Up until December 2024, Trezona Gluten Free Bakery had been serving up delicious, gluten-free baked goods in Edwardstown. The family-run bakery was a hit among locals and those with specific dietary requirements, and in late 2023 expanded into a wholesale operation while broadening their menu to include a range of savoury pies, pasties, and sausage rolls.
Last December, Trezona Bakery was on the verge of closing their doors when Rick, Kelley, and their son Hayden Burke from Belve Foods took over the business and saved it from shutting down. Since February 3rd, the Burke family has been running Trezona, bringing over two decades of food manufacturing experience to the Edwardstown business.
For 22 years, Belve Foods has been producing premium handcrafted specialty foods and pastries for supermarket delis and gourmet venues throughout South Australia. Before they took over Trezona, the team hadn’t been producing gluten-free products, so this new enterprise allowed them to fill a looming hole in Adelaide’s gluten-free food industry while satisfying Trezona’s existing customer base.
“The coeliac community and gluten-free community are niche businesses”, said Rick Burke, “and our expertise actually quite suits that business.
“There’s a hole in the market, and we just need to do it properly because we want longevity for the business.”
The family decided to retain the services of head chef Carlie, who helped craft and refine Trezona’s gluten-free recipes. They wanted to bring their vast manufacturing experience and food safety expertise into the gluten-free food business.
“It’s a very important product”, says Rick. “Everything has to be done properly.”
One of the iconic features of Trezona’s business its their coffee caravan, which also stocked gluten-free pastries. When the Burke family took over, the caravan wasn’t included in the sale, and the owner is now in the process of selling it to another business in Pooraka. But, Rick says his family’s business will become the sole supplier to the caravan, which will continue to stock exclusively gluten-free products.
There’s been a mixed response since the Burke family took over and the caravan was swept away, with Trezona Bakery’s existing customer base concerned that “some big corporate entity” had come to take over the small, family-run business they knew and loved.
“People don’t know the whole story: we came in and saved the business”, says Rick.
His message to the tight-knit gluten-free and coeliac communities: “We don’t want to change things too much. We want to make sure everyone’s still getting their food. We just need time to get everything settled down. To run something properly takes time and we don’t want to rush it and do it wrong.”
Currently, the team is working on expanding the range of cakes before moving on to a range of savoury pastries. They also plan to establish a second gluten-free-only kitchen in another location to increase their production.
Lon- term, Rick says they’d like to supply Trezona Bakery products to supermarkets, and they’re working on providing a dedicated retail space stocked with gluten-free products for their customers.
WHAT: Trezona Gluten Free Bakery
WHEN: Monday to Friday, 7:30am- 2:30pm, Saturday, 8:30am – 2:30pm.
WHERE: 1 Midera Ave, Edwardstown, SA 5039
For more information, click here.
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