How Kim's Sourdough began
A quiet beginning. A growing fascination. A loaf at a time.
Kim’s Sourdough was born in the quiet uncertainty of the early COVID years, not from a business plan, but from a simple suggestion from my sister, a willingness to learn, and a deep love of creating food that feels both comforting and extraordinary. At the time, I knew virtually nothing about it. What began as curiosity quickly became fascination. That fascination felt deeply rooted in my background.
I come from a family where baking and precision naturally go hand in hand. With a father from Holland and a mother from Switzerland, there was always an appreciation for quality, craftsmanship, and exactness.
I decided I wanted to learn the craft properly. I began feeding a starter, studying the process obsessively, and teaching myself through constant experimentation, repetition, and research. I baked not because I intended to sell, but because I wanted to master something my family genuinely loved. That commitment to refinement, to not stopping until something feels truly right, became the foundation of Kim’s Sourdough.
As my bread improved, I found myself with more loaves than my family could ever finish. I began sharing them generously with friends and family, until one day a friend suggested I start selling them. My immediate reaction was disbelief. Selling bread had never been part of the vision. And yet, slowly and reluctantly, I began. A few posts. A few orders. A few returning customers. Then, quietly and naturally, Kim’s Sourdough was born.
People often ask me where the name “Kim” comes from. The truth is, I wasn’t given an English name when I was born. When I became engaged, my husband felt that my Hebrew name might be difficult for some people to pronounce. One day he told me, “I like the name Kim. That’s what I’m going to introduce you as.”
Over time, Kim became the name I used professionally, in emails, and in everyday life. So, when I was looking for a name for my sourdough business, Kim’s Sourdough felt like the natural choice. It was the name people already knew me by, and it simply felt right.
But long before I was Kim, I was Chamudi.
The nickname was given to me as a little girl by a Yemenite babysitter who worked for my parents. In Hebrew, “Chamudi” is a term of endearment that conveys sweetness, warmth, and someone who is dearly loved. The name followed me through childhood and has remained with me ever since. To this day, many of the people closest to me still call me Chamudi. In many ways, both names have become part of who I am. Kim is the name behind the business, while Chamudi reminds me of home, family, warmth, and the people who first taught me the importance of caring for others.
And perhaps that is why baking has always felt so natural to me. There is something special about creating food that brings comfort, connection, and a little bit of joy to someone’s day.