How Penny for Pound Scaled to Melbourne’s Favourite Pastry Destination With Vanrooy Machinery
Penny for Pound has become one of Melbourne’s most beloved pastry destinations — a bakery built on craft, creativity and an uncompromising approach to the croissant.
Founded by pastry chef Matilda Smith and her partner Ben Wilson, it has grown from a wholesale operation run out of a borrowed kitchen into a multi-location business with a devoted following across Richmond, Camberwell and Moorabbin.
Vanrooy Machinery is proud to supply the equipment that keeps those buttery, flaky layers coming, day after day.
Industry: Artisan Bakery, Patisserie and Café
Location: Richmond, Camberwell and Moorabbin, Victoria
Their Vanrooy Equipment:
Salva Sirocco Rack Oven, Salva NXDP 4 Deck Oven, Escher M120P Spiral Mixer, Escher MR 240kg Spiral Mixer, Stoppil SP200 Water Chiller, Stoppil S2150AMT Classic Water Meter, Salva Bread Slicer, Fortuna Automatic Bun Divider Rounder, Salva KL9 Kwik Co Oven, Escher PMD Spiral Mixer, Escher Bowl Tipper, Bralyx 6.0 Depositor, Salva Iverpan Retarder Prover, Ketno Stamap 6514 and 614 Dough Sheeters
Matilda Smith and Ben Wilson’s story is one of patience, persistence and a willingness to let the business find its own shape. The pair met while working in hospitality in Sydney before moving to Melbourne with a shared dream of opening their own place. What they didn’t expect was that the universe would have a different timeline in mind.
Rather than opening a shopfront straight away, they found themselves running a wholesale operation from a borrowed kitchen — seven days a week, for two years — with second-hand equipment, long hours and a small mixer that meant every product had to be made in two or three batches a day. It felt like a setback at the time. Looking back, Matilda considers it one of the best things that could have happened.
By the time they opened their doors on Bridge Road, Richmond in 2018, they knew their product, their process and their customers far better than they would have on day one. That foundation of hard-won experience is part of what makes Penny for Pound the business it is today.
Matilda heads up the kitchen and the creative side of things, while Ben brings a business degree and a background in restaurant management to the other side of the operation. It is a divide-and-conquer approach that Matilda credits as central to their success — along with a willingness to stay humble and start small.
Three Locations and a Loyal Following
From that first little shopfront in Richmond, Penny for Pound has grown into something much larger — and managed to hold onto everything that made it special along the way.
The Richmond original, tucked down a side street off Bridge Road, remains the heart of what the brand is about: hot, flaky croissants baked fresh every half hour, a cabinet of intricate handcrafted cakes and tarts, and a team of passionate pastry makers who care deeply about the result. It is the kind of place that becomes a weekend ritual.
The Camberwell location occupies a distinctive flatiron building on a corner, painted in the bakery’s signature sage green and set up inside a former old-school corner shop. Cosy and light-filled with room for twenty.
Then there is Moorabbin — the flagship. Set within the Morris Moor precinct and spanning 100 square metres, it is a full-service café experience with two production kitchens, 130 seats and a dine-in menu to go alongside the pastry and bread offering. Floor-to-ceiling glass surrounds the space, terrazzo tiles and a sprawling oak island anchor the interior, and the open kitchen lets guests watch the bakers at work — lining up croissants, filling lemon-curd cruffins, icing twice-baked chocolate cakes before stacking them into the oak-finished glass cabinet at the front.
Croissants here are baked up to four times a day. The viennoiserie menu shifts constantly, with past highlights including a twice-baked Bounty croissant, a Golden Gaytime croissant, a ricotta and honey cruffin with cannoli wafer, and a Basque cheesecake and strawberry confit knot. Savoury options, loaves, cakes and brunch staples round out a menu that gives customers every reason to stay a little longer.
Vanrooy has been part of the Penny for Pound journey since 2016. The relationship began with a cold call from James Stone — and when Ben rang back the very same day, the partnership was essentially set in motion from that moment. At the time, they were working out of what was, at that point, the smallest production space Vanrooy had ever fitted out — around 45 square metres. They came to us off the back of our reputation and our commitment to servicing, and within days of that first conversation, they had purchased a set of Salva Retarder Provers to replace the aging equipment they had on hand. From there, the relationship grew, adding a Salva Kwik-Co Oven and a Tekno Stamap Dough Sheeter to the setup as production demands increased.
The move to Morris Moor marked a defining moment — not just for Penny for Pound, but for what the Vanrooy partnership could look like at scale. Vanrooy was involved in designing the entire flagship space from the ground up, and with growth firmly in mind, the build was future-proofed from day one. Extra services were installed into the roof and walls during the initial plans, ensuring that as Penny for Pound continues to grow, the infrastructure is already in place to expand their equipment in stages — without the disruption of having to retrofit or rebuild. Everything has been designed so that it can be multiplied as the business scales, stage by stage, on their terms.
Equipment That Grows With You
Scaling a bakery from a dark kitchen with second-hand equipment to a three-location operation with two production kitchens is no small feat. It requires not just the right team, but the right equipment — tools that can handle serious volume without sacrificing the quality and consistency that built the reputation in the first place.
At Penny for Pound, that means a full suite of Vanrooy machinery across the production setup. Two Escher spiral mixers — the M120P and the MR 240kg — handle dough at different scales, joined by the Escher PMD 160 and an Escher Bowl Tipper to further support the mixing and handling process at volume. The entire mixing setup is supported by the Stoppil SP200 Water Chiller and Stoppil S2150AMT Classic Water Meter to ensure every mix begins in precisely the right conditions.
Portioning and shaping is handled with equal precision. The Fortuna Automatic Bun Divider Rounder keeps portioning consistent across the full range, while the Bralyx 6.0 BIG MKR Depositor adds further versatility to the production line. Pastry work is supported by both the Tekno Stamap 6514 and 614 Dough Sheeters, ensuring every sheet is rolled to exactly the right thickness across different production runs and formats.
Proofing is managed through the Salva Iverpan Retarder Prover, giving the team precise control over fermentation and timing — critical when croissants are being baked up to four times a day. The Salva Bread Slicer keeps service efficient for the loaf offering, and baking is handled across the Salva Sirocco SK Rack Oven, Salva NXD 4 Deck Oven and Salva KL9 Kwik Co Oven — a combination that gives the team the flexibility to run the full menu in parallel without compromise.
For us at Vanrooy, Penny for Pound represents the best of what Melbourne’s baking scene has to offer. Matilda and Ben started with nothing but a good product and the determination to see it through. Watching that grow into what it is today, and being part of the equipment setup that supports it, is something we are genuinely proud of.
