Four Generations of Baking
Our Story
The Krol Family has been baking quality breads and delicious products for more than 100 years - across four generations and two continents. From humble beginnings in a small Dutch village called Spaarndam through to the successful wholesale bread business established in Melbourne, Australia, in 1982, through to our quaint and little bread shop in Camberwell, the Krol Family Bakery continues to make breads, cakes and other delicious products affordable for everyone.
Abram Jan Krol (1884-1963)
1918 Spaarndam, The Netherlands: Abram Krol moves with his family to the charming village of Spaarndam in the province of North Holland. Spaarndam is famous because of a story within the 1865 novel, Hans Brinker, the Dutch boy who stuck his finger in the dike to prevent the town from flooding. A bakery was for lease at number 71 Spaarndammerdijk; the downstairs was a small retail shop with a bakery out the back, while the upstairs was a modest residence.
As World War I was coming to a close (despite the Netherlands remaining neutral throughout the conflict), supplies in Holland were scarce, with war having been waged on its doorstep for more than four years. Bread products made at “Bakkerij Krol” in those early years were simple white and wholemeal breads and rolls – a result of the available resources and the basic bread palate of the time.
But Abram Krol had started something he could never have imagined would still bear his name more than 100 years later – on the other side of the world, no less. Those humble beginnings – at a time when the world had so little left after years of destruction – instilled a spirit of providing for the community and bringing that much-loved staple of human nourishment to so many.
Reinier F. J. Krol (1912-1976)
Born the day after the Titanic sank, Reinier Krol was the first- born son of Abram Krol in a family that would ultimately produce 15 children. From a young age, Reinier worked with his father in Bakkerij Krol at 71 Spaarndammerdijk in Spaarndam. Reinier lived with his wife Grietje and two young boys in North Haarlem, not far from Spaarndam.
On 16 April 1943, during a German bombing raid on Amsterdam, Reinier and Grietje’s two boys were killed instantly when a bomb ripped through the attic of their North Haarlem house. Devastated and homeless, Reinier and Grietje moved into the residence above the bakery in Spaarndam, sharing the modest living quarters with Abram Krol and his wife Marijtje.
Reinier and Abram continued to work in the bakery together, regularly joined by Reinier’s brother Piet. As their father had done directly after the first World War, now the Krol family bakers provided for their community during and after World War II: white bread; wholemeal bread; some basic grain breads; bread rolls; and simple cakes. Despite the devastation of Holland by the war, the psychological impact of the loss of so many people and the scarce resources, Bakkerij Krol thrived and became one of Spaarndam’s most-beloved stores.
After the death of Marijtje in 1946, family friend, Paula Verdurmen, became an integral part of caring for the Krol family – not only as housekeeper and caregiver, but she also traveled throughout Spaarndam every day, selling the breads and rolls made at Bakkerij Krol, as well as working in the retail shop at number 71.
After the heartbreaking loss of losing their two children in the war, Reinier and his wife, Grietje, would ultimately have two more sons, Jan and Bram. While both dabbled in the family bakery business as young boys, only one would make it a life-changing profession…
Jan Krol (1945-2022)
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Jan Krol worked with his father in the family bakery in Spaarndam. Jan eventually left the family business to pursue a career in the police force. But with his father’s declining health – and ultimate passing in 1976 – Jan returned to Bakkerij Krol and moved into the residence with his wife Sonja, continuing to provide for the Spaarndam community. In the years after his father’s death, Jan began dreaming of “a better life” for his family. Destination: Australia. Jan visited Melbourne and Sydney in 1981 on a brief “scouting” holiday. He would later write in his account of the trip, “There wasn’t a quality European-style bread loaf to be found anywhere along the East coast… I knew immediately that it was a great opportunity to bring my family to this beautiful country and introduce a whole new range of breads.” On 16 April 1982 – on what would have been his father’s 70th birthday – Jan with his wife Sonja and two children Simone and Reinier, arrived at Tullamarine Airport in Melbourne.
Despite only a basic grasp on the English language, Jan immediately set about working in a number of local bakeries to gain an understanding of the Australian bakery industry and the Australian small business landscape. Just 12 months later, Jan leased a small shop at 353 High Street in Preston and the Australian chapter of “Bakkerij Krol” established 65 years earlier – now to be known as “Krol Redmill Bakery” – had begun. Along with a very small number of other bakeries in Melbourne (who’d also seen the opportunity in the marketplace), Jan Krol introduced into the Melbourne bread market a range of never-before-seen artisan and European-style breads, particularly the (then) crazy idea of Sourdough breads – literally a bread risen from natural fermentation that had soured. In addition to a variety of Sourdough breads, Krol Redmill Bakery quickly became known for its Allinsen, Fruitloaf, Dutch Currant Buns, Herb Bread and Corn Loaf.
In 1990, Krol Redmill Bakery moved to larger premises in Bayswater North. From there, Jan provided his extensive range of artisan breads to more than 100 delicatessens, health food stores, cafes and other small businesses around Melbourne, including the major delis at the Queen Victoria, South Melbourne and Prahran markets.
By 1997, in just 15 years, Jan had achieved his dream of bringing to the marketplace an exceptional quality bread product and, in so doing, built a hugely successful small business to provide his family with all the beauty, richness and spoils which had attracted him to “the lucky country” in that brief trip, all those years ago.
After retiring early and enjoying his well-earned time with wife Sonja, Jan Krol passed away on 31 July 2022, after a long struggle with illness.
Reinier H. J. Krol (1973-)
Arriving in Australia with his family at age 9, Reinier Krol quickly adjusted to life in a new country, learning the English language in only 4 weeks. Reinier first worked in his father’s bakery during school holidays and, after finishing high school, became a full-time baker at Krol Redmill Bakery.
After a number of years, Reinier left the bakery to pursue a career in film and television production, running a modestly successful business for many years… but in his heart, it always felt like there was something missing – that there was a different place Reinier needed to be.
When Reinier’s father, Jan, passed away in 2022, those conflicted feelings intensified and continued to bubble away. In 2023, Reinier made his father’s famous Sourdough Fruitloaf at home – remembering the recipe from all those years ago. It was delicious! A white vienna followed. Then, Allinsen bread. Finally, Reinier made his father’s sourdough. A wave of mixed emotions followed. How exciting to make these delicious breads after so many years and yet, Jan was no longer there to be part of it.
Not long thereafter, while shopping at a local bakery with his partner, Camberwell artist Rachel Grove, Reinier’s attention was drawn to that bakery’s fruit loaf. It cost more than $10 – and it wasn’t even that nice, with very little fruit. The breads too – wholemeal, white, sourdough – all super expensive. Reinier turned to Rachel: “This isn’t right. Good quality bread shouldn’t cost a fortune!”
Thinking back to his father’s business and also how both his grandfather and great grandfather had provided quality breads for their communities during and after the war, Reinier suddenly realised what he needed to do: “Bakkerij Krol” needed to come back – the Krol family of bakers needed to bring back their quality breads and make these products available to the community at an economical price.
As a fourth-generation baker, Reinier Krol returned to baking and restarted his father’s dream, now aptly as “Krol Family Bakery” in Camberwell.
Driven by what always inspired his forefather’s ambitions, it is Reinier’s goal to provide the community with an exceptional product, and to make these breads, cakes and other delicious products affordable for everyone. Healthy, quality, tasty breads should not be reserved only for the well-to-do.
A loaf of bread is a symbol of basic community spirit – whether referenced in religious texts thousands of years ago or heard in the desperate cries of hunger in war-torn countries a hundred years ago or desired by mums and dads today to provide for their children in tough economic times – great bread should be available and enjoyed by all.
Inspired by over 100 years of community spirit and drawing on the experience of four generations of baking delicious breads, cakes and pastries, Krol Family Bakery is committed to providing the best quality bakery products, handmade with the finest ingredients and free of chemicals and additives, and to always make those products affordable for the entire community.
