Reading passage
On the corner of Green Street, there is a small bakery called The Golden Loaf. It opens at half past six every morning, and by seven the smell of fresh bread fills the street. The bakery belongs to Mr. and Mrs. Costa, who bought the shop fifteen years ago. Before them, the same shop was a bakery for another thirty years, so the corner has smelled of bread for almost half a century. Regular customers say the shop has changed very little in that time: the same wooden counter, the same bell above the door, and the same warm welcome when they walk in.
A baker's day starts long before the shop opens. Mr. Costa arrives at two o'clock in the morning to begin his work. First, he mixes flour, water, salt, and yeast to make the dough. The dough must rest for about two hours before it is shaped into loaves. The bread goes into the large ovens at half past four, and the first loaves are ready just after six. While the bread bakes, Mr. Costa prepares cakes, rolls, and pastries. His wife arrives at six to prepare the shop and make the coffee.
The Golden Loaf sells more than twenty kinds of bread. The most popular is the white farmhouse loaf, which the bakery sells for two pounds. Wholemeal bread and seed bread are also popular, especially with older customers. On Fridays, the bakery makes a special fruit bread, and on Saturdays there are chocolate cakes that usually sell out by ten o'clock. During the summer, the bakery also sells sandwiches and cold drinks to people on their way to the park at the end of the street. In winter, the bakery sells a dark ginger cake that many customers buy as a gift. The Costas also bake small rolls for several local cafes, which collect them early each morning. On quiet afternoons, Mrs. Costa writes the next day's orders on a large board behind the counter. Regular customers know to arrive before midday, because the most popular loaves often sell out.
Running a bakery is hard work, and the Costas have seen many changes. When they bought the shop, most customers lived within a short walk of the corner. Today, a large supermarket ten minutes away sells cheap bread, and some of the old customers now shop there. To compete, the Costas focus on quality. They use flour from a local farm and butter from a nearby dairy. They also started to take orders by phone, so customers can ask for a cake or a large number of rolls for a party and collect them the next day.
The bakery is also a meeting place for the neighbourhood. Every morning, a group of retired men sit at the two small tables by the window and talk over coffee and toast. Mothers with small children stop in after the school run, and the bakery gives each child a free biscuit. Once a year, on the bakery's birthday, the Costas give away free slices of cake to everyone who visits. Last year, more than three hundred people came to celebrate.
In recent years, the bakery has faced new costs. The price of flour and electricity has gone up, and the Costas had to raise their prices slightly. They worried that customers would stop coming, but most stayed loyal. Mrs. Costa believes people understand that good ingredients cost more. The bakery has also found new customers through a social media page, where Mrs. Costa posts photos of the day's bread and cakes. Some people now travel across town just to buy the Saturday chocolate cakes.
The Costas are thinking about the future. Their daughter, Anna, is studying baking at a college in the city and plans to join the family business next year. She wants to add new products, such as vegan cakes and bread without gluten. Mr. Costa hopes the bakery will stay on the corner for many more years. As he likes to say, a bakery is not only about bread; it is about being part of people's daily lives, from their morning loaf to their birthday cake.