'Great food needs no translation': We visit the artisan Polish bakery that's taken Wellington by storm

Three years after it opened, an artisan Polish craft bakery has become a fixture of one of Shropshire’s traditional market towns.

A visit to Masovia Craft Bakery on Wellington’s New Street reveals a bustling business which is enjoyed by the town’s Polish community and has been taken into the hearts of locals.

For those who travel further afield the name Masovia will already be familiar.

The firm has shops in Walsall, West Bromwich, Stafford, Lichfield, and soon Crewe, as well as franchise shops in Shrewsbury’s Wyle Cop and Redditch and Kidderminster.

The Wellington branch has become a popular part of the town, offering bread, cakes, Polish doughnuts, sandwiches, and a coffee shop for those who want to sit down and unwind.

The firm began as the bakery Mazowsze 20 years ago, set up by Krzysztof Podolak and Pawel Podak, who together with their wives over the past two decades built a family business with Polish baking traditions at its heart.

Monika Miri, operations manager at Masovia Craft Bakery, said: “Their dream was to create bread, cakes and pastries that would bring back the authentic taste of home.

“They wanted Polish people living in the United Kingdom to experience a little piece of their homeland through the aroma of freshly baked bread, the taste of their favourite cakes and the comfort of traditional Polish baked goods.”

In the 20 years since it was set up the firm moved to create its own venues, such as Wellington’s New Street branch, where people could sit down and enjoy what it has to offer.

Monika said there was huge pride that the shop has become a firm favourite with its non-Polish customers.

She said: “One of our proudest achievements is that Mazowsze and Masovia have captured the hearts of not only Polish customers but British customers as well.

“More and more British people are discovering our cafes, stopping by for a delicious cup of coffee, a slice of traditional Polish cake or a loaf of freshly baked bread.

“Many have become loyal regulars, returning time and again for their favourite treats and the welcoming atmosphere they have come to love.

“There is something truly special about seeing the flavours we grew up with, passed down through generations, being enjoyed and appreciated by people from completely different cultural backgrounds.

“Our cafes have become places where people of different nationalities, languages and traditions come together. Around a shared table, over a cup of coffee and a slice of cake, cultural differences fade away and genuine connections are made.

“Because great food needs no translation and Polish hospitality is a language everyone understands.”