Haya Fine ’22 has never known a time as a Breadsmith counter staff before COVID-19. She began working at the Edina bakery this summer, where she worked nearly 30 hours every week. During the school year, she works four hours after school every Monday.
However, she says she’s always felt safe. The team employs an impressive amount of safety checks for customers and employees, some of which include temperature checks, symptom checks, thorough sanitization, social distancing measures, plexiglass dividers, required face coverings, and protective gear for handling the baked goods.
Fine describes the increased level of personal responsibility surrounding COVID-19, saying, ìIf you catch yourself touching your face or anything around you, you have to remember to immediately go wash your hands. This is especially important to remember because we are handling food.
The business, like many others, has faced some challenges. Anti-maskers pose a threat to the health and safety of employees and other customers in the building, and Fine describes some of the instances that are frustrating to deal with, such as customers who insist on wearing their masks below their noses or taking it off to speak to us, which defeats the whole purpose of the mask.
Since many of the employees graduated in 2020, this caused a momentary shortage of workers in the bakery during the summer. Despite these challenges, the business has been thriving and will continue to serve their artisanal breads during the new set of COVID-19 restrictions. They have reported more customers than ever, even with an earlier closing time. Most small businesses may not be able to flaunt the same level of success as Breadsmith.
