Wingfield Bread Co.

Moms can do it all, and Rachelle Wingfield (pictured) is no exception. While raising eight children, she started her own business, Wingfield Bread Co., in 2012. Since then, she’s turned it from a home-based company into a brick-and-mortar bakery and café in the heart of Camp Verde.

Wingfield is no stranger to hard work and entrepreneurship: She comes from a family of Verde Valley pioneers. The Wingfield family arrived in Camp Verde by covered wagon in the 1870s, and the Wingfield Bread storefront is where Wingfield’s great-great-grandparents ran the Wingfield Mercantile for nearly 50 years. She says the “rugged independence” required to run a small business is in her blood. “It’s been really rewarding to go back and tap into those roots,” she adds. 

The company started as a way for Wingfield to feed her kids nutritious, homemade food that didn’t break the bank. “I just taught myself how to start baking bread,” she says. “I was mostly just doing a giant experiment, and then, through a lot of trial and error, I eventually figured it out.”

Wingfield started out making cinnamon rolls and pastries to get familiar with the process. After developing her recipes, she decided to sell her bread at farmers markets in the Verde Valley and Flagstaff for some extra income. The overwhelming response from the markets resulted in the business expanding quickly, and Wingfield turned most of her focus to sourdough bread, which has become the staple for Wingfield Bread. “I like the science behind sourdough baking,” she says. “The fermentation and the gluten formation are like a craft. It’s a slower process, and you can handcraft it more to your liking.”

During an average week, Wingfield bakes 450 to 500 loaves of bread. The process is time-consuming, but Wingfield says that’s what makes the bread delicious and nourishing. “It’s got so much more texture, so much more character; it’s actual food,” she says. “You can just tell it’s like a work of art.”

Joanne Kim discovered Wingfield Bread after moving to the Verde Valley and going on a search for locally made sourdough bread. She says one of her favorite things about Wingfield’s products is that they are “real” food. “I love that their bread is made with a starter that they’ve worked with for over a decade,” she says. “They use real butter, not shortenings, and their bread has a great spring to it; it’s perfect for making sandwiches.”

Wingfield says she’s proud of continuing her family legacy in Camp Verde, but she also takes pride in how she and her children have overcome obstacles and managed to make the bread company thrive despite hardships. “The kids and I went through really hard situations, and we have stuck together and made it work,” she says. “It’s sort of the core of what keeps me going here.”

Wingfield’s parents and older children are involved with the company’s daily operations. And as a busy mom and entrepreneur, Wingfield finds her drive not just within herself but also through the people who have supported her along the way. “It’s like everybody is webbed together in a community and has each other’s backs,” she says. “When you need somebody, they’re there.”

In addition to sourdough, Wingfield Bread Co. has laminated pastries such as croissants and danishes. The café in Camp Verde sells sandwiches and salads, too. Wingfield has reduced the number of farmers markets she attends, but the company’s bread can still be found at the markets in Camp Verde and Sedona.