Faces at the Farmers Market

By Ruth Melville
Photo by Bruce Frisch

Every Saturday morning during the outdoor market season, the Pittsfield Rye and Specialty Breads Company pulls its van up in front of Town Hall and starts to unload a cornucopia of freshly baked bread.

There is a bread for every bread lover’s taste: seeded, plain and marbled rye, challah, pumpernickel rye, a prizewinning oatmeal, cinnamon and raisin, ciabatta, the enticingly named Death by Chocolate and their signature bread, called Farmers Bread. The newest addition to their line of around 20 breads is Sun-Rye, made with honey, toasted sunflower seeds and cold stone-ground milled, sprouted and caramelized rye flour.

Pittsfield Rye is a longtime vendor at the Norfolk Farmers Market, but their history goes much further back than that. Owners Rick and Renée Robbins are the third generation of the Robbins family to be baking bread in Pittsfield, Mass. In 1929, Rick’s grandfather, Charlie Robbins, moved to Pittsfield from Brooklyn, bringing his rye bread recipe with him.

Rick’s parents, Arnie and Linda, eventually took over the business, as did Rick and Renée in turn. Rick’s parents offered a full line of baked goods, including cakes, pies, pastries—as many as 350 items a day. But when Rick and Renée took over the family business in 2002, they decided to focus on specialty breads and rolls. Rick is in charge of the baking operation, while Renée is responsible for sales and marketing.

Bakers’ hours are definitely not bankers’ hours. Rick says his day normally starts at 3 a.m., but some days start even earlier. All the baking is done in a modern 10,000-square-foot facility that is nut-free and kosher pareve. The five-deck stone oven ensures that each loaf has the right springiness, shine and crust.

Rick is proud of the company’s unique recipes. They use high-quality specialty ingredients—the Farmers Bread is made with sesame seeds, poppy seeds, minced onion, rye dill, honey and rye chops (made by chopping the whole rye berry into small pieces)—and he regularly researches and incorporates new recipes, techniques and ingredients.

He has high praise for his 18-member team and the company’s family atmosphere. “Everyone here cares about making a quality product,” he says. “We want to make a superior product, better tasting and healthier.”

 Rick got started in the baking business by working alongside his father. Now the Robbinses’ two children, daughter Randi and son Ryan, are helping out with the family business. It looks like the legacy of baking quality breads in Pittsfield will continue for at least a fourth generation.

Besides the Norfolk Farmers Market, Pittsfield Rye’s breads are available at farmers markets, fairs and supermarkets throughout the tristate area, including Stop & Shop (in the bakery section) and the Pittsfield Guido’s. Although they are primarily a wholesale baker, they have a retail store in Pittsfield that is open Fridays and Saturdays, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.