GAIL'S may have started life in Hampstead High Street, but it has risen to become a major UK brand, with branches of its bakeries across London, Manchester and the North West.
So when they change the recipes of their much-loved loaves, it's a big deal.
I was invited into their creative studio in Camden Town's Hawley Wharf last month to hear the reasons behind the move - and taste the new loaves.
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Four of their bread recipes changed in late February and they have added a new house sourdough, which reuses the previous day's unsold bread.
It's part of a two-year project to change the way they bake with an eye to health, flavour, and sustainability.
The ciabatta, waste-less sourdough, potato and rosemary sourdough, and baguette now have added whole grains in addition to wheat.
Having given them a try, I can attest that the emmer, spelt, rye and barley make the loaf and crust darker and chewier - and taste 'nuttier'.
GAIL'S are keen that these grains are grown in ways that support biodiversity and better farming, which can feed humans for future generations.
Barley, for example, is key to the kind of crop rotation that supports soil health and diversity, while heritage grains such as emmer and spelt are bidding for wider acceptance among farmers and buyers.
Slicing through a loaf to show us the air pockets and crumb, GAIL'S executive master baker Anomarel Ogen said: “For almost the entirety of human civilisation, bread has fed humans.
"Bread is at the core of what we do at GAIL’s and baking with diverse whole grains from farmers focused on soil health reflects another step in our ever-deepening commitment to honouring the sacred bond between farmer, miller and baker."
But are the customers on board?
GAIL'S waste-less sourdough has won awards and fans for its flavour and is made up roughly of one third of the previous day's surplus bread. Now with its mix of wheat, emmer, spelt, rye and barley, it has a dark, chestnut-scented crust.
My favourite product, the potato and rosemary sourdough, features aromatic freshly chopped rosemary, nigella seeds and potatoes baked with their skins on. The addition of the emmer, spelt, rye and barley gave it a slight bitterness that I wasn't wholly on board with, but GAIL'S baguette, which now has an off-white crumb, had a pleasingly thick, chewy crust.
If you are wedded to white bread then Anomarel has developed a vegan Challah that would usually be enriched with egg, but retains the Jewish loaf's light, slightly sweet, moist character.
GAIL'S CEO Tom Molnar confessed they did get customer pushback when they trialled additional grains in their white sourdough.
In the end a good bakery is about choice, and it seems some people just want their white bread to be white.
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