Smittybread Bakery is gearing up for the busy holiday season. Starting this week we will be open Tuesday through Saturday instead of Wed-Sat. Also this week, we will be taking advance orders for Thanksgiving breads and rolls. (details below).

The farmers market season drew to a close Oct. 29. It’s hard to believe that Thanksgiving is already less than 2 weeks away. From May through October the bakery staff was in full swing producing as much bread and pastries as we possibly could, and still we had difficulty keeping up with demand, frequently selling out of bread and pastry two and three days a week.

Lafayette is a growing city, and the number of people drawn to farmers’ markets in West Lafayette, Purdue and Lafayette grows annually. The droves of customers, money in hand, looking for the unique, the delicious and the locally grown provide an almost insatiable demand on local bakers, growers, chefs, soap makers and assorted other craftspeople.

Our bakery could add an extra deck or two of oven space and still not keep up with market demand May through October. But that demand changes rapidly once we put away our market tents for the season. (There will be a limited winter market this year, but that’s a different story.)

To help offset that drop in demand, the bakery is shifting back to a five-day schedule for the first time since COVID hit. This will hopefully enable us to keep production levels steady, current staff busy, and customers content who have in the past stopped by on a Tuesday and been disappointed to find us closed.

Aside from the obvious difference, the change to five days also requires us to shift when to offer certain of our specialty sourdoughs. (See the tentative new schedule elsewhere on this website under “Our Daily Breads.”)

The longer week will also position us to better meet holiday demand since customers will have another day in the week to stock up on supplies. That said, this week we will be taking advance orders for various rolls and breads prior to Thanksgiving, which falls on Nov. 24 this year.

See all the details under “Holiday Roll and Bread Orders” elsewhere on this website. Or swing by Tuesday through Saturday. (After 2 p.m Saturday, we will no longer take Thanksgiving orders in advance). Happy holidays, and thanks as always for supporting Smittybread Bakery.