If ever there was a time for Melburnians to embrace the Swedish tradition of ‘Fika’, it’s now.
Fika in Swedish literally means ‘to have a coffee’ but in fact it’s a concept that’s harder to define. It’s about stopping work and taking time out for your family, friends and colleagues to relax and chat – often over a hot drink and something baked.
Since 2020, Inner West Swedish Baker has brought love and fika to Melbourne’s western suburbs by delivering traditional Swedish sweets, savouries and bread to local households.
The bakery was born out of a COVID pivot. Swedish-born Melburnian Geeti Persson used to own an event catering company, but her whole business closed abruptly on unlucky Friday 13 March 2020 as every event got cancelled, one after the other.
She quickly had to decide what to do next, particularly as she had international students working for her with no other financial support.
She decided to put her baking skills and her experience of owning a bakery back in Sweden to use. Over a weekend, she and her staff transformed one of her food trucks into a makeshift bakery and started promoting her wares through a quickly-constructed Facebook page.
Through social media, word about Inner West Swedish Baker spread throughout the inner west as locked down families found comfort in their homes with a kanelbullar (Swedish cinnamon bun) made with a recipe that Geeti once baked in a stone oven on an island off the coast of Sweden.
swedish bakery west footscray
Inner West Swedish Baker is a wonderful example of a successful business pivot. The business has outgrown its food truck bakery conversion and they moved into a solar-powered production bakery in Yarraville in late 2020.
You can now buy their wares:
- at farmers markets all around Melbourne on weekends (they have been granted accreditation from the Victorian Farmers’ Markets Association)
- Saturday and Sundays 8am-1pm at the weekend pop ups stalls outside their production bakery at 155 Hyde Street Yarraville; and
- from their standalone Swedish bakery Barkly Street. It’s open Tuesday to Sunday 7am-3pm or until sold out. The West Footscray bakery sells a full range of their bakery products, toasties, Small Batch coffee and a small menu of other Swedish items that you can eat in along the window-facing bench stools (when allowed) or take away.
You can also place an order for Yarraville pickup or delivery for $5 (minimum order $25) to the inner west suburbs of Brooklyn, Altona, Altona North, Seaholme, Laverton, Williamstown, Newport, Yarraville, Seddon, Spotswood, Footscray, Kingsville, West Footscray, Kensington, Ascot Vale, Flemington, Maribyrnong, Braybrook and Maidstone. Delivery or pickups occur Friday to Sunday, with orders to be in by midday two days prior.
Inner west swedish baker menu
There is much more to know about Swedish food than the offerings at IKEA! Inner West Swedish Baker provides a delicious introduction to the world of Swedish baked goods.
My family and I have sampled the menu (significantly) more than once and it does not disappoint.
There is bread, sweet and savoury baked goods – all handmade with love – and new recipes are created regularly. Do not miss the kanelbullar, chocolate brownies, gluten free lemon slice, and Swedish meatballs in pastry.
You can also order vegan ‘meatballs’ in pastry, savoury and sweet open pastries, garlic knots (gorgeous garlic breads perfect with soups or stews), traditional Swedish rye bread and artisan sourdough bread made with organic flour.
For seriously good value, the Inner West Swedish Baker offers packs, such as the Quarantine Pack.
Once you’ve procured something delicious, I’m sure Geeti would whole-heartedly encourage you to make time for fika.
