 Tracy Unrau of Abby Mae's Gluten-Free Bakery has been a baker her whole life, but when her husband was diagnosed with celiac around 2016, and her daughter was also diagnosed just a few months later, she realized her traditional baking would have to change. She had always made everything from scratch, and her family's new celiac diagnosis wasn’t about to change that – but it did mean she needed to start experimenting. “When I first started baking and trying out [gluten-free] recipes that I found, they were mostly disgusting,” Tracy said with a laugh. “The [gluten-free] flour is so expensive, there were many trials, and I stopped baking altogether for six months because I felt like screw it, this is disgusting!” But Tracy didn’t let the roadblocks stop her. She sat down and did months and months of research, learning the chemistry behind different flours and how they blend and react to one another. Tracy carried out endless web searches, blogs, articles, and hundreds of notes while trying mixtures by trial and error in an exhaustive effort to find the right balance. “I had pages upon pages of notes,” Tracy explained. “To see how this batch turned out or how this changed, and what properties each flour and blend has. Different flours have varying protein and starch, and for baking, they need to be structured in a certain way. It’s very fancy, very chemistry heavy – baking is a science”. After months of experimenting, researching, trial and error, Tracy put together a blend that worked very well, and it made an indescribable difference. “Things started turning out, and I thought, okay, now I can do this,” said Tracy. “I don’t have to throw out the things that I baked because they’re awful; they aren’t dry anymore, and they taste like good bread”. Despite the massive challenge that stood in front of her, and the seemingly never-ending research, notes, and discarded baked goods, Tracy never gave up. She now had delicious gluten-free substitutes to feed her family – but that was just the start of her journey. While baking away in her kitchen all day, Tracy thought she might as well sell some of her products and get something out of all the hours, work, and research she had done. Her brother, Roger, owner and operator of Our Fields alongside his wife Romina, had been a vendor at the Horton Farmers' Market for a while, and recommended the market for her to try vending at. The Small Business Enterprise Centre (SBEC) also encouraged Tracy to apply as a vendor to Horton, and a bonus was that the market wasn’t too far from Tracy’s home, where she did all her baking by herself, so she figured it would be worth a shot. She even got a booth next to Rogers, and in 2021 Abby Mae’s Gluten-Free Bakery officially started selling products out of the Horton Farmers’ Market. Starting off, Tracy would bring a small batch of baked goods with her each week for the Saturday morning markets. “I would sell out of scones every week,” Tracy said proudly. “I was selling around 96 scones every single week. So I started getting really good recommendations and very loyal customers. By the end of the summer or by October, they would ask me where they could get my goods in the winter, and I had to say nowhere”. But once again, Tracy didn’t let seasonal changes stop her. In addition to the Horton Farmers’ Market (which is now open year-round – shoppers celebrate!), Tracy heavily relied on the Small Business Enterprise Centre for guidance, advice, tips and tricks when starting out her business. “They were very, very helpful in getting me started, helping me find resources, including the Horton Farmers’ Market,” said Tracy. “They got me into the Foodpreneur program, where I got my dough-sheeter, and that has totally changed our pastry production. I always refer people to SBEC if I hear they are planning out or starting a business. There are many people who don’t find out about SBEC until it’s too late, so the more we can get that [resource] out there earlier, the better it is.” With some encouragement from her husband, Tracy then began to look for locations for a storefront and ended up finding a good place to rent and decided to go for it. That space has since become their flagship store, located at 300 Talbot St. W in Aylmer, ON. To this day, all Abby Mae’s products are made from scratch and by hand in their store, although now they have expanded from just Tracy doing all the baking to a team of eight bakers (who Tracy says are still barely keeping up with all the orders!).  In addition to their signature baked goods, Tracy has expanded into also offering freezer meals and carrying other gluten-free goodies to make their storefront a sort of gluten-free grocery store – a one-stop-shop for customers. “Our product expansions have definitely been shaped by customer feedback,” Tracy explained. “We have customers come back and ask us if we’ve ever thought of making a certain dish, asking us what we can make, or asking to place orders – and my answer is we can try! We’ve done it, I’ll do it, and we aren’t afraid of a challenge.” Tracy has seen the market need for convenient, delicious, gluten-free options (both sweet and savoury), and she knows first-hand how difficult it can be to live in a family with differing dietary restrictions. Abby Mae’s Gluten-Free Bakery is not just a business, but a project based on love, care, and inclusivity. Now, Tracy’s goodies can be found in many locations, including the original company starting point, the Horton Farmers’ Market in St. Thomas, ON. With the market, her flagship store in Aylmer, and now her cafe at The Old Imperial Market in Aylmer, Abby Mae’s Gluten Free-Bakery is a success story built on perseverance and passion. You really can taste the care and time that goes into all of their products, and even if you aren’t gluten-free you won’t taste the difference. If you go
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