Fall has come, marking the near-end of the calendar year at Delta. As the days get shorter and shorter, several major holidays are on the horizon.
In the short time students have left at Delta before winter break, the transition out of fall brought festivity to campus. For the holidays, the Artisan Bakery at Delta hosted Thanksgiving sales where customers were able to pre-order a variety of baked goods. On Nov. 22, the Artisan Bakery students gathered in the Danner Hall from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to deliver customer purchases.
“I’m originally from Canada, so I’m used to like a White Christmas. So when I moved here … I missed the snow, but coming to Delta, what I noticed was the sense of community and working together,” said Mariah Parke, the manager of the Artisan Bakery. “I made a lot of friends here, and I think over the holidays, it’s when we work together towards making these pastries and stuff, it just gives you a sense of community.”
Patrons picked up their pre-ordered goods in bags at one of the three stations set up at Danner Hall, alphabetically sorting customer service by the buyer’s first name. The Artisan Bakery predicted about 200 orders for the sales, but the turnout exceeded expectations at around 400 orders.
“[The] administrators always talk about how can we keep people on campus, how we can make the student experience better, well, I just think that having good-quality food that everyone can afford so that they don’t have to leave campus or they don’t have to pack a lunch,” said Robert Halabicky, culinary arts professor at Delta and director of the Artisan Bakery. “Things like that, so I think it helps keep people on the campus … go out and get a nice cookie or something like that or a coffee … something that everyone enjoys so I think it’s great for campus community really. That’s one of the best things I think … about the Artisan Bakery is that it’s such a good aspect for everyone here on campus.”
An assortment of baked goods were available for sale at the Artisan Bakery, including but not limited to: ham and cheese croissants, specialty bread loaves, focaccia and notably pies; ranging from seasonal flavors such as pumpkin, sweet potato, pecan and Dutch apple. The ham and cheese croissant is the Artisan Bakery’s bestselling product, earning the praise of many customers.
“I didn’t know about the Artisan Bakery at all and that was a really cool surprise, so I’m excited to find out what other things they have planned,” said Jennie Liske, a student at Delta.
While baked goods have been sold at Delta for more than a decade now, holiday sales had originally been canceled since the COVID-19 pandemic. The November pre-orders mark the return of holiday-themed bakery sales on Delta’s campus.
“We are so grateful for it. We love it, we appreciate it and we appreciate the students for all the hard work and my belly loves them for it. Ham and cheese croissants should be a forever thing. Don’t ever take those off the menu. Or the carrot cake,” said Tina Leal, a resource specialist at Delta’s Dreamers’ Success Center.
For this year’s sale, the Artisan Bakery swapped to pre-order-only for better efficiency of production. In previous years, sales could be bought directly and some buyers left their orders abandoned as a result.
Since the Artisan Bakery’s years of operation, the workflow process has adapted to better improve the program overall. The Artisan Bakery has planned to expand business into next year.
“When I did Artisan Bakery as a student last year, we just kinda had a counter and we were selling all our foods there. Now we actually have a full operation and we’ve been expanding ever since, and we’re slowly working towards getting a social platform but that’s probably not gonna be in effect until maybe next year,” Parke said.
If the Artisan Bakery’s plans go as scheduled, Delta can expect cookies, chocolates and candies for Christmas. Next year, chocolate chip strawberries for Valentine’s Day and special goods for Halloween. 2024 will be a busy year for the Artisan Bakery.