New owners, free bread at Great Harvest Bread Company

If you’re like me, Great Harvest Bread Company has been a little bit of a Huntsville mystery—until today.

We sat down with the new owner of Great Harvest Bread Company to find out what Great Harvest is all about and the plans she and her family have for the business.

Here’s five things to know.

1. The new owners took over in December

When Sarah Kaetterhenry’s husband was about to be out of the military, they started thinking about their next steps.

They considered moving to Montana (where Sarah’s from) or Texas (where her husband is from), but chose Huntsville. Unexpected, right? Sarah said it was very much so. But, they had a friend who convinced them, and they were excited about a church community here.

As they were in the process of moving here last year, they looked into buying a business and saw that Great Harvest was for sale. The previous owners had opened the location in 2018, but weren’t seeing it take off.

The opportunity was perfect. Great Harvest started in Montana, and Sarah can remember going there when she was growing up. She and her husband also thought it would be wonderful for their two little girls to grow up seeing how a business is run. They also loved how they could make it a hub for people to grow communities.

“God just kind of dropped it in our lap…this is the perfect opportunity that checks all the boxes.”
Sarah Kaetterhenry, owner of Huntsville’s Great Harvest Bread Company

And they took that opportunity in December of last year. Since then, they’ve been working hard to revitalize Great Harvest.

2. They make their bread fresh + give out free slices

Since December, Sarah and her team of bakers have made a lot of bread. But first, it was just Sarah.

“For the first while, I was doing all the baking, coming in at four every morning.”
Sarah Kaetterhenry, owner of Huntsville’s Great Harvest Bread Company

Since that time, they’ve hired a wonderful staff—and Sarah’s happy that she no longer has to come in at four o’clock in the morning.

But, they’re still committed to baking everything fresh, just like Sarah did in the beginning. They bake their breads fresh every single day, and they only sell bread from that day and the previous day.

To make the bread, they only use a handful of high-quality ingredients like bread you would bake at home. Sarah can easily name off all the base ingredients in their loaves—honey, water, yeast, flour and salt. For their whole wheat bread, they use house-milled flour from wheat that grows in Montana.

They also make some fun, special breads by throwing in some extra ingredients—from jalapeños, cheddar cheese and garlic to cinnamon chips (I highly recommend the cinnamon chip bread).

Plus, you can get a free slice of bread just by walking in the door—it’s the Great Harvest tradition.

3. Great Harvest goes beyond bread

But they don’t stop at bread. They’ve got fresh-baked goodies behind the counter every day—from cookies and brownies to bars and scones.

There’s also plenty of option on the cafe menu, which Sarah and her team have expanded since taking over. They’ve got everything from toasts and breakfast sandwiches for the morning to BLTs and melts for lunch.

If you’re looking to get into sourdough baking, Great Harvest also sells sourdough starter, and it’s the same starter they use in their sourdough bread—no fake flavors here.

And if that wasn’t enough, they also do catering, which Sarah is hoping to grow in the future.

All of these breads, sandwiches and goodies are vehicles for their mission and vision for Great Harvest in Huntsville.

4. It’s all about community

Sarah described the purpose beyond bread that fuels the new version of Great Harvest in Huntsville.

“We’re Christians, so we want to use our business to spread the gospel and glorify God.”
Sarah Kaetterhenry, owner of Huntsville’s Great Harvest Bread Company

But, Sarah explained that she wants to accomplish that by having a well-run business that is a top-notch experience for both the staff and the customers.

“The best way we can glorify God through this is by having the best bakery and cafe in the area.”
Sarah Kaetterhenry, owner of Huntsville’s Great Harvest Bread Company

She and her family enjoy being a part of the Huntsville community, and love that “there’s so many smart people doing really cool things.”

They’ve already “had lots of opportunities to foster community,” including working with Manna House. They give Manna House their extra bread, and get their lettuce for their sandwiches from Manna House’s hydroponic garden.

They hope to continue building that sense of community at Great harvest, especially during and after their grand re-opening.