Our Story
The tale of this small Halstead bakery begins almost ninety years ago in a small village on the Essex and Suffolk border, Bures. Albert Hume owned a small bakery named Hume's, but when his son, Dennis decided to join the family trade, bigger premises were required...
1st April 1960 was the opening day of our current Hume's shop at 40 High Street, Halstead. Dennis, his mum and dad, bought the shop with a loan of £5,000, repaying it by not claiming the £5 deposit on the empty Hessian flour sacks. Dennis' wife, Ann, joined the Humes in 1962. For the first few years, we operated both shops, before focusing on Halstead.
A few years later, a small bakery in Haverhill was struggling, and due to the success Ann and Dennis were making of Humes, the millers asked them to run the bakery there, which they did, for a few years, before closing to focus on the Halstead shop.
Following a redevelopment of the shop in the early 80s, we started to make more than just bread, introducing our now iconic sausage rolls, homemade meat pies and of course, our delicious range of cakes - some of which we still make today and still remain immensely popular.
1983 saw Hume's became a multi-branch bakery again as we opened a second shop down in Bridge Street in Halstead, this is now the Nail Bar. Like our shop in Haverhill, the goods were baked in our main shop and transported in a van. Opening the second shop in Halstead took the total number of Hume's shop in total over the years to four. This stayed open until the late 90s.
1990 was a huge year for Dennis as he was elected the National President of the National Association of Master Bakers, which he calls "one of his greatest honours of his life." He served a one year term, as customary in the NAMB. He represented in NAMB in an international conference in Athens during his presidency.
2010 was our 50th Golden Year in Halstead and we celebrasted with all our loyal customers and staff on 1st April - 50 years to the day since we opened. We also won the Essex Baker of the Year crown to top off a fantastic year in our story.
2020 came around and the world changed quickly. In the midst of a lockdown, we began offer deliveries to our customers keeping everyone safe.
The bakery, now in its six decade of trading, is run by Ann and Dennis' three children, Adrian, Wendy and Judith. Three generations later, with thousands of bread sold in that time, but, the desire for nothing but the best continues.
Halstead's bakery. Serving you since 1960
Opening Hours
Come Visit
Mon, Tues, Thurs - Sat: 8am - 2pm
Weds: 8am - 1:30pm
Sun & Bank Holidays: Closed