Eye on Small Business: Wildcraft Baking Company, Irvington

Brittany Vellucci and Michael Ridd – owners of the Wildcraft Baking Co. in Irvington’s Bridge Street Properties, overlooking the Hudson — met while studying at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. She is from Westchester County; he is from Fairfax, Virginia. Entrepreneurship was a shared interest of theirs from the very beginning and every step they took after the CIA, they recently told the Westfair Business Journal, was toward the goal of having their own business.

Of course, there is history.

Vellucci’s father, Dominic, was a food chemist for 40 years, and she knew from an early age that this was the career path she was destined for. She started working in the family’s local bakery when she was 13 years old, alongside her two older sisters, packing chocolates and decorating cupcakes.

When she was diagnosed with a gluten allergy in 2009 while at the CIA, she remembered feeling devastated. “How could a pastry chef avoid gluten?” she asked herself. “Well, it was possible, and the most wildly delicious recipes were the result.”

Fast-forward 13 years and the couple’s two-year-old bakery and coffee shop is a gluten-free hit, with a gold Sofi award from the Specialty Food Association for their Roots and Seeds Granola – made, like everything else, on the premises.

Indeed, granola is a signature item and a pillar of the business. The bakery has three other flavors as well – Original Oat, Beet and Buckwheat and Cocoa Quinoa. Starting in October, the holiday granola, Sweet Potato and Pecan, will join the roll call.

At the counter, mixed berry-buckwheat scones, carrot crumb cakes and espresso brownies “have a die-hard following,” and the couple recently started making a chickpea focaccia in house, “which is a sell-out every day.” From the extensive beverage list, iced London Fog latte, house-made chai and iced cappuccinos are the top sellers.

Food markets continue to be a significant part of the business.

“It’s how we launched the company (in 2018), and it’s been a tremendous resource and support,” said Vellucci. “Whenever we are in development of a new product, we always start by sampling to our market customers.” She added that customer feedback being priceless, she and Ridd loved including their customers in their kitchen conversations.

This year, they are rotating between four markets – Hastings, Irvington, Tarrytown and Chappaqua. Next year, they plan on being in significantly more.  They also plan to launch online wholesale before the start of fall.

Visitors to the retail shop, meanwhile, run the gamut, the couple said, from individuals seeking high-quality gluten-free products to others picking up a quick cup of (quality) coffee on their way to the train. They also acknowledged their “Bridge Street regulars: “We’re so, so lucky and grateful to have the best neighbors and patrons.”

The team comprises seven, including Vellucci and Ridd themselves. “Our team is the most important part of the business,” said Vellucci, going on to quote management consultant Peter Drucker. “‘Culture eats strategy for breakfast,’ he said – so we’ve been very slow and diligent about who joins us and when.”

For the baking duo, it’s a dictum that is clearly paying off.