One of the Riverland’s most popular bakeries has been put up for sale after more than 20 years of serving the community

Loxton couple Tim and Julie Vivian took over The Country Bakehouse in 2005.

After owning and operating the bakery, which was first established in 1986, the couple said they are ready to move on and spend more time with family.

“Every two years we have been saying we will sell the bakery, so we thought let’s actually do it now, it usually takes around two years to sell a bakery so this will finally be our last stint,” Mr Vivian said.

“We feel this is the perfect time in our lives to move on, we don’t have any family that live in the Riverland anymore so to be closer to them and our kids we will move closer to Adelaide.”

The 56-year-old said he is currently negotiating with his electricity broker to get the best deal for the next owners as prices continues to rise.

“I’m trying to negotiate a energy deal for the next four to five years so hopefully the next owner is looked after when they start taking over the business and can avoid any price hikes.”

“It’s hard to work out what business structure they will want to go with. We typically have run with overnight production to try and give the freshest product to the consumer but a lot of bakeries do a lot of day shift baking to save on electricity costs.

“We are trying to figure out what electricity prices will be doing in 2029 or 2030, it’ll be good to have it sorted out. Then there’s one less thing on my mind as wages and ingredient costs are skyrocketing.

“It can be a lot of work at the start but the best thing I did 21 years ago was to get in touch with an energy broker so I can get fixed rates for a certain length of time – that’s saved us a lot of money.”

“It’s been so humbling seeing all the messages people have left on our Facebook post, we’ve always wanted to serve our community and help with donations for sporting clubs, schools and more so it’s important we find the right people.

“The day I walk out of the bakery for the last time it’s going to be pretty hard.”