Mudgee Sourdough by Olive.A.Twist has set up a retail shop on Church Street, affectionately known as Itty Bitty Bread Shop.

Itty Bitty Bread Shop opened its doors for the first time a month ago, and has already received plenty of positive feedback from customers.

The owner of Itty Bitty Bread Shop, Rebecca Sutton, said "It does make me very teary, but it's very incredible the support that we've had, just a tiny business to start out like we have, it's amazing".

All products traded at Itty Bitty Bread Shop are prepared locally from fresh regional produce. Sourdough, artisan ice-cream and brioche donuts are among some of the treats sold.

Rebecca first dreamt of starting her very own catering company when abroad in Edinburgh during the early 2000s.

"I thought one day when I am a caterer in Australia, that was my dream, I would have my own catering company and call it Olive.A.Twist, because Oliver Twist said, 'Please sir, may I have some more'," Rebecca said.

Rebecca's dream came true when she arrived home to Australia and immediately started working towards opening Olive.A.Twist catering company.

Rebecca said Olive.A.Twist is dedicated to incorporating into its products the fresh local produce at its disposal.

"We are a small local business and try to support other small local businesses," Kendall Lewis from Olive.A.Twist said.

The seasonal handcraft Hello Lovelies cordial range by Olive.A.Twist is made locally with all local ingredients. It was first created for the very first Flavours of Mudgee Festival, but after being so well received, Rebecca and her team turned the Hello Lovelies cordial range into a permanent Olive.A.Twist brand.

"They were called Hello Lovelies because in the story of Oliver Twist, Fagin said to the orphans "Hello, my little lovelies", and we thought Hello Lovelies was a good name for an essentially orphan fruit," said Rebecca.

More recently, Olive.A.Twist has started making its own ice-cream.

"We have a lot of fruit available from our neighbours and chocolate and nuts, so we put them into changing ice-creams, a true artisan ice-cream," said Rebecca.

Olive.A.Twist acquired Mudgee Sourdough a few years ago from the previous owners who had owned the business for the ten years. Mudgee Sourdough was a local product, and Olive.A.Twist saw it as another way they could incorporate regional produce.

"We purchased Mudgee Sourdough, and called it Mudgee Sourdough by Oliver.A.Twist because it came under the whole banner of what we did. Mudgee Sourdough existed before us so we just wanted to put our stamp on it to say this was the new era of Mudgee Sourdough moving forward," said Rebecca

The incorporation of Mudgee Sourdough into Olive.A.Twist has been a success, and Mudgee Sourdough now accounts for approximately eighty percent of Olive.A.Twist's business.

Mudgee Sourdough by Olive.A.Twist opened the Itty Bitty Bread Shop in response to the demand from local clientele that doubled during the COVID-19 lockdown.

"We needed something that gave us a consistent venue for our clients to know where to go, and we also have a lot of tourists looking for us, and mother nature makes it very difficult to have market stalls with rain and wind," Rebecca said.

Rebecca said Itty Bitty Bread Shop has already been a huge success and sells out most days.

"We are very grateful for the locals; their support has been incredible, they're the people who have kept us going in lockdown, and they are the people that we bake for. The tourists are great, they are the cherry on top, but it's the locals coming every single day that make this business worthwhile," Rebecca said.

Itty Bitty Bread Shop is opened Wednesday to Saturday, from 8:00am to 12:00pm or until sold out. Itty Bitty Bread Shop will be closed on Farmer's Market Saturdays.

Itty Bitty Bread Shop is located at 113 Church Street. "You'll see on the banner out the front, Mudgee Sourdough by Olive.A.Twist which is our brand and we use that everywhere," Rebecca said.