Renee Pater

Entrepreneurship in Uganda

“Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Kampala” – you’ll find this surprising quartet of cities on the brown-paper bags used by the bakery BBROOD (BBREAD). It seems strange that this proudly traditional, yet trendy Dutch bakery should have a shop in the Ugandan capital. But all is explained by owner Renee Pater’s ties with Kampala.

After studying business administration and briefly training as a baker in the US, Pater, her father and her friend Rin, set up a small bakery on the Zeedijk in Amsterdam in 2008. Their ambition was to bake only the very best bread. Sourdough made of wheat that comes from regions of France where no pesticides are used. The bread is baked using traditional methods in an open bakery at the back of the store. To get the perfect crust, the loaves are given two days to rise.

Almost overnight, the bread sold at BBROOD gained immense popularity, which led to new shops being opened in the Netherlands. The shop in Kampala was opened in 2011. Pater’s ties with Uganda began with the Bake For Life foundation, established in 1999 by a number of bakers’ wives, including Pater’s mother. The foundation builds bakeries in Africa, giving disabled people, orphans, former child soldiers, single mothers and school dropouts an opportunity to learn a trade.

Pater also teamed up with a local baker to open a BBROOD shop in the Ugandan capital, selling the same bread that proved so popular in the Netherlands. Although there were some teething problems, the shop is now also a success. BBROOD Kampala is also the first bakery in Uganda with ISO and HACCP certification.