Meet LaRae Biocic | Owner Sweet Kiwi Bakery

We had the good fortune of connecting with LaRae Biocic and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi LaRae, what principle do you value most?
Sweet Kiwi was started by a tribe of women with an entrepreneurial spirit. A collective of artists, bakers, and mama’s, with roots in creativity and a desire to nourish those around us. In our daily efforts, we aim to make our bakery experience impactful from start to finish. Our mission from the inception of Sweet Kiwi, has always been to feed the body and soul in all that we do. We believe that feeding people is loving them; our hope is that after visiting Sweet Kiwi, your day is brighter. My background in baking stems from being a self-trained baker. With an eye for design and a drive to deliver delicious creations, I built a portfolio of special occasion confections. Over the years, our company has grown with additional amazing bakers, baristas, and wonderful customers who choose to celebrate their everyday moments and special occasions with us. We desire to build a thriving community inside and outside the walls of our bakery. I’m so very grateful for the wonderful team and customers that we have surrounding us. I and my company are here today because of the generous support of our team, our families, and our community. When I’m not in the kitchen creating custom orders with lots of love, you’ll find me enjoying our beautiful Grand Valley with family and friends, experiencing new adventures and tasting new foods.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My background in baking stems from being a self-trained baker. With an eye for design and a drive to deliver delicious creations, I built a portfolio of special occasion confections. Over the years, our company has grown with additional amazing bakers, baristas, and wonderful customers who choose to celebrate their everyday moments and special occasions with us. We desire to build a thriving community inside and outside the walls of our bakery. I’m so very grateful for the wonderful team and customers that we have surrounding us. Our story has not been easy, we have had set backs, promised dreams that were lost, heartache and heart break. We went through major staff changes that left a hole in lots of people who were close. We turned around to face Covid straight on and all the ups and downs and new changes that brought on but somehow through it all our core values survived, we came back stronger and more equipped to handle hard situations. We are not perfect but we strive to provide an experience that is, we keep learning and growing and will continue to be better because it is who we are and an experience our customers and community deserve.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
The grand valley is known for its beautiful scenery and picturesque views. We all love supporting local so it wouldn’t be a surprise to take you around the town to some of our favorite spots. Of course we would stop by kiln coffee bar on Main Street in Grand Junction to sip on their specialty coffee that they roast, did I mention they may just carry a few pastries from Sweet Kiwi and also provide us with our delicious beans for the shop. Waking around through any of the stores down town provides a wide variety of specialty shops that are unique to our town. We may have to do a tour for lunch because between Cafe Sol, taco party, goat n clover and an amazing bin burger I am not sure which one I would go to first but hey, you said we have a week right?!? We enjoy being out doors so a hike or walk through some of the trails would for sure be on the agenda. Driving over the monument and landing in Fruita for some great local breweries, pizza from Hot Tomato and if we need an afternoon pick me up another coffee stop at Best slope coffee. There is so much we could do I could honestly go on and on, however the trip wouldn’t be complete with out a dinner out at Peche restaurant in Palisade another cute small town with epic dining! Peche creates some of the most amazing and complex dishes I have ever experienced, they are dreamers quite like myself which why I am sure I feel quite at home there and their amazing dessert gives me inspiration and appreciation for food in art form!
I love to cook, bake and host so hanging out at sweet kiwi bakery would for sure be on the agenda, almost as good as having you over to my house and in the kitchen!

Website: https://www.sweetkiwibakery.com/

Instagram: Sweet_kiwi_bakery

Facebook: Sweet Kiwi Bakery

Image Credits
Liz Trujillo Jamie Bumbgardner