How The Bakehouse Portland Grew From a Small Kitchen to a Full-Scale Sourdough Bakery With Vanrooy
The Bakehouse Portland is owned by Kim Hol, a self-taught baker who learned her craft from YouTube and Instagram.
Industry: Artisan Bakery
Location: Portland, Victoria
Vanrooy Equipment Used: Salva Kwik Co KL4, Salva Iverpan Rack Roll In, Escher M80P Spiral Mixer, Rhima Dishwasher, Tekno Stamap Industria Smart 6514 Sheeter
What started as a passion quickly turned into one of Portland’s most loved bakeries, known for naturally leavened sourdough, fruit loaves, baguettes, croissants, tarts and whatever is trending in baking right now.
Kim is always experimenting and evolving her products. The Bakehouse Portland menu changes regularly based on global trends, seasonal ingredients and what excites her creatively. She is deeply involved in the baking community and often volunteers her time at BAA tradeshows and with Grainz, always learning and sharing knowledge with other bakers.
Back in 2015, Kim was operating out of a small commercial kitchen in the back of a function centre in Portland. Vanrooy CEO, David Van Rooy, completed a site inspection in December that year and we have watched her grow ever since.
At the time, space was tight, production was limited and everything had to be done manually. Kim was working long hours just to keep up with demand for The Bakehouse Sourdough Portland and there was only so much she could physically produce in a day.
As her reputation grew, so did her customer base. Locals loved her bread and visitors to Portland quickly discovered her through word of mouth and Instagram @sourdoughportland. The challenge was clear: she needed to scale without losing the quality and hands-on feel that made her bakery special.
Building a Bakery That Could Grow With Her
Kim started with small-footprint equipment and upgraded gradually as her business expanded. Over the years, we worked closely with her to build a setup that could handle real production while still allowing her to stay creative and flexible.
Her current bakery now includes:
- Salva Kwik Co Double 5 Tray Convection Oven for consistent, high-quality baking of sourdough and artisan loaves.
- Salva Iverpan Rack Roll In to improve workflow and manage larger volumes.
- Salva 2-Deck NXE Oven to bake various products at the same time.
- Escher M80P Spiral Mixer for reliable dough mixing across multiple batches.
- Tekno Stamap Industrial Smart 6514 Sheeter to speed up pastry production.
- Rhima Dishwasher to keep cleaning fast and stress-free during busy days.
Kim has had multiple visits from our Bakery Specialist and Service Techs. She wanted to understand her equipment inside and out, so we trained her to service and maintain it herself. That suited her perfectly, as she is always keen to learn new skills and stay hands-on with every part of her bakery.
In 2023, we invited Kim to the IBA tradeshow in Spain and took her to visit Salva’s facilities. She still talks about how passionate the team were and how much care they put into their equipment and people. That experience only reinforced her confidence in the equipment she was using every day.
During this trip, Kim also learned how to make Basque cheesecake during a masterclass held at Salva with the San Sebastián master of Basque cheesecake himself. She has made this with great success back in her bakery, and some would say it’s even better than the original!
Where is The Bakehouse Portland Now?
Today, The Bakehouse Portland operates from a purpose-built bakery in the space Kim purchased next door to the original function centre. The transformation has been massive.
Since upgrading her production setup, Kim now has the ability to produce significantly higher volumes of sourdough without longer workdays, has faster pastry production thanks to automated sheeting, has more consistent quality across the entire Bakehouse Portland menu and a smoother workflow from mixing to baking to cleaning.
Most importantly, she has built a business that supports her passion rather than burning her out. She can now spend more time developing new products, supporting other bakers and staying connected to the baking community she loves so much.
Kim’s bakery has become a destination in its own right. Locals rely on her daily bread and visitors make it a must-stop when passing through Portland.
