How Blanc Bakery Became Berwick’s Favourite Artisan Bakery with Vanrooy Machinery
Blanc Bakery didn’t set out to become a destination. James McMurray and Rachel Goldstein simply wanted a good loaf of bread in Berwick and simply couldn’t find one.
So they built the bakery themselves. Since opening in December 2021, Blanc has grown from a neighbourhood newcomer into the South East’s most celebrated artisan sourdough bakery — and now, with a new production facility in the works and Australia’s first Salva Solaris Deck Oven installed on site, Blanc are just getting started. Vanrooy Machinery is proud to be the equipment partner behind this next chapter.
Industry: Artisan Sourdough Bakery
Location: Berwick, Victoria 3806
Their Vanrooy Equipment: Merand Atoupain Square Divider, Spada SG42 Bread Slicer, Salva Kwik Co KL5/KL9 Convection Oven, Mockmill 200 Grain Mill, Salva Solaris Deck Oven
James McMurray started his career at a local bakery at the age of 15, completing his apprenticeship at Bakers Delight, and spending six years as head baker at the renowned Burnham Beeches in Sherbrooke. He knew exactly what quality bread looked like. What he couldn’t find was anywhere in Berwick making it.
That absence became the opportunity.
James and Rachel, recognising a genuine community need for fresh, organic, slow-risen bread, decided to fill the gap themselves. They found a space in Adams Lane, and in the space of two months — with James pulling down ceilings himself, floors being polished, doors widened to fit the ovens and walls freshly painted — Blanc Bakery opened its doors on December 21, 2021.
The response was immediate. Customers lined up along the street for the buttery, flaky croissants. Shelves sold out before the day was done. People came back calling it the best loaf of bread or croissants they had ever eaten. For James and Rachel — who were doing all of this while caring for their young daughter — it was exhausting, exhilarating and entirely worth it.
The name itself is a nod to family. Blanc is the French translation of White, the surname of James’s grandparents — people who, as Rachel has described it, have always been in their corner at every step of the way.
Slow Rise, Strong Roots
From the beginning, Blanc Bakery has been defined by an uncompromising approach to ingredients and process. Grains for Blanc’s flours are sourced from specialist growers Demeter and Tuerong, and freshly milled for the bakery in Monbulk. Organic flour, eggs from Officer, and coffee beans from the Mornington Peninsula all feature in their sourcing — a commitment to local provenance that runs through everything they do.
One ingredient, however, comes from further afield. The butter is imported from France — because, as Rachel has made clear, once you have used French butter, the product simply isn’t the same.
The menu reflects James’s classical training and his passion for bread that is genuinely good for you. Sourdough is the cornerstone — baked fresh daily and made with the kind of long fermentation that processed bread can never replicate. Their pain de campagne, a rustic French country loaf made with malty rye and spelt flours, has become a staple, as has the Red Zanzibar loaf, built on a fine, full-flavoured wheat flour developed in France specifically for bakers. Hand-rolled croissants, bagels, and a range of pastries round out an offering that draws visitors from near and far.
Building for What's Next for Blanc Bakery
Success at that level creates its own challenges. Demand has consistently outpaced what the Adams Lane kitchen can comfortably produce, and James and Rachel have always been clear that they want Blanc to grow without compromising the quality that made it what it is.
The solution is a new purpose-built production bakery at Enterprise Avenue, Berwick — currently being fitted out and readied to roll.
It is a significant step forward for the business, and one that Vanrooy Machinery’s Managing Director Benji Van Rooy has been closely involved in from the ground up, working alongside James to design a production environment built for serious volume and long-term growth.
At the heart of that new facility is a piece of equipment that marks a genuine milestone — not just for Blanc Bakery, but for the Australian baking industry.
Australia's First Salva Solaris, and a Warranty Like No Other
Blanc Bakery is home to the first Salva Solaris Deck Oven installed in Australia. It is a distinction that speaks to both James’s ambition and the trust he has placed in Vanrooy to supply equipment at the cutting edge of what is available in the market.
The Salva Solaris represents the next generation of deck oven technology — engineered for the kind of precision, consistency and performance that artisan bakers demand at scale. For a bakery built on sourdough, where the bake is everything, having an oven that delivers reliable, repeatable results across every session is not a detail. It is the foundation of the entire operation.
What makes this installation even more significant is the warranty that comes with it. Blanc Bakery’s Salva Solaris is backed by a five-year warranty — an exclusive arrangement through Vanrooy Machinery and the first of its kind available in Australia. No other bakery equipment warranty in the country matches it. For James and Rachel, investing in a production facility designed to serve Blanc Bakery for decades to come, that level of long-term assurance is exactly the kind of commitment that makes the decision easy.
Alongside the Solaris, the production setup is supported by the full suite of Vanrooy equipment already in operation at Blanc: the Merand Atoupain Square Divider for consistent portioning, the Salva Kwik Co KL5/KL9 Convection Oven for versatile baking across the range, and the Spada SG42 Bread Slicer to keep service moving efficiently.
For us at Vanrooy, this project is one we are enormously proud to be part of. James and Rachel have built something genuinely special in Berwick — a bakery with deep community roots, exceptional craft and a clear vision for what it can become. Supporting that vision, and helping to equip the next stage of their growth, is exactly what we are here to do.
