London Bakery and Delicatessen Co. Ltd. by Penny Picton

Photo by Ingelbert Lievaart II London Bakery and Delicatessen 549 Hamilton Road

The London Bakery and Deli is the oldest bakery in London — 65 YEARS!!! Now owned by Krystyna and her husband Victor, the Kowaliks purchased the business from Krystyna’s uncle. The bakery has been on this site for 22 years. The original owner specialized in Jewish and Polish products, which are still made today. If you like European pastries you will not be disappointed by the quality and selection.

The family purchased the Laundromat next door, years ago mainly for the parking area included in the rear. This was very important as the London Bakery draws many out-of the-neighbourhood ethnic customers from across the city.

The Kowaliks built a second story to their building, 15 years ago, to make the site more profitable and discourage break-ins. There are 5 apartments.

The meat processing plant is a 2-man operation. Made on site are: polish sausages, black forest hams, meat loaves, BBQ sausage, and pate. The smoked products are cured in a wood-fed smoker. There are no additives, MSG, or fillers in their meats.

The London Bakery is a “family business”. Very proudly Krystyna talked about their 4 children. Their eldest son Robert is now a chartered accountant in Toronto and will still come home to help out at the bakery on a busy weekend. Anna, at the University of Windsor, is following her brother’s footsteps in accounting. Maggie has her mind set to be a policewoman and will be at Fanshawe. The youngest Michael, 13 years old, is interested in hockey and still finds time to help out at the bakery. The girls help out as well. As well as family there are 10 employees. Everyone is needed to man the shop 7 days a week, 24 hours a day.

One of those busy times is Holy Week. Since they are the only bakery that makes the “real” paczki, a polish donut, they need the whole family to help. The paczki is eaten the day before Ash Wednesday.

This bakery has done well especially since there are 7 or 8 other bakeries right on Hamilton Road. Krystyna says, “Their biggest competition is the chain store, particularly buns and breads”.

Krystyna recalls her daughter bringing home a loaf of chain store baked Italian loaf. It lasted 3 weeks before it went mouldy. “Our bread will go mouldy in a few days, because we do not add preservatives and chemicals,” she exclaimed.

Wedding cakes, catering for weddings, employee Christmas Parties, pool parties and more...have all helped this bakery to set itself apart from the competition. Imagine a roasted stuffed piglet at your party! Having the biggest oven in town certainly does that as well as it can bake 600 loaves at a time.

Krystyna says, “they would retire today if they could find a buyer. It is a great business to be in and raise a family too”. §