Baking Business caught up with the 2025 national Excellence in Baking winners Jonathan Yates and Lewis Combes to hear all about the competition and their plans for the future.

Lewis Combes: National Excellence in Baking winner (pastry)

Congratulations on winning Excellence in Baking. How was the preparation for the competition?

Thank you very much. The preparation for that was pretty intense. I was doing practicing every week and staying back at work and for it. But yeah, yeah, yeah, it’s amazing. The competition was actually really fun. I would recommend it to all apprentices, because I learned so much from it.

You’ll be going on to compete as part of Team Australia at next year’s ANZBake. What will the next year look like for you?

I’m not really sure, I haven’t really heard much about ANZBake yet, but I have just qualified from the apprenticeship, so that’s cool.

Amazing! What does that mean for you in the coming months?

It’s just a special note. I’m working at Gumnut Patisserie as a full-time pastry chef and I probably will be for a couple years to come. It’s more of a management role now.

Why did you start an apprenticeship, and what was it that drew you to the industry?

Well, I was cleaning trays and doing dishwashing as a part-time job while I was at school, and I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do after school. As I was watching these guys – all the pastry chefs like Tracy and Vicki [Nickl, Gumnut Patisserie owners] make the stuff that they make I was thinking “this is crazy. Wow, I want to make that”.

I ended up asking Tracy if I could become an apprentice and he agreed.

Was working with Tracy and Vicki what drew you towards pastry?

Yeah, pretty much. They’re extremely passionate and very inspiring. I just love dessert.

What do you love most about the work?

What I love most is the kitchen, to be honest. The kitchen is a lot of fun, and working together as a team and achieving something where what people love what we do. I’d say the most fun part is the sugar.

I loved doing the sugar on the Saint Honore that I made. It was really fun to learn that and I’ve been making them for the shop and it’s been amazing. I did not know that skill before the [Excellence in Baking] competition.

What are your future career plans?

I would love to work in hotels or travel around the world and learn from different people, and maybe in the future own my own business.

Jonathan Yates: National Excellence in Baking winner (bread)

Congratulations on winning the Excellence in baking. So how was the competition experience for you?

It was a little bit hectic, but fun. I was trying to get everything right.

For the state round everybody had the same recipe given to them, so that was testing my knowledge. There were fairly simple things that I had made before, so it was just recreating that. Preparing for the national competition was a bit more hands on. It was getting my recipes all ready, making sure they’re all the correct weights.

My boss here at Toodyay Bakery was kind enough to let me use the bakery to practice on my days off, and TAFE was able to let me practice over there as well. I tried my best to squeeze everything in for it, because I did WorldSkills as well and was also practicing for the BAA at the same time.

How do you prep for the two competitions that one time?

Luckily, a few of the doughs in WorldSkills were also in Excellence in Baking, so I used the same recipe for both competitions. It was just scaling it up a bit.

You’re going on to be part of Team Australia at next year’s ANZBake. What will the next year look like for you?

Just kind of preparing for that and more practicing once I find out what I’m going to be doing [for the competition.

When did you start your apprenticeship, and what drew you to the baking industry?

Before I started working at Toodyay Bakery, I was working at IGA and was doing a little frozen dough. So, I was learning how to prove bread and everything – basically just the bare minimum for baking. I really liked it, and then my partner saw there was an opportunity at Toodyay Bakery to be an apprentice baker. I was thinking about it and she kept pushing me and pushing me until I gave in.

I had learnt how to do the frozen stuff, so actually making everything from scratch was a bit of a learning curve.

What do you love most about working in the industry?

All the connections that you make within the industry. It’s a pretty close industry – everybody knows each other. I just love like connecting with everyone and meeting people. Some of the people from BAA that I competed with have gone on to being mentors, and getting to connect with them again was amazing.

I just love the work – not too fussed about the hours, but I really enjoy the work. It’s very therapeutic. When you see everything you’ve made after a good night’s work, it’s just amazing.

What are your plans for the future?

I’m still going to be working at Toodyay Bakery. I have no plans on leaving; I’m getting a few more responsibilities around the workplace.