From Downtown Fixture to Regional Destination Wild Oats Bakery has grown from a small scratch kitchen in downtown Brunswick to a 200-seat bakery, deli, café, and market that serves more than 1,000 customers on busy days—all while remaining family-owned and committed to hand-made production. David and Becky Shepherd opened Wild Oats in 1991 at the Tontine Mall with a straightforward mandate: everything made in-house, by hand, from scratch, every day. For nearly three decades, that philosophy built a loyal customer base and transformed the bakery into a Brunswick institution. But success created a constraint. The original 8,000-square-foot location had outgrown both its kitchen and parking lot.
Strategic Relocation In December 2020, amid pandemic lockdowns, Wild Oats relocated to a purpose-built facility at Brunswick Landing, the site of a former naval air station. The move more than doubled capacity to 20,000 square feet. Today the operation employs upwards of 90 people and maintains its hand-made baking schedule every morning.
Why It Matters
Wild Oats represents a rare combination in the bakery sector: sustained growth without losing founder control or production standards. The expansion demonstrates how regional bakeries can scale facilities without compromising their core product promise—a model increasingly relevant as consumer demand for scratch-made products outpaces supply in many markets.
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Written by FBM Publications Editors
