Imagine working in an office that didn’t have a boss. All decisions would be made through a vote and each employee would have ownership of the business. The employees of Arzimendi Bakery work in such a place.  As a worker-owned cooporitive, decisions at the Arzimendi Association are made by group committees, not individuals. There are five locations around the Bay Area including one in the Mission District on 24th at Valencia.

We spoke to Yeni from Arzimendi who shared that she is often questioned about the business’ unique system. She explained that decisions may take longer to make by a group but ‘worker-owners’ are more involved and invested because, “the success and failure of the business is on us, not a supervisor.”  Their inspired baked goods and breads certainly delight the masses as there is frequently a line extending out the door of the bakery and they sometimes sell out of goods at the Mission Mercado. Yeni said one of her favorite parts about operating a stand at the Mission Mercado is her ability to interact and talk to shoppers about the products and offer tastings. Her favorite items at the market right now are the Caramelized Onion and Gouda Sourdough Boules and the Lavender Shortbread Cookies. Every single day Arzimendi creates a different type of “thin crust” pizza, a fruit scone, and a bread pudding. They announce these flavors on their twitter account @arizmendi_val, so follow them to stay up-to-date!

Yeni said that they’ll be featuring a ‘Red White and Blue Pie’ at the shop with raspberries, white peaches and blueberries in the coming weeks! Keep an eye out for tasty treats from Arizmendi at MCM each week 4-8pm on Thursdays!