Before dawn
Four bakers, one oven and a starter that is nine years old.
- 36 hrs
- from mixing to baking
- 400
- loaves on a Saturday
- 4 am
- when the first bake goes in
Who we are
Bread that takes two days.
We begin at 2 am. Dough mixed the afternoon before is shaped, scored and loaded into a three-deck oven, and the first rack is out by 6.30. We bake only what has been ordered, plus a little for the counter.
Country loaves, baguettes and croissants, baked before dawn. Order by 6 pm; collect or get it by 9 am. Order by 6 pm. Collect from the counter from 7 am, or we deliver across Puducherry and Auroville by bicycle and scooter for ₹60.
— The Mavu Bakehouse team, Puducherry
What we stand for
Three things we will not change
Time over yeast
Our loaves rise only on wild yeast from our own starter. The long ferment gives the flavour and the keeping quality.
Flour we can trace
Wheat stone-milled near Erode, ragi from Krishnagiri, rye from a mill in Punjab. The source is written on the bake list.
Baked to order
We bake to the count of tomorrow’s orders, so very little is thrown away. What is left at 7 pm goes to a shelter in Mudaliarpet.
Your loaf, at your door by 9 am.
Order by 6 pm. Collect from the counter from 7 am, or we deliver across Puducherry and Auroville by bicycle and scooter for ₹60.
Visit or call usOur story so far
Mavu Bakehouse, year by year
- 2017
A starter in a Lawspet kitchen
Meera fed a rye starter for a year and baked twelve loaves a week for neighbours from her home oven, taking orders on a family WhatsApp group.
- 2019
A shop and a second-hand oven
We took a small shop on Rue Romain Rolland and bought a three-deck oven from a hotel kitchen in Chennai. Selvam joined as the first baker.
- 2022
Croissants, laminated by hand
A cold room went in, Revathi joined from a hotel pastry kitchen, and croissants, babka and morning buns were added to the bake list.
- Today
Four bakers and 400 loaves on Saturdays
We bake six days a week to the count of the evening’s orders, deliver across town and Auroville, and still use the same starter.
Order by 6 pm
Choose from tomorrow’s bake list online or on WhatsApp.
We bake at 2 am
Your loaf is shaped, scored and baked to order.
Collect or receive
Pick up from 7 am, or we deliver by 9 am.
Reviews
What customers say
Sample reviews, written for this demo. Real customer reviews replace them on your store.
The country loaf is still good on day four, which is how I knew it was the real thing. Toast with their mango jam is my Sunday.
I order on WhatsApp at night and the bread is on my gate at 8.30. The croissants survive the ride to Auroville intact.
Took the starter jar home and baked my first loaf in a week. They answered every panicked message.
Tomorrow’s bake list, every evening.
Join 3,400 neighbours on our WhatsApp list. One message a day, at 4 pm.