Artisan Bakehouse is a 100% Kiwi-owned artisan bread producer based in Hornby South, Christchurch, making preservative-free garlic breads, butter rolls, and gourmet ciabattas from locally sourced Canterbury grain. The business was founded by Jason Scott, who began his career as an apprentice baker at New World Timaru and went on to build a nationally recognised brand supplying supermarkets and restaurants across New Zealand and beyond.
What started as a small Wigram bakery has grown into a fully-fledged artisan production facility. Every product in the range is crafted by a team of skilled artisans using traditional methods and real ingredients — no preservatives, no shortcuts. The range spans three product families: classic garlic breads, garlic butter rolls, and gourmet ciabattas, each available in classic, sweet chilli, and basil pesto variants.
Artisan Bakehouse products are stocked at Woolworths, New World, Pak'nSave, FreshChoice, Four Square, and Pasta Vera stores nationwide. The bakehouse also runs a fundraising programme for schools and community groups. Customers describe the garlic bread as fluffy and full of genuine garlic flavour, with the Sweet Chilli Butter Rolls drawing particular praise as a family snack.
Some food businesses begin with a single product made well. Artisan Bakehouse is one of them. What started as Jason Scott's first loaf of bread in a small Wigram bakery has grown into a nationally recognised brand found on supermarket shelves from one end of New Zealand to the other.
Jason's path to founding Artisan Bakehouse began in the trade itself — he trained as an apprentice baker at New World Timaru before going on to build the skills and instincts that now define the product. The transition from apprentice to artisan to nationally distributed brand is a story of genuine craft scaling without compromise, with the same commitment to traditional methods and real ingredients underpinning every loaf, roll, and ciabatta the bakehouse produces.
Based at 19 Klondyke Drive in Hornby South, Christchurch, Artisan Bakehouse is proudly 100% Kiwi owned and uses locally sourced Canterbury grain. Products are preservative-free — a deliberate choice that reflects the bakehouse's founding principle: that bread should be made from real ingredients, not from a label full of numbers.
The range centres on three formats — garlic breads, garlic butter rolls, and gourmet ciabattas — each available in a set of flavour variations that have found strong followings in households across New Zealand.
The garlic bread line includes the classic Garlic Bread Twin Pack and the Sweet Chilli Garlic Bread Twin Pack — the latter delivering a gentle heat alongside the garlic butter flavour that has made it a pantry staple for many families. Reviewers have described the garlic bread as "nice and fluffy with great garlic taste" and called it, simply, "the best garlic bread on the market."
The rolls range spans Garlic Butter Rolls (4 pack), Basil Pesto Garlic Butter Rolls (4 pack), and Sweet Chilli Garlic Butter Rolls (4 pack). The Sweet Chilli Butter Rolls in particular have attracted loyal customers who describe them as "absolutely delicious" and a favourite afternoon snack for children.
The ciabatta range — Garlic Butter Ciabatta, Basil Pesto Garlic Butter Ciabatta, and Sweet Chilli Garlic Butter Ciabatta — rounds out the offer with a lighter, Italian-style bread that works equally well as a standalone snack, a base for open sandwiches, or alongside soups and pastas.
Artisan Bakehouse products are stocked across a wide network of New Zealand supermarkets and grocery retailers, including Woolworths, New World, Pak'nSave, FreshChoice, Four Square, and Pasta Vera. The reach of the brand means that for most New Zealanders, finding Artisan Bakehouse on the shelf is a matter of checking the bread aisle rather than planning a special trip.
The bakehouse also runs a fundraising programme, making it a practical choice for schools and community groups looking for a product with genuine appeal and strong household recognition.
For those who prefer to buy direct or want to get in touch with the team, contact details are available on the website — Jason and the team are reachable by email and phone from the Hornby South base.