Don’s Bakery has been a Muskoka tradition for decades. The Bala, Ont. shop is a hive of activity every spring and summer weekend beginning on Mother’s Day and stretching to Labour Day as cottagers descend en masse to stock up on their famous scones, butter tarts, cookies and pot pies.
Bryan Foster grew up cottaging in the area, same as his parents, and his grandparents before that. He and his wife Jana bought the bakery in 2010 and added a production bakery in Barrie a few years back to allow for a year-round operation to facilitate wholesale orders and other business.
Now, with COVID-19 measures impacting all facets of life in Ontario, the Fosters have decided to create what they are calling a “safe food initiative,” by preparing food boxes with items from Don’s such as scones, butter tarts, cinnamon buns, and make-your-own items as well as the bakery’s suppliers of produce, meat, and dairy.
The boxes, which are all custom created via an online order form, are available at the Barrie location as well as for pickup at the Foster’s North York home.
“We have elderly people in the community and there were questions about how to get food,” said Foster. “So we came up with the idea of pooling and pulling our different suppliers together to create these boxes.”
Foster said they will also be adding a food box drop in Muskoka in the near future at the store in Bala.
“It feels good to help out,” said Foster, who is even planning on hand-delivering a few boxes to customers in wheelchairs who can’t make it out of the house.
“A lot of businesses including our own are suffering from what is happening now and from the uncertainty, and our suppliers also supply a lot of local restaurants and they aren’t buying,” he explained. “So this opens up a new avenue for them too, and helps them pay their bills.”
On pickup day, the times are staggered and each customer is called when their box is ready to maintain social distance, according to Foster.
Currently, there are two pick-ups per week and special arrangements will soon be ironed out for next week before the holidays.
Foster said they are working towards opening Don’s Bakery in Bala as per usual on Mother’s Day weekend, but with all new procedures in place to keep customers and staff safe. But, he also understands that things are changing by the day.