Walking into Fig and Bean in Eugene, Oregon, you would be excused for thinking this is just another traditional bread bakery. The classic sights and tempting smells are there, but there’s a catch. 23-year-old Finn Mifsud, a recent graduate of the University of Oregon and owner of the establishment, serves only gluten-free goods, with a focus on artisan-style bread.
“People come in to buy bread and say with surprise, ‘I didn’t know this was gluten-free,’” remarks Mifsud. “My goal was to make it not feel or taste like a compromise. I get a lot of feedback [from customers] that I have done that.”
Fig and Bean started as a college project, but soon evolved into a real-life, fully-fledged bakery. Finn was a philosophy and French major, but minored in entrepreneurship. She came up with the bakery idea for a project assigned in one of her first business courses, but after that, the idea of turning her passion into a career followed her. “I already bake often on the side, so why not pursue this,” recalls the young baker.
With her new business plan in tow, Mifsud registered her bakery as an LLC and entered the Oregon Innovation Challenge – a 12 week long university competition supporting new business ventures. To Finn’s surprise, after her final pitch to the judges, Fig and Bean Bakery won a grant of $8,500, giving her the confidence and initial funding she needed to pursue the business full-time.
For people with Celiac disease or severe gluten intolerance, bread is off-limits and alternatives are often disappointing. Finn grew up with a love for baking, and with a gluten-intolerant mother, baking gluten-free treats just came naturally. However, truly good gluten-free bread is hard to come by, and she became determined to change that.
“I realized that people didn’t seem to have success with store-bought gluten-free bread flour, so I started playing with different kinds of flours and blends. I would try one, then switch out one of the flours for a different gluten-free flour, and I just kept tweaking it each time. My first loaf… it was totally edible,” Mifsud says with a wry smile.
After receiving her grant money, and with some help from family, Finn was able to obtain a lease on a centrally-located storefront in Eugene. The storefront was previously a cookie shop, and she was able to purchase a lot of the necessary equipment from the shop owner. One piece of equipment she didn’t have, and likely the most important, was a bread oven.
With a commercial-scale bakery serving as her inspiration, Mifsud initially had her eye on larger deck ovens. “It’s scary to be investing upwards of $30,000 to give something a go,” Finn shared, expressing her concerns about such a large initial investment. However, after being introduced to the Simply Bread Oven, she realized that it had all of the features she needed, and could handle the volume of bread she was initially estimating for production, all with a much smaller price tag.
The smaller size of the Simply Bread Oven proved to also be a strategic choice for Finn. Her bakery’s vent hood could fit two Simply Bread ovens, allowing her to reduce her upfront costs while still leaving room for expansion over time.
“It’s $8,500, way more doable than one of these $25,000 or $30,000 options,” states Mifsud. “And there’s room for two, which means when you’re ready to increase production, buying a second one is still less expensive than having bought one large one.”
Today, Fig and Bean’s bread has found fans beyond the gluten-free community, with customers of all dietary preferences appreciating its quality. Finn uses organic, non-GMO ingredients, sourced locally or regionally when available, and avoids preservatives and fillers. She sought to keep bread as it has always been, simple.
In addition to being open to the public every Saturday, the bakery has established wholesale partnerships with local grocers, eateries, and coffee shops, and Finn just ordered her second oven to keep up with demand. Looking ahead, Finn plans to sell other locally crafted products and have a monthly rotation of featured art made by Eugene creatives. “It’ll be exciting to see where this goes,” says Finn, “I really want Fig & Bean Bakery to become a local business that’s known and loved, Eugene is home and I want to add value to my community”.
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