The 2022 Entrants

Emily Ballie is a baker in the third year of her apprenticeship at Bohemian Bakery in Christchurch.

She is involved in the production of breads and pastries at the bakery’s two locations. Originally from Hokitika on the West Coast where she started her apprenticeship at Stone Oven Bakery,

Emily moved to Christchurch to broaden her experience. She says working with people of many different nationalities at Bohemian Bakery is a good way to learn different styles and skills, and their diverse backgrounds are reflected in the bakery’s products.

Emily heard about the Young Bread Baker of the Year Competition from her NZ Bakels representative. “I told her that if she thought I could do it, put me in,” says Emily. spent time working on her theory knowledge and has done some practical training with the NZ Bakels tutor. She says she loves a challenge and learning new ways to do things. The competition is the perfect place for her to do just that.

Courtney Spence is a Bakery Manager at New World, Alexandra. She started work at the supermarket in 2015 as a gap year filler, and after moving into the bakery found a passion for baking that never left her, and so she stayed on. Courtney says she enjoys the variety of her job where no two days are the same, and the people she works with.

Managing a team of 10 and a young baby at home keeps Courtney very busy but she says she entered the competition anyway to get out of her comfort zone, learn additional skills and meet new people. She focused on doing extra study and research while preparing for the competition. She is keen to expose herself to other styles of baking in the future.

Te Anawa Bramwell has been an Assistant Baker at Kidds Cakes & Bakery in Christchurch for the last six month after three years in Nelson as a baker at a sourdough bread bakery. She says the move has allowed her to learn new skills and offers a good mix of bread and cake baking.

In the third year of her apprenticeship, Te Anawa says she loves a well-made loaf of bread and loves making products from scratch. She also bakes every day at home on top of her bakery job and sells cakes and donuts at farmers markets.

She started baking with her mother and grandmother at home from an early age and, being a creative person, loves trying to make different products. She entered the competition after seeing it advertised on LinkedIn and then hearing about it again from her manager. “I thought I should give it a go,” she says. She’s been focusing on her bookwork and taken a few practical lessons with her NZ Bakels tutor to prepare for the competition. “I’ve been getting more and more excited as they competition has come closer,” she says.

Trimandeep Singh is a Senior Bake at Daily Bread in Auckland.

He wasn’t put off baking by a few tough jobs early on and eventually got himself into Amano in Auckland where he learned everything he could from the bakers there, eventually becoming a Senior Baker. “Amano was the first bakery I saw in New Zealand when I moved here from India.”

He learned lot from a previous competition winner in that time, but his love for bread and baking started much earlier when at the age of 14 he saw a family member baking and was intrigued with the bread baking process. “I wanted to know how to bake bread but I didn’t know anything about yeast or measuring ingredients so my first efforts were bad.”

Trimandeep gained a Diploma in Bread Baking and Pastry in 2020 and now handles the night team at Daily Bread. He saw a previous entrant taking part in the competition a few years ago and decided he wanted to enter. He says he most enjoys the challenge of trying to make perfect bread every day. “Good bread makes me happy!”

Mike Malloy has been a Production Manager at Quality Bakers in Auckland for the past year.

With ten years’ experience in the baking industry as a Team Leader and working in a variety of plant bakeries, he is well positioned to carry out the quality control and problem solving required in his current role. He also enjoys new product development and looking at potential new markets. “I’d like to do more research and development work one day,” says Mike.

He entered the competition to challenge himself to keep his hand in with practical baking skills and because he sees value in networking with the other contestants. He heard about the competition from a previous entrant who told that it has opened many doors for him and helped in his career progression. Mike says he enjoys the pressure of a challenge and likes to keep learning.

Nick (Narinderpal) Grewal has been a baker at Quality bakers in Auckland since 2018. He completed an apprenticeship in Plant Bakery specialising in bread and is now involved in the production of bread and bread rolls.

Prior to his role at Quality Bakers, he worked as a craft baker for the three years baking products from scratch. He says working with people of all nationalities gave him the opportunity to see how they did things and learn from them. He now enjoys the challenge of trialling new recipes and managing the changes to recipe formulations to meet flour specifications. But most of all he loves seeing customers in supermarkets buying products that he is responsible for baking and thinking, “I made that!”

Nick heard about the competition as an apprentice and has seen the opportunities it has afforded other people. His combination of craft and plant baking skills will stand him in good stead as he takes part this year.