With Balfour’s and Vili’s signs splashed frequently across our landscape, Rheinland Continental is a baked goods supplier that flies under the radar. It is a smaller business, which supplies out to many bakeries and cafes in the Adelaide area. They proudly declare on their website that all their goods are still made by hand. Their starting story is one of hope. A young, immigrant baker who worked hard to own his own business by working his way up the bakery ladder. In 1981, the first Rheinland Bakery opened its doors – now it supplies on a much larger scale.
I’ve always enjoyed the goods produced by this bakery, they’re always fresh and delicious. In the past, I had been impressed with the donuts I had tried across several locations but never had had the opportunity to go to one of their own stores.
So, when I saw that Rheinland Bakery had a store in Marion Westfield Shopping Centre, I was excited to review them properly. The store must be fairly new, for the last time I was at Marion a year ago I hadn’t seen it then. The shop sits towards the Bunnings side of centre, in the newer, more Instagram friendly food and shopping court. Indoor plants on wooden trellises climb the walls past veggie stalls, flower carts and eateries declaring their names on burnt wooden signs. The usual harsh and bright industrial lights are replaced by yellowing globes with iron furnishings and copper wires. This side of the centre is attractive, busy and inviting but clashes with the reality of what a Westfield centre is. It is a thinly veiled attempt to cover up millions of dollars of consumerism with a cute little butcher, signs declaring organic goods and a yoghurt shop.
But, the ploy didn’t completely work, for Rheinland Bakery also sits just along from an Aldi – but we can forgive that particular commercial monopoly as the weekly deals are just so good.
Returning to the bakery it sits with a generous smattering of tables, completely open to the public, and with a humble presentation of glass cabinets displaying their goods. On top of one display sat a pile of donuts, I’m fairly certain there was even a discount deal if you got more than one. But, I remained well behaved, only taking one donut to go.
I’m not sure if I had a dud donut on this day, perhaps an accidental overlook at throwing out old donuts – but the donut I had didn’t live up to my past experiences with Rheinland donuts. It was on the stale side, which is always disappointing. None-the-less, I hope shoppers at Marion will feel more inclined to support this local bakery rather than the Krispy Kreme a stone throw away.
