What Purebread is known for
New Zealand transplants Paula and Mark Lamming began selling bread at Whistler's farmers market in 2008, opening Purebread's first Function Junction storefront in 2010. Coho Collective Kitchens acquired the bakery in 2023, expanding it across the Sea-to-Sky corridor and Metro Vancouver.
Mark Lamming, originally from Christchurch, New Zealand, was laid off from his job at Intrawest Resorts in Whistler but already had a fallback: he was baking bread for a local balsamic vinegar maker on the side. With his wife Paula, he began selling that bread at Whistler's farmers market in 2008, testing the idea before committing to a storefront.
The first Purebread shop opened in Function Junction in 2010, built on the same homemade approach the Lammings had used at the market stall, focused on oversized cookies, scones, brownies, and other baked goods made without preservatives or artificial additives. A second Whistler Village location followed, and the brand later expanded into Squamish and several Vancouver neighborhoods, including Gastown, Kitsilano, and Mount Pleasant.
In September 2023, Coho Collective Kitchens, a Vancouver-based food and commercial real estate company, acquired Purebread from the Lammings; by May 2024 the business had been renamed Purebread Brands Inc. under its new ownership. The bakery today spans eight locations across the Sea-to-Sky corridor, Metro Vancouver, and Vancouver's airport, a considerable distance from its original farmers-market card table.
Best for — Whistler bakery that grew from a farmers-market bread stall
Where next
- Reeve the Baker — United Kingdom
- Lanz — Bern
- Teufner – Die Bäckerei — Austria
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