Ordering Bread From Berlin Natural Bakery
ID, OR, UT, WA - $38 or more qualifies for $20 Express Expedited Shipping! For $5 Ground Shipping (at your own risk!) call your order in (330) 893-2734
All Other States - $38 or more qualifies for $5 FedEx Ground Shipping. To upgrade shipping call your order in (330) 893-2734
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Hey! Welcome to the Berlin Natural Bakery Family! It is an absolute HONOR to bake and ship thousands of loaves of bread all across the country every single week and we're happy to have you as a part of our clan!
You have either just placed your order or you are getting ready to load up your cart and we thought there were some things you might like to know! Scroll down for commonly asked questions, concerns and risks of ordering some of the purest Spelt baked goods out there!
When Will My Order Ship:
Here's the deal. In these crazy times, we are experiencing periodic but slight delay in shipping out orders. What makes this more complicated is that our rush periods come and go. Meaning we can't outright say we have a delay because it all depends on how many orders we get in week to week.
What you can count on is that we are baking, slicing, packing and shipping your order as soon as humanly possible.
Thankfully we are definitely not insanely behind so the most you should be waiting for your order to ship is about 5-6 days - all depending on where you are located in the United States in relation to Berlin, Ohio.
Heads Up, West Coasters:
We ship MANY orders to the West Coast every single week with little to no issues thankfully!
If you are on the West Coast and you order on Monday afternoon or later in the week, your order will not go out until the following Monday. We have to be really careful here because our bread is SUPER perishable which means we won't bake and ship your order at the end of the week when there's a chance it could get stuck in a UPS warehouse over the weekend. We have to ship your order when it has the least chance of getting delayed or held up and generally, that means a Monday.
Most West Coasters will send an urgent "Where is my order" email on Monday morning only to get a shipping notice from UPS that Monday afternoon that their order was baked and shipped that day. So give us time! We promise, we've gotten your order and we're giving it the best shot it has at arriving fresh with as much time to spare as possible.
How Do I Store My Bread:
Look, our breads have anywhere from 3-8 ingredients and none of those ingredients are artificial preservatives which means.... you guessed it.... limited shelf life. When you get your bread, unbox it (let it cool down for an hour or two if it seems warm from the delivery truck) and then GET IT IN THE FREEZER ASAP.
We can't say it enough, you are buying a SUPER limited ingredient bread (no matter the variety) and if you keep it on your porch over a hot weekend or set the box inside your front door and forget to unbox it: it will get moldy. No doubt about it. This isn't the Wonder Bread you might have known that can hang around for 3 months looking all artificial and pristine. This is real bread so the stakes are much higher!
After your order arrives, we recommend freezing any breads you won’t be eating within 2-4 days. When you get it out of the freezer, let it thaw and keep it in a cool, dry place like your kitchen counter or pantry.
While we don’t recommend storing our breads in the refrigerator (due to the fact it will dry them out more quickly) the shelf life will be prolonged by a few days. You just need to be aware that the bread will most likely be drier and need to be either toasted or freshened up for a few seconds in the microwave. Your decision!
My Bread Arrived Moldy Because it's Hot and Humid Outside:
Again, I have to be honest with you, our breads are super perishable and we honestly can't monitor the weather conditions across the entire United States to know if it's too hot or humid to send your bread.
Our recommendation is to STOCK UP while it's still mostly cool outside and to avoid ordering when you know it's going to be 90+ degrees and 100% humidity.
Here is a Store Locator with stores that carry at least one or two of our breads which may just plain be the better option when it's crazy hot outside.
If you order in the hot summer months, YOU are taking the risk of it arriving in less than perfect condition.
UPS Said My Bread Would Get Here on X and Instead It Came on Y
Let us know! We have a little bit of power with UPS and we can look into delays but there's also more you should know.
When we ship to California, it takes a solid 4 days to get there. So if you are in Ohio and it usually takes 1 day to get to you and then it gets delayed by 1 day - don't panic! It is still perfectly good bread.
Shipping delays happen especially in times when online shopping it at its peak.
My Order Says It's Fulfilled - Where is it?
When your order status is listed as "fulfilled" it means we have seen it and printed it out and scheduled it to be shipped. It doesn't mean that it is shipping out that day. Remember: we ship strategically so even if your order is fulfilled - it doesn't mean it is on its way to you!
You will get a UPS tracking email when your order ships.
My Bread Seems Crumbly? Etc...
When you get your order - examine it closely and then follow the storing instructions above. Let us know IMMEDIATELY (no later than 48-72 hours after arrival) if you see a problem or notice a difference so we can do some research and figure out what happened.
When too much time passes, we can't know for sure what happened. It could have been a storing issue. It could have been a problem with a home freezer. The bread may have been stored in the refrigerator or improperly.
The variables are endless and we can't take responsibility for any oddities if we don't know for sure it was on our side.
Calling Us:
We are in a “all hands on deck” season and as we’re bread bakers first and office staff second - there have been some delays in being able to take every phone call that comes in. Please leave us a message and allow us at least 48 hours to get back to you! We will get back to you as soon as humanly possible!
The End!
Thankfully, we don't see too many hiccups or oddities but things are constantly changing in the world around us so we felt it was important to be up front with you and share our hearts on these matters!
Thank you so much for not only searching us out but trusting us with the responsibility of baking your daily bread!
All our very best,
The Berlin Natural Bakery Team