The Bartons were nervous about doing business in Busselton.
Candice and Chris had owned hospitality businesses for years before they moved to the South West.
The owners of Baked.Busselton had run a successful fish and chip shop and a café in Denmark.
Denmark was a small community and they knew there would be more competition in hospitality in Busselton.
"But we weren't going to shy away from that," Candice says.
As it turned out, it was easy to meet people and make friends, and they've certainly made their mark on the hospitality industry.
After taking out a string of gold at the Perth Royal Food Awards last week, Baked.Busselton is Busselton's most awarded bakery.
'About watching, feeling, smelling'
It doesn't stop there - the pair have also had two apprentices in a row win the top apprentice award.
Misty Muir won this year and Emma Woodfield last year.
Their newest apprentice Eltiah Hemmings also won awards this year.
What do they do to their apprentices to give them that kind of edge?
Candice said Chris was a "very hands on pastry chef".
"When he trains it's all about watching, feeling, smelling."
Chris attributes that his own mentors at the Woolworths Mandurah Forum bakery, then Miami Bakehouse, and as a tradesman at Denmark Bakery.
'To put ourselves up against everyone else'
The people he worked always entered competitions and that was the model the Bartons learned from.
"It's a chance to learn new things - when they bring new categories in you bring new things into the shop," Candice said.
"The show is part of that for us - to put ourselves up against everyone else and see if we're competitive or if we're just doing what everyone else is doing."
Last year cinnamon buns and doughnuts were new categories.
This year sourdoughs were all the rage.
The Bartons captured their own local sourdough culture in Busselton by sitting a flour mix out in the open to ferment and attract yeast from the air.
The cakes entered by Baked.Busselton will now be making it onto the shelves of the store - including a chocolate beetroot cake, and a layered cheesecake that won gold in blueberry but will be available in different flavours.
Their apprentice entered a vanilla lemon curd meringue cake which will also be sold.
Dad's famous apple crumble pie
While business is booming in the Queens Street shop, the family is flourishing in Busselton.
The Barton children, Autumn 9, Silvie 7, Tully, 6 attend MacKillop Catholic College in Busselton and this year they started in community sports.
And if family and community wasn't enough to keep them going strong, dad's famous apple crumble pie certainly will do the trick.
"It's the family favourite," Candice said.
Chris has been tweaking the recipe for years while making it at home and has only recently started selling it in the shop.
"He is the only one who does the baking - both in the shop and at home. I don't have the patience," Candice says, laughing.
Keeping up with the growth
The Bartons bought their shop when it was called Busselton Central Bakery four years ago - prior to that it was a Brumbys.
Last year they built a bakehouse and now with double the fridge space, they are excited to bake new things.
"We'll have new tarts, new lamingtons, the pastry chefs are getting excited and a bit carried away," she said.
We'll have new tarts, new lamingtons, the pastry chefs are getting excited and a bit carried away...The expansion pushed everything to next level, we were able to make things happen.
- Candice Barton
"The expansion pushed everything to next level, we were able to make things happen."
Wineries, breweries, celebration cakes
Business has continued to get busier and busier for them and they are curious to see whether that continues.
"We'll see if that keeps happening when everyone starts going overseas."
They had projected for the growth of their business to happen over a much longer period - not that they're complaining.
As it turned out, they built their new bakery two years earlier than originally planned.
"The growth we've had surprised us. We're always building and always doing something new."
Candice runs the shops and manages about 30 wholesale clients in Busselton while Chris does the baking.
With 30 staff on the books, Candice doesn't have much time these days to make coffee.
"Making coffee is my first love. When I say that Chris always says, 'am I not your first love?'"
Their expansion plans include servicing wineries and breweries in the region; and they also want to make celebration cakes.
Roadtrip leads to business
The family landed in Busselton in a very roundabout kind of way.
The couple emigrated to Australia from South Africa as teenagers. Chris' family is still in Mandurah and Candice' parents live in Bunbury.
The both did school in Mandurah - she at Mandurah Catholic College and Chris at Mandurah High School.
They left Mandurah in 2007 to spend 10 years in Denmark.
That move came about following a little road trip to visit the founder of Miami Bakehouse, Sean Carley, who was consulting down there.
While they were there they saw a little eatery called Bibbulmun Cafe for sale and thought 'why not?'
Interestingly, that little cafe stopped trading this week to convert to a kebab shop, after 15 years in business.
Chris has now built his repuation as a baker and pastry chef right down the Western Australian coast from Mandurah through to Denmark.
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