Bread solves the problem of local production for local consumption
Located in the small mountain town of Kamiyama, Tokushima Prefecture, with a population of approximately 5200, “Kamapan” is a small bakery that aims to be a regional bakery, baking bread that is eaten like a meal every day by the people of Kamiyama. Kamapan” was born out of a working group held in 2015, in which the town office and residents came together to consider regional development in Kamiyama. The “Food Hub Project” was launched with the aim of solving the problems facing Kamiyama, such as the aging farming population, lack of successors, increase in abandoned farmland, and increasing damage from birds and animals.
Under the slogan of “local production for local consumption,” the “Food Hub Project” aims to connect local agriculture to the next generation through a cycle of “grow, produce, eat, and connect. As part of the project, “Kama Pan & Store” was started together with “Kama-ya,” a cafeteria, to sell bread and other food products as a place not only to grow crops but also to eat them in the community. All breads at Kama Bread & Store are made with home-brewed fermented yeast. Generally, this is called “natural yeast,” but since the “seeds” of Kama Bread are grown in the workshop, they can only be made here, where they are created by lactic acid bacteria and yeast living in the Kamiyama air.
Kama Pan’s Popularity Goes Nationwide
Kamapan offers two types of bread: “usual bread,” which has been popular since its opening and is slightly sour and glutinous, and “super soft and fluffy bread,” which is made with plenty of Jersey milk and is soft and fluffy all the way to the ears. The bread is firm because the dough is kneaded with boiling water, while the loaf is chunky because it has more dough than ordinary bread. The bread is sometimes a bit “sour” because it becomes acidic when the home-brewed fermented seeds, lactic acid bacteria, and acetic acid bacteria become active. The bakery also sells about 20 kinds of bread every day, including bread made with local vegetables. In addition, they sell vegetables grown by farmers from their own “Tsunagu Farm” and local agricultural production groups, as well as carefully selected additive-free foods from Tokushima Prefecture and extending as far as Shikoku.
In November 2020, Kamapan & Friends “Natural Products Exhibition” will open in Ginza, Tokyo, bringing together makers and eaters from all over Japan and featuring locally loved additive-free foods. Under the new concept of “Tomosan Tomoshoku” (friends-produce-friends-eat), local foods and seasonings, freshly produced vegetables and fruits, breads and baked goods from small bakeries around Japan, freshly produced combo sandwiches and delis, local additive-free soft serve ice cream, and other “as additive-free” foods as possible are gathered and sold.
The online store of “Kama Pan & Store” sells good products from all over Japan, including a set of two types of bread for comparison and an omakase bread set, as well as products handled by “Kama Pan & Store” and “Kama Pan & Friends”.
