On 50 Mikras Asias Street, in Kato Toumba, a historical point of the city’s gastronomy, the “Koukoumeria Bakery”, has been operating for over a century. The name of the street is not coincidental, since the footsteps of the business also began in Asia Minor, with the great-grandfather of the family, Vassilis Koukoumerias, coming to Thessaloniki in 1922, as a refugee from Iconium, where he worked as a baker and transferring the his art in Kato Toumba.

As his son passed away early, Vassilis Koukoumerias, continued the art of baking together with his daughter-in-law, Eliso, until, at the age of 16, the work was continued by his grandson, also Vassilis.

Always listening to people’s preferences and looking for something new, the latter began, in the 80s, visiting industry exhibitions in Germany, learning about black breads. A few years later, however, brown bread began to make its way beyond the Koukoumeria family home and into neighboring homes. Thus, the bakery started its own, unique production, which became more and more widespread in the wider area, alongside an orientation to more special breads, along with all the classic proposals.

The fourth and fifth generations

In the same decade, pies and flour confectionery products were added, while the reins were gradually taken over by his children, Dimitris and Elsa who, having started at a young age, with their “first job” the task of distributing labels for the orders in the pans, they got to direct the entire production.

Following in their father’s footsteps, the two have further enriched the products on the store’s shelves, with breads with nuts, raisins, sweeter flavors and special suggestions for the holidays, often inspired by recipes from abroad. Next to them is Elsa’s 25-year-old son, who is already studying Baking and Pastry.

Point – station in the history of the company, the change of building, when, in 1991, the refugee building that housed the bakery was demolished and a 500 m2 space was created in the same place, with a workshop, shop and flour confectionery department where the company’s 100 years of operation were celebrated.

A hundred years of quality products

Being the first bakery in the region for the time it opened, “Koukoumeria Bakery” has written more than 100 years of history to date and continues to be, every day, a point – station in the tastes of the city, synonymous with quality and every special taste of bread, with its products being enriched every year, just before the end of summer.

It dominates an emblematic spot in the area and offers a wide range of more than 40 types of bread, which you will hardly find anywhere else. From the classic bread, which is not missing from any home table, to slow-rising bread, hazelnut breads, wholemeal breads, sourdough breads – such as sourdough Hagioritiko bread or semi-white with sourdough shepherd’s yeast – rustic and corn breads, bread with chia seeds and other products in line with nutritional trends, Zeas two-grain and of course, many German-style breads.

The company’s latest proposal is the sourdough sheet bread – you will find it in rustic and wholemeal – which is also their anniversary product for the 100 years of the business. It is a slow ripening bread, which is left for 15 hours to take its volume before being cut, until it is placed, at four in the morning, on the baking sheet and then in the oven. Delicious, well-made and hot, it becomes irresistible every day.

Among the products that stood out a lot, beyond the bakery, was and is the Greek Easter bread from the “Koukoumeria” Bakery. It started from the admission that, as a product, it is rarely made at home anymore and very quickly became – in addition to being extremely good and delicious – the second most sold product every day, along with black breads.

In the suggestions for snacks and breakfast, olive bread and raisin bread, simple Thessaloniki bread roll, but also with raisins, mushrooms, cheese or pepper, breadsticks of all kinds, village cheese pie and spinach pie and cheese pies and of course bougatsa with cream, cheese or minced meat.

The wide variety of proposals also includes Viennese, Danish, pretzels, dips, syrup-soaked sweets and other sweets – and many fasting items – while “local” Asia Minor recipes stand out, such as the Smyrna pretzel, another reason to visit the place.

Their “motto” is autonomy

The motto of the Koukoumeria family was and always is autonomy. Not depending on any third party for their production part, being a purely productive bakery. Everything, from the breads that are shaped to a large extent by hand, to the buns, tarts and the rest of the confectionery, is produced by the people of the business, with love and conscientiousness.

For Elsa Koukoumeria, also President of the Thessaloniki Bakers Association “Profitis Ilias” since 2016 – she is the first female President of the organization and has also participated as a judge in the World Baking Competition – baking is a “creative, beautiful profession” , despite the tension and daily fatigue it involves, that in order to practice it, one must really love it.

After all, her own business went through the “golden” decades of the 80s and 90s, experienced the difficulties of recent years and her experience shows her that, “whoever does his job well, will survive and develop”. As she says, “one may not become rich as a baker, but what matters is that so many people will eat from their hands”.

“Equality” of quality and price

Bread decorates a table and every customer wants it to be delicious. What the company tries to maintain, is the “equilibrium” in the relationship between quality and price, satisfying the world’s demand for a “super” product. The success tip of its long journey is the confidence it offers to the world, in terms of quality and taste, and it is no coincidence that, even though it is not located in the center, many go all the way there to enjoy its products.

Relationships that carry on the tradition

From 1922 until today, the products of “Koukoumeria Bakery” “smell” tradition, warmth and deliciousness and are inextricably linked to our most beautiful family moments.

They stand out mainly for their taste, the first most important ingredient on a table. And the company itself stands out for its hundred-year history, which has secured it stable customers for over half a century, who also do the best word-of-mouth advertising. It is the relationships that give value and continue the tradition. And here, as it seems, the tradition will last for many more years!

Tip 1: The bakery is open every day, except Sundays, from 07.00 to 16.30 and on holidays from 07.00 to 19.00.

Tip 2: Orders can be placed via e-food and Box, and if you are a resident of the area, you can also make orders by phone.