Accidental Baker Launches Bread Business, Shows Power Of Anne Arundel Farmers Markets

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, MD — Tom Giancola accidentally became a baker. He didn't plan on it. He just kind of fell into it.

It all started six years ago when the Annapolis resident was watching a Michael Pollan food documentary. Giancola was inspired by the poetic way that Pollan spoke about his meals.

That sent Giancola into a rabbit hole where he forced himself to learn to bake. The dedication paid off, as Giancola now sells bread at farmers markets around Anne Arundel County. His story shows how local vendors create a vibrant food scene starting with fresh, quality ingredients.

"I instantly was hell-bent on going and baking a loaf of bread," Giancola, 40, told Patch in an exclusive interview. "It truly was an accident. I never set out to be a baker, but I inadvertently fell into it and now I couldn't imagine a week without it."

Giancola grew up outside New York City in Bergen County, New Jersey, and moved to Maryland in 2015. He launched his business in July 2020 and called it Makeathe, pronounced "Make uh thuh."

He came up with the name while cooking pizza in his wood-fired oven and it "became the most Italian-New Jersey personification" of himself.

"I started saying 'Hey, we gotta make-uh-thuh dough, we gotta make-uh-thuh sauce, we gotta make-uh-thuh cheese,'" Giancola said. "From there, 'Makeathe,' the name, was born. And so we Makeathe bread, we Makeathe pastries and we make a little bit of a joke."

Before officially launching Makeathe, Giancola would gift his bread at dinner parties.

The COVID-19 pandemic hit soon after, sparking panic buying and empty grocery store shelves. That gave Giancola the extra push to bake. He would hang loaves of bread on families' doorknobs because it felt like the neighborly thing to do.

One day, a neighbor handed him some cash for the bread. That's when Giancola realized his bread was good enough to sell.

Giancola spoke with a representative at the Anne Arundel County Farmers Market in Annapolis. The worker liked the idea and invited him to set up a stand.

That was about 3 years ago, and Giancola hasn't looked back. He's still "in the trenches and covered in flour."

The baker wanted to ramp up production, so he spent around 10 months building a commercial kitchen in his basement from 2021 into 2022. Giancola still has a full-time job in IT, so he brought on a culinary intern from Anne Arundel Community College to scale his workforce.

At this point, Giancola has his recipes down to a science.

Giancola sources his flour locally and bakes with wheat that matches the season. He monitors the weather forecast for changes in humidity and air temperature.

These may sound like trivial details, but small adjustments make a noticeable difference when every batch requires 50 pounds of flour.

"A hundred grams of water or a couple degrees of water temperature could speed up our fermentation," Giancola said. "We have formulas that we have written and used to adjust for all of those inputs at this point just to make a consistently good product."

Makeathe sells roughly 100 loaves of bread each week. At $8 per loaf, whole grain sourdough is the bestseller. Giancola also dishes out other baked goods like pastries, croissants and pop-tarts at $3 to $6 a pop.

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Dava Unglesbee has shopped at Makeathe since it opened at the county farmers market. As one of Giancola's taste testers, Unglesbee has tried all of his breads at least once.

The Arnold resident enjoys every flavor but her favorites are the oat porridge and the semolina sesame, which is made of flour that's typically used in pasta. Unglesbee is also a fan of the Oreo bread, a key ingredient in her French toast.

The 67-year-old had been looking for a breadmaker, so she was happy to find one who also donates to charity. Makeathe uses a portion of its profits to bake for food drives.

"I love the fact that he's involved in the community," Unglesbee said of Giancola. "That's the kind of vendor I want to support."

With a dedicated group of "breadheads," Giancola had hoped to open a brick-and-mortar shop by now.

Bankers, however, wanted him to have a significant chunk of money upfront before offering a loan. Those requirements were too lofty, so Giancola decided to stick to farmers markets.

Related: Egg Price Spike Tests Bakers' Creativity As MD Battles Bird Flu

Giancola still loves these markets because they support small businesses and farm-to-table freshness.

"You're putting that money directly back into that farmer's hand," Giancola said. "You cannot ask for a closer connection to your food supply unless you're growing it in your backyard."

That freshness is why Unglesbee has patronized farmers markets for two decades, including the one in Annapolis for 13 years.

"The bread was baked yesterday. The lettuce was pulled this morning. The cows were milked last night," Unglesbee said. "Feeding my family farmers market stuff has made us all healthier."

J.J. Minetola, a third-year board member for the county farmers market, thinks Makeathe complements the other vendors. Many assume that farmers markets only sell vegetables, so Giancola's bread is an added bonus.

"You taste the quality," Minetola said. "He's invested a lot of time and money in his infrastructure."

As a fellow entrepreneur, Minetola can appreciate all the labor that Giancola puts into his craft. Minetola grows vegetables on his 2-acre homestead in Davidsonville called Mise En Place Farm. The 48-year-old sells those greens and his tacos at the farmers market.

Along with fresh food, Minetola thinks farmers markets are largely about the people.

"They're great for just building community," Minetola said. "So many customers are regulars."

These reliable customers are why the farmers market and Makeathe are successful. Giancola wants to give them "the most heartfelt thank you."

"They've told their friends. They've told their family. They've shared our products," Giancola said. "There is no way to express how deeply appreciative we are for them."

Customers can learn more by visiting makeathe.com or following the business on Facebook and Instagram.

Shoppers can find Makeathe at the Anne Arundel County Farmers Market, located in Annapolis at 275 Harry S. Truman Parkway. Giancola is on hand every Sunday from 9 a.m. to noon. The market is also open every Saturday from 7 a.m. to noon, but Makeathe is only there on Sundays.

Makeathe also sells at Honey's Harvest Farm Market, located in Lothian at 5801 Brooks Woods Road. Giancola sets up shop on the first Sunday of every month from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Anne Arundel County also has several other markets, including:

• Crofton Farmers Market
• Diehl's Produce (Severna Park)
• Farragut Farmers Market (Annapolis)
• Heroes Market (Annapolis)
• Olmo Bros. Nursery & Farm (Annapolis)
• Severna Park Farmer's Market
• SoCo Farmers Market (Deale)

Do you know a business that's opening, expanding or closing in Anne Arundel County? Email [email protected] with the details.

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