FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Hopwood Breads is a bakery that blossomed from a hobby out of the pandemic.
Tyler Hopwood said he picked up a baking hobby four years ago as an escape from his job.
"Almost as, like a creative coping mechanism, you know. So I would go home and just watch a bunch of YouTube videos on sourdough bread," Hopwood said.
Hopwood eventually made the bread for friends who suggested he sell the product.
"Selling a few loaves through Instagram to like friends and coworkers and stuff like that. And then over the last three years, it's just progressed into a part-time, like more of a part-time job, and now it's like my full-time gig," Hopwood explained.
Hopwood does acknowledge that it's scary to make the move from hobby to full-time. He spent almost 24 years in St. Louis before moving here for a partner, leaving him in a new area that required a little bit of creativity.
"I used to take out the food from my refrigerator and put it into a cooler full of ice so that I could then put all of my loaves of bread into the fridge before I bake them and all that. So it, yeah, it was a lot of like adapting and getting creative with like using limited space," Hopwood said.
"It takes double the time to ferment than most yeasted breads. So it's all I've learned, a lot of lessons and patience, and just having a sourdough starter is like having a pet just by itself," Hopwood added. "And now it's like, I have a pet that I have to feed because it determines my income too."
Hopwood Breads can be found at Ozark Natural Foods and at the Fayetteville Farmers Market on Saturdays. However, Hopwood suggested customers arrive at the market's open for a chance to try a popular product, his sourdough doughnuts.
"It gets early and earlier each week. At first, I was like, telling people, I was like, get here between, you know, seven and 830 and you'll be good. And now I'm like, get like, get here at seven if you want donuts," Hopwood said.
From a loaf of passion to now selling hundreds of products each week, Hopwood credits the community for helping his growth. He even has a list of those that have helped him on his phone to remember and thank them.
"I'm just really grateful for the support that this town has given me. It's pretty wild. I don't know, like I said, if you would have told me this 10 years ago, I would have not believed you, but I would not change anything at all, because, yeah, kind of live in the dream right now," Hopwood said.
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