and pastries are made at the company's kitchen in Mountain View and sold at local stores and farmers markets. But locating a retail space is next on the agenda for the Nios. Until they have an actual retail location, their breads and pastries can be found at the Milk Pail and Dittmer's in Mountain View, Draeger's in Los Altos and Menlo Park and at farmer's markets and other local gourmet stores.

"We have a lot of German customers who want it," said Sue Hamilton, assistant manager at the Milk Pail, "and we want to sell them what they want. The customers love the bread."

She stressed that it's not just Germans buying the bread, and added that Milk Pail employees love Esther's products -- which include plenty of scrumptious, not-so-good-for-you pastries -- and look forward to the deliveries.

After Robert's job brought the couple to Mountain View eight years ago, the couple quickly realized they could not find the whole-grain breads they grew up with in Germany. Esther recalls going to the store and being disappointed when she discovered that most breads contained food coloring and not actual whole grains at all.

To remedy this problem, the couple decided to make their own bread and sell it. Not bakers themselves, they brought a master baker over from Germany, along with a German bread press and imported flour and marzipan to ensure the authenticity of their breads.

The Nios believe freshness is part of what makes great bread, and they guarantee that all the bread they sell is less than a day old. When bread is left unsold on the shelves, they donate the leftovers to area food banks.

The dark, grainy loaves may be familiar to Germans, but it is a far cry from the white Wonder Bread of many Americans' youth, and the Nios realize this is the group that will be harder to convert.

"We knew we had the Germans, but it's the Americans that are harder to sell to," Robert said.

The dense loaves are packed full of seeds and grains. They not only look different from the loaves lining the shelves at the supermarket, but they weigh about twice as much.

Robert admits that the low-carb craze really helped sales, as did their location in health-conscious Northern California.

The Nios are not too concerned about competition because they feel they have pretty much cornered the market on German bread -- especially their Steiner bread, which is made from dough with a watery, mud-like consistency, Robert said. This makes manipulating the dough difficult and few bakers know how.

"When we started, our idea was to complement the offering, not compete or substitute," Robert said.

Information about Esther's German Bakery can be found on their Web site at www.esthersbakery.com.

E-mail Allison Gerard at agerard@mv-voice.com

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