The supermarket won a total of five awards in the professional baking competition, including Best Ciabatta, Best Sourdough, Overall Champion Product, Best Apprentice, and Australia’s Best Croissant.
Adelaide’s Finest operate the only working pâtisserie inside a supermarket in the world.
These awards signify the culmination of a four-year journey for the pâtisserie that began during the COVID-19 pandemic.
During this difficult time, Adelaide’s Finest Director, Spero Chapley employed highly skilled pâtissiers who had lost their jobs in the widespread hospitality lockdowns. Adelaide’s Finest Pâtisserie team now numbers nine full time employees (plus three TAFE students) and is led by Huy Nguyen, formerly of Le Cordon Bleu cooking school.
These awards recognise the hard work of the team who often start their day at 3:00AM inside the glass cube at the front of the Pasadena store.
Mr Chapley says, “the glass kitchen our patisserie team works from lets our customers see the incredible work that goes into these amazing creations. This brings an energy and multisensory dimension to the store experience, part of our ambition to make every visit new and exciting.”
Adding to this, Mr Chapley said, “the Patisserie is a fine example of how we have been operating for over 70 years – taking a risk on something new, pushing the boundaries of retail, employing and training staff in an effort to showcase the best South Australia has to offer”.
Adelaide’s Finest apprentice Christie-Lee Roberts won Best Apprentice Baker, and her pear Danish was crowned Champion Product of The Show beating every single other professional entry.
