Roger and Lesley Gillespie opened the first Bakers Delight bakery in Hawthorn, Melbourne. The business is still family-owned, with their daughter Elise and her husband David Christie, being appointed as joint CEOs in 2017.

By 1988, Roger and Lesley owned 15 bakeries and began exploring franchising to support growth. Today, we offer franchise opportunities across Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the USA.

By 1988, Roger and Lesley owned 15 bakeries and began exploring franchising to support growth. Today, we offer franchise opportunities across Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the USA.

We released our first ever TV commercial to the public, which showcased our delicious products and wonderful staff. This also marks the first use of our iconic Bakers Delight jingle!

We grew further to establish bakeries nationally and opened Sydney in April 1993, Brisbane in September 1993 and Perth in March 1994. Bakers Delight was now well on our way to becoming an Australian icon.

A hungry baker blended his two favourite flavours to create the iconic Cheesymite Scroll — now one of Australia’s favourite snacks.

In November, we went international for the very first time, heading across the Tasman to open a Bakers Delight in Auckland. This was the first of many bakeries in New Zealand.

Early folklore suggests Breadhead’s creation was a magical transformation from a piece of dough. A tin of flour fell into a bag of magic dust used to make the dough, and thus Breadhead was born.

Since 2000, we’ve raised more than $18 million for the BCNA. A landmark partnership, the money goes directly to the support of thousands of Australians and their families who are affected by breast cancer.

A continued period of expansion resulted in our number of operating bakeries reaching impressive new heights of over 400.

In November, we opened our first Canadian store under the COBS Bread brand. We launched our Edgemont bakery in Vancouver, British Columbia. It was the first of 11 COBS Bread bakeries to open in Canada in just 12 months.

A quarter of a century! It may have felt just like yesterday that we opened our first bakery in Melbourne, but Bakers Delight celebrated turning 25 in style.

We launched our Hi-Fibre Lo-GI range to give customers longer-lasting energy. Softer and tastier than most white bread, it remains one of our top-selling loaves.

Our Pink Bun campaign raised more than $800,000 for Breast Cancer Network Australia. BCNA CEO, Lyn Swinburne AM, said 2010’s fundraising achievement was an incredible celebration of 10 years of working together.

In 2015, COBS Bread brought our tradition of freshly baked goods to the United States, marking another significant milestone in our expansion journey.

The launch of our Wholegrain LowFOD Loaf was a game changer for Australians with food intolerances, offering a bread option tested for safe FODMAP levels and gentle on sensitive tummies.

In 2019, the Australian Retailers Association named Bakers Delight the Nation’s Best Franchise Business — recognising excellence in Australian retail.

2020 marked 40 years of delighting customers with freshly baked bread. Bakers Delight and COBS Bread now span over 700 locations across Australia, Canada, the USA, and New Zealand.

In 2021 we launched our award-winning loyalty program, Dough Getters, to reward our customers with amazing bread-efits. Are you a Dough Getter?

With double the fibre of our traditional Wholemeal Block Loaf, the new Hi-Fibre Lo-Gi Wholemeal loaf and range was quick to become a customer favourite, expanding our Healthy Solutions range.

This year marks our 25th year of partnership with Breast Cancer Network Australia. Over the journey, the Bakers Delight network and our wonderful customers have raised over $27million for BCNA – and counting!

The future is bright! Our goal for 2030 is to reduce our emissions by 30%, open 150 new bakeries nationwide, reach $1billion annual turnover and more…