Use your LOAF

Sam Forbes pours a bag of organic wheat into his flour mill and watches it being stoneground into flour. The grain has come to his Wellington bakery from a 125ha farm in Rangitikei, two hours north of the city, where farmers Suzy and Bruce Rea grow and harvest organic bread wheat for the New Zealand market.

Inside his business, Shelly Bay Baker, Sam and his bakers shape pieces of dough into oblong loaves before slicing lines across the back of each sourdough loaf with a razor. Next, they line the loaves up on a heavy metal tray and push it into the oven. For the next 40 minutes, the oven will bake dozens of different loaves – 13 varieties of bread are baked here, mainly sourdough, seeded and wholemeal breads, baguettes, bagels and ciabatta.

Sam is a big bread eater, and he’s been