When Janelle and Tom Pearce decided to open a bakery in Longreach in 2017, their friends and family were divided. “Half thought we were brave and half thought we were mad,” Janelle laughs. “We were city people, no baking background, moving to outback Queensland during a drought.”
Nine years on, The Grazing Loaf has become something few small businesses ever achieve: a genuine community institution. With a loyal customer base spanning the town’s 3,000 residents and the thousands of tourists who pass through Longreach each year, the bakery employs six full-time and four part-time staff.
Building a Business Around Community
The Pearces credit much of their success to a deliberate decision to make the bakery a gathering place rather than just a transaction point. “We put in longer tables and encouraged people to sit with strangers,” says Tom. “In a town like this, you can’t afford to be a faceless business.”
The bakery hosts a weekly free coffee morning for seniors, supplies the local hospital at cost, and has been a consistent supporter of the Longreach Show Society’s annual fair.
The SBTC Connection
Janelle joined SBTC in their second year for the legal advice helpline during a staff dispute. “I stayed because of the people. The regional chapter events — finding other business owners who understood what it meant to run a business in regional Queensland was invaluable.”
The Grazing Loaf was named SBTC Regional Business of the Year in 2023. For more on regional small business in Australia, visit the Regional Australia Institute or the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman.