Product Review: Bakerly

I was so excited when I got home to find my box of Bakerly samples had come in the mail! I love fresh bread, and Bakerly promised to deliver.

It. Did. Not. Disappoint. 

My box of goodies from Bakerly included a loaf of slice brioche, a package of soft brioche baguettes, chocolate crepes, and crispy caramel crepes.

The baguettes were so good. They were super soft and light, but full of flavor. It was some of the best bread I’ve ever had. They were sliced in half, so they would have been excellent for sub sandwiches. Honestly though, we enjoyed them so much they never made it that long — we ate them plain!

My absolutely favorite product though was the sliced brioche loaf. It was amazing. I used it for cold meat sandwiches for my lunches at work, and also made toast with it. Again, it was so favorable and rich, though not heavy. Going back to regular bread will be tough. I can only imagine how good the bread would have been as french toast or grilled cheese! If Bakerly wants to send me another loaf to try….

The crepes were good. Caramel was the best, and the crunchy cereal pieces made it a satisfying snack. The chocolate crepes were a nice treat, and my entire family enjoyed them. I wouldn’t say crepes are my favorite flavor profile. If you enjoy treats like that, then they were definitely better than any I have had.

But here’s the problem (and for me this is a big one)….

Bakerly’s marketing is completely based around feel good ingredients and fear-mongering.

All of the products I received had a non-GMO label on them, along with a list of other things kept out of the product. In fact, Bakerly has a “no-no” list for ingredients. It was a huge turnoff for me. Honestly, despite how much I liked the product, I would never purchase them because I don’t agree with that type of marketing tactic.

Not that I mean to give Bakerly legal advice, but there are also concerns about this marketing being legal in the United States. For example, Bakerly’s website states: “the milk we use is real milk, or milk the way nature intended – meaning it’s never from concentrate and free of rBST.” When companies put that on the label, they are supposed to also include the following disclaimer: “no significant difference has been shown between milk derived from rBST-supplemented and non-rBST-supplemented cows.” Bakerly also likes to say that its food is made with “love” as the main ingredient. However, the USDA recently called out another company for that same type of thing.

Here’s the thing – Bakerly has a great product! But all of the fear-based marketing gimmicks ruins the entire product. It would be just as easy to highlight that the ingredients are fresh, from trusted farmers, and of the highest quality. Market the product based on how awesome it tastes, that the recipes have been handed down for generations, and that the bakers are making these products with pride.

Why demonize things that are safe, effective, and sustainable, even if Bakerly doesn’t want to use them?

Bakerly promotes the following formula: happy farmers + happy bakers = happy snackers.

Farmers are happy when they can grow quality food for quality products. Farmers are happy when they can work with good companies. Farmers aren’t happy though when a company uses its marketing to sell product at the expense of demonizing technological advances in agriculture. Farmers aren’t happy when you imply that those not working with you are growing “bad” food. Farmers aren’t happy when you imply that we’re doing something wrong.

Bakerly — cut out of the ridiculous marketing gimmicks. Your breads don’t need that!! In fact, if you cut out the non-GMO labels and fix up the marketing on your website, I would be more than happy to give you a free year of advertising on my website. Why? Because your product is worth it. But, as is, the marketing is wrong and I cannot support that. I am also confident that none of my readers will be interested in purchasing this product either based on this problem.

Great product, bad marketing. Too bad.