Bakery business – all in the family

Viands Brothers in Kihikihi has been providing handmade food, both savoury and sweet, for 16 years. But its history goes back much further. Wintec journalism student Mathew Pearce spoke with co-owner and fourth-generation baker, Grayson Atwill.

The word “Viand” is old-fashioned term for food. Well, you can get food just about anywhere, but down SH3 is a bakery call “Viands Brothers” where you will find some of the best baked food in the Waikato.

Viands (pronounced V-eye-ands) has been in business, though under a different name, since 1994. It’s cherished by locals and has won numerous awards for its pies.

In 2022, Viands changed its name to Viands Brothers to show the new ownership of Shannon and Grayson Atwill along with their wives Jane Atwill and Khelsie Innes-Atwill.

The Atwill family have been baking since the ‘nineties, moving up from the South Island to Gisborne where they opened their own shop, “Gillgren’s Bakery” in 1994.

It was while at Gillgren’s that a 12-year-old Grayson got introduced to the world of baking. He was in intermediate school and wanted a weekend job for a little bit of pocket money. He got it, but tells me while he enjoyed it, he also regretted it as it became all consuming.

 “When mum and dad bought the business, everything revolved around it…all the family outings and all that sort of stopped.”

The hours were long as well: “when I was at school, I was working about 35 hours, nearly a full-time job. So, staying at school was a bit of a waste of time.”

He left school early and moved into full-time work in the business, and in 2010 the Atwill’s made the move North and bought Viand’s bakery.

The family ran the business until Grayson and his brother Shannon took it on following the retirement of parents John and Lynda Atwill .  

“When mum and dad bought the business, everything revolved around it…”

There’s a rumour that baking might be in the blood and that Grayson’s great-grandmother was one of the first women bakers in the country.

“I think Dad, in some article, at one stage said his grandmother was one of the first (female) bakers in New Zealand … don’t know if she was qualified,” said Grayson.

“That’s what he just said anyway…but it’s not official or anything.”

Grayson and Shannon have some plans to update the shop, which currently has a modest outdoor seating area and large cabinets stocked with everything from doughnuts to custard squares and from pies to sausage rolls.

One thing I was curious about, with Grayson and his brother being the fourth generation, whether Grayson’s kids would ever take on the bakery and the responsibilities?

“…my son’s quite young still… and he’s a lot brighter than me. So I’d want him to do something else…but I’m not saying it’s impossible.”

When asked where he sees the bakery in 20 years, he laughed, “Jesus… I want to be retired!’

For more information about Viands Brothers, visit their Facebook page: www.facebook.com/viands.co.nz

Mathew Pearce is a Diploma in Journalism student. This is his first story for the Waikato Independent.