Alyssa Winzinowich is a Winnipeg-based baker and entrepreneur—and one of the co-founders behind Prairie Wolf Bakery, a micro-bakery rooted in Manitoba soil. Co-owned with her sister Natasha, the business specializes in handcrafted sourdough breads and seasonal baked goods made with locally sourced ingredients, many of which are grown by the sisters themselves on their homestead.
What is your business called and what does it do?
Our business is called Prairie Wolf Bakery. We’re a sister-owned micro bakery that specializes in sourdough goods and uses local Manitoba ingredients. We grow a lot of it ourselves on our homestead and source from other local producers and farmers. This allows us to change up our menu as the seasons progress and ingredients become abundant and available, always ensuring the freshest, quality baked goods.
What made you want to do this work?
I grew up with baking as a hobby. In my early 20s, I got the opportunity to travel to Germany and study at the German National Bakers Academy and fell in love with their process.
My sister Natasha (and co-founder) is an avid horticulturist and talented artist. It felt natural to combine our efforts in this way. I often tell people that we’re the perfect team – I can make it taste good, and she makes it look beautiful!
What problem did you want to solve with the business?
Working in the food industry for 10 years has shown me that there is often a disconnect from sustainability, food waste, nutrition and using local ingredients. Our bakery repurposes every product to reduce waste and composts what is left into our soil. We want to create something local and unique that showcases the vast goods that Manitoba is so plentiful of. Growing our own ingredients challenges us to use everything in creative ways. Each of our products has a benefit to your body or the Earth, and it’s something we’re really proud of.
Who are your clientele/demographics?
We’ve found our niche at farmers’ markets all across Winnipeg and parts of eastern Manitoba. We have a wide range of customers, but we know that many of them have a love for supporting local and buying food that makes them feel good.
How does your business make money? How does it work?
We sell at multiple weekly outdoor farmers’ markets from May to October. We attend trade shows and pop-up events and have an online delivery/pickup service year-round. It’s different from having a brick and mortar shop – we bake and package every product, pack up our van, drive to the market, set up our booth to look interesting and do our best to sell everything before the market is over!
Where in the city can we find your profession?
You can find us at a lot of different farmers’ markets all over Winnipeg! We offer a delivery service that delivers city-wide and up to about 50km outside of Winnipeg. We always update our website and social media for where we’ll be next.
What is the best question a prospective customer could ask a member of your profession when comparing services? Give the answer as well.
There are many, many incredible bakeries all over Manitoba. Everyone has their own personal tastes, so in our case, I would ask these two questions –
1) How long do you ferment your sourdough? This is something we get a lot. Fermentation time will affect how “sour” or tangy the final product will taste. There are other factors for taste of course, but it’s a good way to start the comparison. We offer a variety of breads with different fermentation times to cater to those different tastes.
2) Where do you source your ingredients? We love to talk about our farm and our friends’ farms to customers. We love knowing where our food comes from, knowing it hasn’t travelled far and isn’t frozen or solely brought in on a truck. Keeping flavour and nutrients high, and our carbon footprint low, is extremely important to us.
What is the best part about what you do? What is the worst part?
We’ve both had a lot of fun with this – creating flavour combinations that aren’t as common, finding new ways to safely deter deer from eating our herbs, and meeting so many wonderful local business owners who have helped us grow. Selfishly, we’ve been best friends for a long time (and sisters even longer), and being able to spend time together and build this business together has been incredible.
Perhaps the only downside is how long things can take sometimes. From prepping, baking, packaging, selling, watering crops, and harvesting. There aren’t any shortcuts, and not enough hours in the day sometimes! We treasure sleep and rest whenever we can get it.
What is your favourite joke about your own profession?
Customers always ask, “How do you make everything taste so good?” I tell them it’s 10% recipe and 90% not burning it.
Where can we follow you?
You can follow us on Instagram and Facebook. We also have a website with our menu and all of the locations where you can find us.
PAY IT FORWARD: What is another local business that you love?
We have to give a shout-out to Shrugging Doctor Beverage Company. They also have a farm/vineyard where they grow their own ingredients and make so many delicious wines. They have helped and supported us immensely on this journey!
