Meet Katarina Schare of Hävenly in Boulder

Today we’d like to introduce you to Katarina Schare.

Katarina, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Growing up in Sweden, I was accustomed to hearty, flavorful bread, and pastries from the bakery were either savory or had just enough sweetness to taste great without overdoing it. Shortly after moving to Boulder, CO in 2010, I found that I missed the baked goods that I grew up with, and my body had a hard time digesting the new food. That’s when I decided to start baking on my own.

I loved taking turns with my cousin to bake bread for our weekly family dinners, and the smell and taste of freshly baked bread became synonymous with laughter and good times. However, the digestion problems continued, so I started exploring different gluten-free diets like paleo, Whole 30, and the Conscious Cleanse to see if anything could help. As part of this exploration, I experimented with baking gluten-free and paleo-friendly bread and other baked goods based on traditional Swedish recipes and learned that my body did better with less gluten. These Swedish recipes were the base for nutritious bread using whole ingredients like oats, buckwheat, coconut flour, honey and various seeds that smelled and tasted amazing. Friends were astonished at how wonderful the gluten-free bread tasted, and surprised by the nice texture. From a happy family to a happy tummy to happy friends…the seed was planted in my mind of starting a gluten-free bakery.

By this time, my youngest daughter had started Kindergarten and I was ready for a new adventure after seven years of being a stay-at-home mom and part-time attorney and mediator. Boulder is a great place for natural food start-ups, and over the years I have seen many young companies flourish. In mid-2019 I finally decided to take the leap into the unknown and to follow my passion Hävenly Baked Goods was born. In a way it’s like having a new baby; it’s rewarding, challenging and slightly crazy. It turns your world up-side-down. As I raise this demanding new child of mine, I am spreading the word that gluten-free bread can taste great and make you feel even better.

Has it been a smooth road?
The smooth part has been knowing that I have products that are amazing and that there is a demand for them. The struggles have been trying to start a brand new business, on my own, in a field that I am not familiar with. It has been quite hard to find a good place to bake, and it has been very tricky to learn how to go from baking one bread to making 30 at a time. Bread is a “living creature” and small changes in process has big changes in the end product.

Throughout most of my career I was used to working in close collaboration with colleagues, and also to have clients with strict deadlines. Starting a food company is hard because there is no outside pressure; the motivation and discipline all have to come from within, and I miss having colleagues to collaborate with. Luckily Boulder is an amazing food hub and most people have been very open to meeting up and sharing their experiences. A close friend is also an entrepreneur, and it has been helpful to get out of the house to meet her while we work side by side at different coffee shops.

Another difficult aspect is that from Day One I have to do and know every aspect of running a business. From how to source, to where to produce, store and deliver. Not to mention all the other areas like social media, marketing and accounting. Then add on things like taxes, regulations, and licensing, and it feels overwhelming at times being a one person company. Since I am on a steep learning curve, I don’t yet have significant revenue, it’s a struggle to find a balance as to when to hire help and what to do by myself.

Sourcing is also a big challenge. At Hävenly we strive to be environmentally conscious and to minimize our waste by using only compostable or recyclable materials. We are trying to avoid plastic as much as possible, but it has been frustrating to learn how hard and expensive this can be. We won’t give up and hope that this is an effort that our customers appreciate.

Also, forming a bakery in Boulder is challenging because it’s an expensive place to be. It has proven hard to source certain gluten-free products, and shipping them to Colorado is costly. The crazy real estate market ripples through the small-business economy, manifesting itself through high prices for production, storage, retail space, and labor.

Please tell us about your business.
Hävenly was founded in April 2019, and it is a gluten-free bakery specializing in high-end, wholesome, nutritious and delicious bread and baked goods. At Hävenly we believe in Swedish inspired bread that tastes amazing and is surprisingly gluten-free.

Hävenly bread right out of the oven is irresistible, but it’s also delicious after a few days, out of the freezer or toasted. We are proud to bake with ingredients like certified gluten-free buckwheat flour, oat flour, sorghum flour, coconut flour and various seeds. The bread isn’t only easy to digest, but it’s full of important vitamins, minerals, fiber and antioxidants. Never refined sugar, artificial colors, flavors, trans fats or preservatives. This is bread we don’t hesitate to give our kids!

What sets us apart from most bakeries is that Hävenly’s gluten-free bread tastes and feels like real bread. It’s moist, flavorful and holds together in a beautiful way. And among the gluten-free bakeries, Hävenly stands out for the richness of flavors and a selection of darker, heavier options inspired by northern European food culture. These rustic options are accompanied by lighter yet nutritious products like savory Swedish scones and our specialty Love Buns.

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
There is so much to love about Boulder including having four seasons while also having sun almost every day. What makes Boulder extraordinary are the people who live here. There is a focus on being outside, taking care of oneself as well as of the planet. This health awareness includes looking at what one eats and how it is produced, which inspired me to start Hävenly as there is a demand for great, natural, healthy food options. I cannot imagine a better place to be an entrepreneur in the natural food sector than Boulder.

What I also love about Boulder is that I feel that one can be oneself, and unlike Sweden, you do not have to worry about what you are wearing or what you look like. I love that we have great public schools open to all children, but the city is becoming increasingly expensive for normal people. The worst part about Boulder is that I am so far away from family and the ocean. I also think there is a downside of living in an “outdoorsy” town like Boulder because it can be hard to find time to meet friends because people are often away hiking, biking or skiing.

Contact Info:

• Address: 665 Maxwell Avenue
• Website: www.havenlybaked.com
• Phone: (720) 2029275
• Email: katarina@havenlybaked.com

Image Credit:
Erika Hodge

Suggest a story: VoyageDenver is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.