Stratford bakery rises above competition to win Best Seeded Sourdough at national awards ceremony

A STRATFORD bakery has risen above the competition to create an award-winning sourdough bread.

MOR Bakery in Bell Court took the Seeded Sourdough title at the British Baker Awards 2025. The bakery, owned by David Pearson, opened in March 2020.

“It’s a nice recognition for a loaf that’s been on the shelf since we opened,” David told the Herald.

Award winning bread is no mean feat, and David explained what it takes to make a winning loaf.

He said: “You had to enter your own bread. There's multiple categories like plain sourdough and we entered the seeded sourdough contest. I think there were nine judges from across the industry.

“My team will tell you that I’m probably the most annoying head baker, because you constantly have to tweak. We use heritage flour, which was milled very recently from our supplier at Bruin Farms in Oxfordshire.

“Our flour is quite lively. It's quite difficult, more difficult to work with compared to your supermarket, standard white flour that's been on the shelf for a year or so. I've been tweaking the recipe for about five years.”

David added: “No day is ever the same in the bakery, especially as we’ve had a pretty hot March and April. It’s been difficult to work in the bakery, especially at the numbers we’re now doing. It’s been constant changes to get the best loaf that we can.”