Joe Reade

Joe Reade first came to Scotland when his parents wanted to sell milk directly to their customers. He says, "I lived in Somerset before I moved to Mull when I was 11-years-old with my parents.

"My mum and dad were dairy farming in Somerset, selling their milk to the Milk Marketing Board. A truck would come along and take it away each day. They didn’t know where it went or where it ended up but they wanted to sell their milk directly to the people who were using it. They wanted to go somewhere different too and so they decided to move to Scotland."

When Joe's parent's moved to Mull, there was a demand for more fresh milk on the island. "When we moved here, the farm for sale had been derelict for about fifteen years. There was almost no fresh milk available on the island," says Joe. "At that time distribution wasn’t as fast or as frequent as it is nowadays. You would get two deliveries of milk a week and you would be queuing at the Co-op waiting for the fresh vegetables and the milk to arrive so you could grab it before it all disappeared again. Everyone would keep UHT milk in the cupboard.

"Therefore my parents thought it would be a great opportunity to set up the diary farm, selling milk and delivering it round the island. This was about 23 years ago. They began milking and selling cartons door-to-door across the island. They also sold it to neighbouring islands Coll and Tiree. They also started making cheese from the extra milk."

Working on his parent's farm inspired Joe to start his own bakery business. He says, "I started the bakery when I was 21-years-old, after I left university. I studied geography there and that was where I met my wife, Dawn. Having being brought up in a family that was self-employed it was an easier route for me to start my own business.

"When the local bakery went up for sale I thought it would be a romantic idea to sell milk and bread together. I thought I could drive around delivering the milk and any bread that we made. But in the end we couldn’t buy the bakery because we couldn't afford it as we'd just left University."

Even though Joe did not have enough money to buy the bakery at the time, it didn’t stop him starting the business. "I had a big empty garage and my brother and I thought it would be okay to bake in the there. We bought a load of second-hand baking gear, a mixer and a cookbook. And that’s how the business started."

Joe now runs Island Bakery Organics in Tobermory, Mull, with Dawn. "We make the usual kinds of breads you would find in a bakery, for example, wholemeal, white and bloomer bread. We also do ciabatta, rye bread and different flavoured breads. Today we made walnut bread. There’s a lot of work to do here because it’s very seasonal; three quarters of our business is in three months of the year. So if you come in too late during our busy season you won't be able to buy anything. We'd be cleaned out. The local people support the shop but there are only about 1,000 people in Tobermory," says Joe.

Apart from selling locally, Joe and Dawn have been selling their organic biscuits all over the UK. "We’ve been trying to develop the organic biscuits over the last five years," says Joe. "Dawn and I come up with the recipes. We're selling them all over the UK in places such as Harvey Nichols, Jenners and independent delicatessens. We sell four core products; Lemon Melts, Oat Crumbles, Chocolate Gingers, and Shortbread. Oat Crumbles are my favourite. But our best seller is the Lemon Melt; it’s a very short, sweet biscuit with lemon oil in it, dipped in white chocolate."

Although Joe enjoys running his business, he also loves living in Mull. He says, "We came to live on Mull for the same reasons that people want to come here on holiday – to relax and to get away from the traffic. It’s very difficult to make a living here. A lot of people come here, try it, and then leave. It’s not perfect for everyone; you can’t just pop out to go to the shops.

"But Mull is perfect for me because I am used to it. I appreciate the freedom, the space, and the simple things such as the fact that you’re not as anonymous as you could be in a big city.  It’s nice to be in a small community; you feel more part of it."

Related Links

Island Bakery