An Online Irish Bakery Arrives, Just in Time for St. Paddy’s Day
/
By Anna de Carvalho, Edible DC
The luck of the Irish may have just come your way if you were looking for traditional soda bread or other treats during this most Irish time of year. GreenIsland Bakery has arrived as a local, woman-owned online bakery that ships authentic Irish and European baked goods and pastries right to your door. We sampled the full range of GreenIsland’s shortbread cookies, and can report that they are remarkably delicious.
Caroline Johnston, a business executive and native of Northern Ireland, was missing the taste of her family’s pastries and baked goods. Her career led her to live across Europe, but it wasn’t until she moved to the United States that she decided to open GreenIsland Bakery (named after her hometown) to share her family’s recipes with the world. Based in DC, the bakery got its start with The Union Kitchen, a food business accelerator, where Johnston is currently baking all the goods and shipping all her baked products. Their current pop-up location is at the Irish Inn in Glen Echo, MD.
Caroline Johnston, founder of GreenIsland Bakery.
GreenIsland Bakery has a baked goods lineup that features traditional Irish breads, scones, cupcakes and other bready bakes. Her top sellers include many different shortbreads, including plain, chocolate, caramel, oatmeal and strawberry, which can be made gluten-free if desired. Any of the cookies can be delivered anywhere in the U.S. but the breads, cupcakes and scones are only available for local DC delivery or pickup.
It’s no surprise that opening a bakery in the middle of COVID has been challenging. Johnston has been happy to report that her bakery customer base is quickly growing. And starting in January, the bakery started a partnership with BreadCoin, a nonprofit organization whose partners help fund food tokens. Those food tokens are distributed to recipients in need who can use them to purchase food from participating vendors. Future plans? Johnston hopes to open up more pop-ups outdoors and hopefully, post-COVID, a more permanent location in DC.
GreenIsland Bakery: 1369 New York Ave. NE, Washington, DC | 202-629-0310
Mo–Su 9am–5pm | GreenIslandbakery.com | info@greenislandbakery.com
