The Making of a Pop-Up Bakery

Every fortnight on a residential street in Walthamstow, east London, a queue forms at one front window. People are here to grab one of a limited number of goods on offer from Cantonese- British microbakery Lucky Yu. Founder Hai Lin Leung slings sesame soy congee sourdoughs, pineapple and umami spring onion tarts, and fermented tofu and parmesan buns directly from her kitchen.

“I’d always enjoyed baking at home — but at scale, not just for friends,” she says. It’s a meditative and fun hobby, but not cheap. “For it to be sustainable, I knew I actually had to sell my bread, because then I can continue my practice while covering the cost of producing it all.”

She got the idea after overhearing someone talking about selling their microbakery setup, and enrolled on a sixmonth artisan baking course to learn the ropes. In November 2023, she launched Lucky Yu.

While most ‘micro’ businesses have a few employees — up to nine, by definition — microbakeries are smaller operations, often run by a single passionate individual making 10 loaves or more in their home kitchens, part time or alongside a day job.

Lucky Yu is a typical example. Leung bakes every two weeks in her basement, producing around 25 loaves, 18 focaccia, 120 buns and 24 other cakes, slices or biscuits. They’re mostly sold via pre-order on Instagram, but a few are available for walk-ups.

The UK bread market is expected to grow by 15% over the next two years, from £7.8bn in 2024 to £9bn by 2026. People have always loved bread, obviously, but they increasingly want better quality. Bakeries with a hyperlocal and smallbatch focus embody this. Leung recommends checking out George Fuest’s Populations, Naomi Blair Gould’s vegan bakery Seasons and Ancient Lights Bakery in Forest Gate.

2024 was a whirlwind for Leung and Lucky Yu, ending with a pop-up at east London cafe Bake Street. More collabs and experimentation are on the cards for 2025, but the bakery is likely to stay micro. Leung is a qualified doctor, and currently training full-time to become a GP. On top of this, she also works one day a week at St John Smithfield. For someone who likes being busy with different things, it’s the ideal set up.

@luckyyubakery

£59m

The amount spent in the UK on sourdough bread in the year to 17 March 2024, according to Kantar