June 2003 – Antun Spoljaric, founder of La Madre, starts baking small batches of handmade sourdough from his premises at 29 Milton Street, Bell Park.

November 2006 – Tez Kemp and Anna Spurling take over the reins at La Madre along with seven staff members including Antun’s brother Ivan. Tez retrains as a highly specialised baker with Antun who stays with the business for several months.

May 2007 – La Madre’s first winter collection sees the introduction of the Shallot + Garlic Sourdough Cob which remains part of the standard range.

September 2007 – Anna starts La Madre’s sustainability journey with the excellent online programme, Grow Me the Money. The foundations for La Madre’s business and ethical philosophy were laid.

January 2008 – La Madre joins the Transition Bell movement to promote and encourage local food production and sourcing to support the local economy.

July 2008 – La Madre wins the ‘Small Business Award’ at the Geelong Advertiser Business Excellence Awards.

September 2009 – La Madre wins a $5,000 grant from Grow Me the Money to spend on green initiatives in their planned new facility.

February 2009 – bursting out of the seams of 29 Milton Street, La Madre relocates to its current location at 18 Milton Street in a purpose built, sustainable facility.  There was a three hour window in which to move the entire operations so that production was not interrupted and baking continued as normal!

May 2009 – Anna joins the Board of the Baking Industry Association of Victoria to help implement sustainable initiatives for the state’s bakeries.

October 2009 – La Madre wins the ‘Bakery Manufacturer of the Year’ at the Baking Industry Association of Victoria Awards.

November 2009 – La Madre rebrands from its traditional navy and blue logo to a more modern and apt yellow and brown combo that is seen today.

December 2009 – La Madre undergoes a full external audit of its carbon footprint including ingredient sourcing, transportation, staff travel, and energy used on site.

March 2010 – La Madre releases its first batch of carbon neutral hot cross buns, the first of their kind in Australia. Sales triple as people embrace the sourdough bun and a guilt free Easter.

June 2010 – La Madre’s new pastry kitchen is completed and churns out scrumptious pastries and our famous double chocolate lamingtons.

July 2010 – La Madre wins the ‘Medium Business Award at the Geelong Advertiser Business Excellence Awards.

September 2010 – La Madre increases their purchasing to 50% Green Energy to offset the production of their ovens.

November 2010 – La Madre’s highly anticipated Christmas range is launched with their dehydrated chocolate blood oranges and stained glass shortbreads walking out the door.

January 2011 – La Madre releases its double chocolate lamington for Australia Day and causes a frenzy in Geelong with hoardes of people clambering at the door for a bite of these cubes of goodness.  Tez + Anna appear on UK TV's Channel 4 'Relocation - Phil Down Under'

April 2011 - La Madre carbon offsets their entire Easter range including sourdough hot cross buns, chocolate + sour cherry hot cross buns and their spiced fruit cob.  Tez + Anna appear on Network Ten's 'The Circle' in Easter week to discuss their environmental stance plus demonstrate a hot cross bun and ginger Easter cookie how-to.

June 2011 - La Madre begins making Apple Pies to unprecedented customer demand.

July 2011 - After months of recipe testing and nurturing a new starter, La Madre launches a wholewheat sourdough range including a tin and the super healthy 7 Grain.  They complement this range with a potato + rosemary sourdough and chocolate + cherry sourdough loaf for the cooler months.

October 2011 - Anna becomes a member of the SME reference group for Future Proofing Geelong.

November 2011 - Tez becomes a member of the board of the Baking Association of Victoria.

December 2011 - A number of La Madre's key production staff complete their Certificate III and Certificate IV in Process and Competitive Manufacturing. Four key administration staff are close to completing their Diplomas in Business Administration.

January 2012 - La Madre becomes a certified Low CO2 business under the Carbon Reduction Institute meaning that the operational impact of the business has been offset.

February 2012 - Tez becomes Chair of the Integrity Committee for the Golden Plains Farmers Market.

Today, La Madre employs over 30 people and bakes fabulous pure sourdough seven days a week.