Ebert family realizes dream with opening of Brillion’s Batch Baker Co.

June 15, 2023

By Christopher Johnson

The Brillion News

A full version of this story appears in the June 15, 2023 print edition of The Brillion News.

BRILLION – Although it’s been several years in the making, Michael and Ashley Ebert are turning their dream of owning their own bakery into reality with the opening of their own shop, Batch Baker Co. After a week of providing drive-through service only, Batch Baker Co. opened its doors to local foot traffic June 5, located at 115 Jackson St. in the heart of Brillion.

“We’ve taken the opening in steps to give us some time because everything is brand new, we’ve needed to be able to adjust on the fly as well as get into a rhythm with training and this approach has worked out very well for us,” Michael explains. “We had talked about opening our own shop for years, and Ashley’s sister was getting married, so we started Batch Baker Co. in August 2020 in a rented kitchen in Hilbert. During that time Ashley would cater for parties, weddings, and after a while we just decided we’d open up our own brick and mortar shop.”

The couple, who had grown up in Whitelaw and graduated from Valders High School, were now Brillionites through and through, and they were set on opening their bakery in the small city they now call home.

“We moved to Brillion in 2015 and we live two blocks away from the shop, our children go to school right up the street, and so we were determined to stay in Brillion,” Michael said. “While we did explore options like in Appleton early on, and other buildings here in Brillion, nothing matched what we were looking for until we checked out this place.”

The building that housed the former Randy’s Central, known locally for its wildly popular pizza, fit the Ebert’s needs perfectly.

“Going from a pizza shop and bar to a coffee shop and bakery is a big transition. We had to pull the whole bar out and add lighting as we were changing this from a night scene to a daytime business. We were able to use some of Randy’s equipment for our purposes, but much of it was different so refurbishing the building was the biggest challenge for us. But we are very proud of how this whole thing turned out,” Michael said.

With their desired location now established, Ashley, the real talent behind Batch Baker Co., began producing their goods by hand. “Everything we sell is made in-house,” Michael said. “She makes all of the syrups that go in our coffees, all of the breads, and we hope to eventually add a lunch menu.”

Be sure to check out Batch Baker Co.’s social media pages on Facebook and Instagram. The bakery’s drive-through hours are Tuesday-Friday from 6:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., with doors opening at 8:00 a.m. Saturday hours for both inside and drive-through are from 7:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. Feel free to give them a call at (920) 973-4160.