Mount Eliza micro baker, Isabelle Sully is a maverick. In January, at nineteen years old, she launched her business, Pops Shop, offering artisanal handmade, homemade sourdough bread and it’s been going gangbusters ever since.
Once she had her signature sourdough bread, Issy started to branch out making new products. Her salted chocolate chip and red velvet white chocolate chip cookies are to die for. They are her most popular product. She also makes delicious lemon glazed sourdough scones and mouth-watering cinnamon buns.
“I started dabbling in the kitchen when I was five or six. We had a German au pair who used to make these amazing, creative fruit platters. That brought me into the kitchen and I’ve been there ever since,” she says.
At high school, Issy studied Food Technology for two years. She and her closest friends had a lot of fun making everything from savoury meals to sweet treats. They learned cooking methods and cuisines from across the globe. They even had a mini-MasterChef competition where they all worked with the same ingredients to create something different.
Her first part-time job was at a local bakery, that coincidentally, specialised in sourdough bread. “They taught me a lot about sourdough fermentation even though I wasn’t on the baker’s side. I was in the service side, but we were shown how to find the best-looking products to put forward in the cabinet because people eat with their eyes,” she said.
Issy was drawn to sourdough by a serious digestive health issue.
Issy was drawn to sourdough by a serious digestive health issue. It’s essential that she monitors and cares for her gut health. She needs to choose foods with anti-inflammatory properties. “Sourdough bread is the best bread you can eat for gut health. It supports all of the good mitochondria bacteria in your gut,” she says.
Sourdough has lots of healthy prebiotics. Gut nutrition plays a huge role in general health, but is particularly relevant in managing chronic conditions like Issy’s. Making smart changes to her diet ended years of pain and discomfort. She’s happy making a product that can also help other people.
Sourdough bread is notoriously tricky and time consuming to make. It takes three days from start to finish. “It’s a very manual process. You have to strengthen the gluten by stretching the dough and folding it back on itself. When you’re making ten loaves in the same bucket, that’s a workout,” she says.
Issy spent countless hours doing online research. “I love YouTube. It has long form videos that walk you through the whole process. I follow lots of people who have successful sourdough micro bakeries. I study what they do, their packaging and how they market their products,” she says.
She laughingly admits she gained a lot of business knowledge vicariously overhearing her father on speakerphone talking to his clients about various aspects of his business. He also took the time to talk to Issy and her brothers about supply chains, cost of goods, packaging and manufacturing so they all had a good grounding in how a successful business runs.
Then Issy launched further into her own research. She designed her logo and website, sought out recyclable packaging, set up Facebook and Instagram accounts and utilised WTF Mt. Eliza to introduce herself and market her business.
She began selling her products to neighbours and following their feedback. “We had a tasting night to see what flavours worked best,” she says. They have a neighbourhood WhatsApp group and meet every Sunday to brainstorm. Issy is always keen to float ideas and learn new things.
She’s looking to expand into local supermarkets, cafés and farmers markets. The hard part for a start-up is the initial outlay for products, stands, tables and marquis for markets and most expensive, business insurance.
Issy will be supplying Mt. Eliza’s French café, Mise en Place with her sourdough bread, but she’s looking to ripple out further. It’s been a bit of a challenge to expand from her home kitchen out into the wider community, but she’s determined to grow her business. From her social media platforms, Issy offers free local delivery.
It’s taken a lot time to develop the right recipes using trial and error and a whole lot of volunteers with different tastes and dietary requirements. One of her brother’s has coeliac disease so Issy worked hard to develop gluten-free alternatives.
“I’m experimenting with new recipes all the time. When my aunt was visiting I made blackberry strudel rolls with a lemon glaze. I think they’ll be the next new product,” she says.
Moving forward Issy wants to develop special holiday products. One thing is for sure, whatever she makes, it’s going to taste good.
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