Couple's bread shop goes with the grain

SR/SE/VIEW--Owners of Great Harvest Bread Company Marcus Stewart and Tina Stewart show the many types of bread that they offer in their store. Thursday, February 17,2005--View photo by shelly donahue

Marcus and Tina Stewart practice what they preach. As owners of the Great Harvest Bread Co. franchise at 4800 E. Bonanza Road, they said they feel good about offering their product to the public because they serve it at home to their three children.

The couple bought the location about seven months ago and continue to increase their business. While Marcus can be found grinding wheat at 3 a.m. six days a week, his wife handles the decor and bookkeeping.

"I managed two stores in Utah and really enjoyed the business," Marcus said. "It's been around since the 1970s and it's what we know."

Marcus worked for Great Harvest Bread Co. in Utah since 1993. He was so confident about the product, he invested in it long term, both personally and professionally. The USDA confirmed what he already knew. Its most recent dietary guidelines suggest three servings a day of whole grains is an important part of a healthy lifestyle. Whole grains are digested slower than other types of processed grains. Instead of the blood sugar spike a person receives from a simple carbohydrate, whole grains deliver a slower release of energy for several hours longer.

Even if the nutritious benefits aren't important to some people, the taste is. Customers greet the couple by name when they come in, and many make the shop a regular stop on their way home.

"It's not enhanced at all. It's all natural," Tina said. "And it just tastes good."

The difference between whole grain breads produced at Great Harvest Bread Co. and much of the bread people find at the grocery store is the length of time before it reaches the consumer. Even a bread labeled as "whole grain" is required to have only 51 percent of its flour from actual whole grains. But at Great Harvest, 90 percent of the breads sold are made from total whole grains, which also only stay active for about 10 days after it's milled before its nutrients start to become depleted. Since the store's bread leaves the shelves most of the time within hours or a day after it's baked, it retains its nutritional value.

"Usually, if you buy it at the grocery store, by the time it gets to you, it's dead," Tina said.

Another advantage of the bread served at her bread shop is that there are about five basic ingredients to most of the couple's products.

"I can actually pronounce what's in it," Tina said. "As a mom, I can pick up a loaf and know exactly what I'm feeding my children and myself."

In addition to the breads -- which vary from day to day and are offered in flavors such as Apple Crumble, Pumpkin Spice and Cheddar Garlic -- Great Harvest sells jams, cookie and pancake mix, all made from the same pure ingredients as the bread. Weekday lunch hours are packed with people who enjoy the store's fresh sandwiches.

"We have jams, syrups that come from a farm in Utah," Marcus said.

Each day, students from a nearby school pile into the shop for a free piece of bread. The couple offers everyone who enters the place a free slice each time they visit. Tina said the samples are a way to promote the products.

Great Harvest Bread Co. is open 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday.