Bread Alone Bakery reopened its Boiceville, New York Bakery & Café. The original bakery first opened in 1983 was renovated into an 8,000 sq ft net-zero energy facility, to supply Bread Alone’s four Hudson Valley cafes, as well as its New York City farmer’s markets. Following the upgrade, it became “the first commercial bakery in the U.S. to operate on 100% renewable energy, without fossil fuels,” the company said.

A 366kW on-site solar array will allow the bakery to renewably produce on-site all energy that they consume. This renewable energy will be used to power the fully electrified building: Heuft electric ovens, induction stovetops, air-source heat pumps, and engineered airflow. In addition to the Heuft ovens, the Boiceville bakery will bake breads in the original Andre Lefort wood-fired brick ovens, fueled by renewable scrap wood.

The bakery-café reopened its doors in the heart of the Catskills following its most comprehensive upgrade towards sustainability, Bread Alone previously installed solar panels on its Kingston Headquarters, and established a long-standing partnership with 1% for the Planet and Climate Reality Project, while becoming Certified Climate Neutral.

“This net-zero, carbon-neutral project is a response to the call for action, and we hope it is an inspiration to others to take actions of their own. Bread Alone has committed to the simple but ambitious purpose of creating equity for our people and minimizing harm to the planet. This project is an exciting milestone in pursuit of our purpose,” said Nels Leader, Chief Executive Officer and founding family member of Bread Alone.

“Serving our guests healthy food was baked into our mission from the start,” said Sharon Burns-Leader, Chief Operating Officer of Bread Alone. “We began one loaf at a time, but as our skill and determination grew so did our ambition. Boiceville was once our proving ground and is now our North Star – we are thrilled to serve the world a slice of what we believe to be our collective future and we invite everyone to join us.”

Bread Alone has been baking with organic grains since its opening in 1983 and uses traditional breadmaking methods using sourdoughs and slow fermentation. Bread Alone’s breads are available at grocers throughout the Northeast region and from their Hudson Valley cafes and NYC farmers’ market.