The journey has been sweet for the Guyra Country Fresh Hot Bread Shop owner, Colin Stanley who said he has been there since his family took over the business in 1987.

“I’ve been the owner for about 10 years but I have been working here before that while my brother owned the bakery,” he said.

Next year Mr Stanley and his wife will celebrate 30 years of having the bakery in the family and said he has enjoyed every minute.

“Surprisingly I enjoy the hours.

“My day starts at 12:30am and I finish in the early morning at about 8am.

“We get a lot of travellers that call-in because we have a pretty good name… people say they can’t go past the pies,” Mr Stanley said.

From small beginnings, the shop has expanded into what was once a solicitors office and continues to improve, according to Mr Stanley. 

“We’re in the process of slowly updating the building.

“When we bought it, it was half the size it is now and probably in the last 10-years it has doubled in size.

“I asked if I could have the other side where the solicitors were and they moved to a different premises,” he said.

Mr Stanley said the recipe to success is sticking to the old fashion way.

“Basically everything we do here is from scratch.

“We make it all and bake it all and we only get in the odd frozen thing,” he said.

”We employ four boys… four qualified bakers and eight shop assistants.

“Bronte, my daughter, does some part time work here too.

“She gave up soccer to work and fill-in on school holidays.

“My son Kade comes in too and does some baking,” he said.

Shop assistant Heather Moran also works at the bakery and said she has enjoyed testing out the sweets since she started working there over a year ago.

“I like the food… also it’s a very busy place and you don’t stop all day,” Ms Moran said.