Banyan Breads specializes in sourdough bread, local grains, and creative flavor combinations. “Sometimes, I make a more traditional, old-school farmer bread,” owner Sheridan Plummer explains. “And I also do weird flavors for my sourdough of the week.”

Plummer’s recipes have ranged from maple, pecan, and bacon to a loaf inspired by cookie dough. She’s also made a macaroni and cheese focaccia, incorporating all the ingredients of mac and cheese minus the pasta. “It’s really fun, because it keeps baking entertaining for me,” she says. “And my regulars really trust me and enjoy the bread, so that’s awesome.”

The Banyan Bread customer community grew out of three years of connecting through pop-ups and farmers markets. And in August, Plummer opened a brick-and-mortar microbakery in downtown Salida.

Although Plummer didn’t always envision herself running a bakery, she’s always loved cooking. She grew up in Miami, spending time in the kitchen with her mom and sister and sometimes making elaborate meals that took hours to make. She began channeling that creativity into baking, starting with no-knead bread, after experiencing Vermont’s vibrant bread culture while in college.

“Once you’ve had incredible bread, there’s no going back,” she relates.

During that period, Plummer also majored in environmental studies, which helped her connect the food she created and consumed with the broader importance of sustainable food systems. “I learned that your food choices are one of the most tangible, direct ways that you can make a difference in your environmental footprint.”

Before long, she was working early mornings at a local baking operation that supplied bread to grocery stores and restaurants. Surprisingly, she found she even enjoyed the early morning hours.

After college, Plummer relocated to Costa Rica and started selling sourdough in addition to her nine-to-five job. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she began envisioning a bakery of her own and developing a basic business plan—including the name Banyan Breads. The name “is meant to invoke that feeling of love and security” she felt sitting under banyan trees as a child, she writes on her website. 

After moving to Salida in 2020, she continued to pursue that passion, spending several years at Little Red Hen (a former CGC-member artisan bakery). There, she became head baker and manager, gaining hands-on experience with Colorado-grown  grains. The team milled its own flour, and in 2023, Plummer and her co-workers attended UCCS Grain School, co-hosted by Colorado Grain Chain,  in Cortez, CO, which deepened their knowledge of the state’s grain system. 

Just as importantly, Plummer’s time at Little Red Hen helped her build the skills and community connections that would eventually support her own venture. She started small, hosting pop-ups at local businesses and regularly attending Salida’s weekly summer farmers markets. 

The farmers markets became a cornerstone for Banyan Bread’s growth. Not only did they provide time to connect with the customers that would become regulars — frequently helping her sell out of products — but also fostering relationships with fellow vendors and providing inspiration for new flavors.

“I get a bunch of my inspiration from Rocky Mountain Garlic,” she says. The family farm specializes in garlic and mixed vegetables, and Plummer draws on its seasonal offerings to create new breads and spreads. Earlier this year, she used the farm’s black garlic to make a black garlic cream cheese. Later in the season, she incorporated jalapenos into her bread.

“It’s a fun creative puzzle, and I get to make all these decisions myself,” she explains.

Even after moving into the brick-and-mortar space, Plummer expects to keep attending the farmers market because of the fun and the community.

The opportunity to open a storefront came together quickly earlier this summer. “A friend of mine owned a bánh mì shop here, but was ready to move on, and reached out to me,” she explains. “The ball went rolling after that. Within a month, I’d started a new lease.”

“I got a ton of help and support from the Salida Small Business Development Council,” she shares. “They helped me with my business plan, my health department paperwork, questions about taxes, getting all of the various licenses and approvals.”  loads of things that would have been very difficult to figure out myself.” 

To maximize production space in the microbakery, she gave it walk-up service windows that customers order from—inspired by the ventanitas ("little windows") in Cuban cafes she had known as a child in Miami.

At Banyan Breads, the concept offers a chance for customers to browse the day’s bread selection displayed in the window before placing their orders at the door. Plummer typically stocks six to eight options, including baguettes, rye bread, country loaves, whole wheat bread, brioche buns, and bagels.

“The idea is to stop as people do some of their grocery shopping,” Plummer says.

A few months into the new venture, Plummer is still learning the nuances of the set-up and the demands of running a storefront. “It’s been a lot of work, and I am doing the vast majority of things myself,” she explains. “Not only am I the head baker, I’m the dishwasher, the social media manager, and the accountant.” 

There are small challenges like the open window creating drafts. And there are big wins like seeing returning customers or welcoming visitors to Salida who photograph her bread as a memorable part of their travels.

“I never felt that I was a hundred percent ready for this change,” she explains. “I told myself, ‘do it scared, but just do it. We’re going to figure it out step-by-step. Not everything has to be perfect to get it done.’ If you chase your dream, you have to do it scared.”

Having a strong support network has helped make the leap possible. Plummer’s fiancé, future mother-in-law, and family have been there to lend their time, space, and encouragement. Beyond that circle, she’s found another source of support in the Colorado Grain Chain.

Plummer has attended the Colorado Grain Summit for the past two years and left feeling elated and motivated both times. “Being able to talk with other business owners in the movement is inspiring,” she recalls, listing stories about Rebel Bread in Denver and Jones Farms Organics in the San Luis Valley.

It was also meaningful to be celebrated and supported as an emerging baker. At the 2024 Summit, she connected with Kris Gosar of Mountain Mama Milling, who helped her arrange a small order of local wheat and rye. He was able to accommodate her needs as a small-scale baker, and the connection grew into a friendship.

“It’s such a cool network of people,” she adds. “Being a part of the Colorado Grain Chain lends a level of legitimacy.” 

That connection also gives Plummer a way to introduce more people to Colorado-grown grains. “People in Salida love the idea of using local foods, but they don’t always think of grains,” she continues. “I always wear my Colorado Grain Chain apron, so I can point people in that direction.”

In many ways, building Banyan Breads has brought Plummer full circle to the values she embraced while studying environmental studies in college. She wanted to find tangible ways to support sustainable food systems and the environment, and now she can put those ideals into practice through her everyday work.

“I really latched onto that idea then, and being a part of the local food scene now, I can provide that,” she says.

Looking ahead, Plummer hopes to deepen Banyan Breads’ connections within the Salida community. She has recently begun supplying bread to a local food truck and a nearby restaurant, and she’d love to expand the shop’s offerings with a small refrigerator stocked with butter and cream cheese.

“I want to keep growing connections while making sure that everything else is staying afloat,” she says.