I’m on a bit of a mission to remove all seed oils and ultra-processed foods (UPFs) from our baked goods at my family bakery.

Back in the 1960s (before I was born!), lard was the go-to fat—great for baking, readily available, and widely used. Then vegetarianism gained popularity, so we switched to palm oil, which, at the time, seemed like a perfect alternative due to its similarity to lard. However, concerns about deforestation and the impact on orangutans led us to adopt “sustainably sourced” palm oil—whatever that really means. It made us and our customers feel better, at least for a while.

As the movement to remove palm oil gathered pace, new products emerged, including palm-free baking fat, which is essentially a mix of rapeseed oil and emulsifiers. We transitioned a lot of our bread recipes that contained fat to this new product. Then I discovered Bitcoin, and from there, fell down the rabbit hole of learning about everything—including seed oils!

So now, we’re making the shift away from seed oil-based fats toward something better. We already use a lot of butter, but since we also cater to vegans, it’s not always a viable option. Olive oil, while great, can be too strong for certain breads. That led us to testing coconut fat, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how well it works—it doesn’t make everything taste like a piña colada! It’s a single-origin ingredient, and hopefully, a step up from rapeseed oil.

My hunch is that, in time, the market will shift again, and we’ll find ourselves back at lard. That might be a step too soon for our customers right now, but it’s where I see the best long-term solution.

The food industry is a fascinating place to work, but it has its fair share of bad practices that don’t always put customers first. At our bakery, we’ve always tried to go against the grain (pun intended!), and I’m incredibly grateful to the Bitcoiners who opened my eyes to better alternatives. I’ll do my best to steer our family business in this direction! 🫡