William Nicolaou has cemented himself as a standout star in the baking industry. The Bakers Delight franchisee swept the board at the recent Newcastle Baking Show including taking home the Bill Lewis Perpetual Trophy and Most Successful Bread Exhibitor.

Can you tell us about your early years in the baking industry?

I started off as cleaner/ bakers assistant at Bakers Delight Mittagong on the weekends at 16-years-old, coming in while still at school. After completing my HSC I was offered an opportunity to do an apprenticeship, which I took gratefully.

Through my four years as an apprentice baker I faced plenty  of challenges and leant a lot from experienced bakers around me and at TAFE. I gained an incredible amount of growth and experience in these years.

I competed in numerous bread shows and competed in World Skills, for which I received  lots of prizes and awards. I was nominated for the Bakers Delight Gillespie award (an awards program recognising rising talent within the business) and won a Bakers Delight Manage to Own scholarship, which helped fast track my journey to become a franchisee.

Halfway into my third year as an apprentice I became production manager. I went on to manage the store for more than 10 years and, just last year, I became the owner of the business.

What was it that made you want to become a baker?

I think the fact that we were customers first. We always purchased from Bakers Delight and always loved their lovely products. Also the fact you could start early morning and be finished by midday and have the rest of the day free – I really liked that aspect of it. I love the feeling of baking from scratch everyday as each day is different depending on what is required on the production schedule for that specific day.

You came home with the Bill Lewis Perpetual trophy and the Most Successful Bread Exhibitor trophies, in addition to another six first placings, at the Newcastle Baking Show. Can you tell us about the experience?

The experience was great. The competition was strong and I was so happy for the team to place very high. We are lucky that we have such a talented team that push themselves every day and love to challenge themselves against the best.

William at work at Bakers Delight Mittagong

Did you expect to take home so many trophies?

I had a good feeling going into the show as the product quality and flour consistency was really high in the week and on the day of the show especially. We knew competition was going to be tough as there are very highly talented bakers in NSW all competing against each other, so it is always a good challenge.

How long did it take you to prepare for this baking show, and what were you focusing on in the lead up?

We started to prepare a few days before. Our main focus was to make sure we had our sourdough culture and poolish prepared as well as possible and mixed at the perfect time, so on the day of the competition we could obtain the best possible results.

What’s up next for you?

We will be competing in a few more baking shows. I will be really focusing with our apprentice to help her compete and perform well in future shows. I think baking shows are such an important part of our industry to help test your skills against your peers in a competitive environment.

 What advice would you give to someone else just starting out in the baking industry?

It’s a long bumpy road but I would encourage you to compete in bread shows, ask questions, do the extra work, gain as much experience as you can, and never give up as the rewards are endless.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Never be scared to fail. You can fail 100 times, but you only have to succeed one time. Also, preparation is everything – fail to prepare, prepare to fail.