PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAN AUSTIN

With a beautiful array of breads, pastries, and warm pastries, Honeycomb Bakery offers our city a delightful experience tethered by an ambiance that puts visitors at ease. Learn more behind the start of this bakery and how owner Benjamin Vickers brought his vision to life.

Sweet, subtle aromas of coffee and freshly made bread embrace the air as visitors make their way to the back of the store on 213 East Bay Street. With welcoming smiles and cozy corners, you walk into the perfect addition to our charming city, one that allows you to take in the beauty of simplicity and community.

Honeycomb Bakery made its debut this fall alongside the Twenty Seven shop in a quaint, historic brick-and-mortar across from NOBAY apartments. Founder and owner of Honeycomb Bakery, Benjamin Vickers, remembers a very different Lakeland than the one he knew as a child.

As a native, he shares, “The reason young people leave is that they don’t believe that Lakeland can be improved, and they seek better opportunities elsewhere; but that couldn’t be further from the truth.” After moving away from his hometown almost 10 years ago, Vickers found himself back in Lakeland and impressed with all the entrepreneurial growth and creative innovation he discovered in the town he grew up in.

“Lakeland can evolve, but it’s up to the people to do the work of improving it. I have hands, I have a head, and I have a heart. I want to use them to build a better future for Lakeland,” he says. With a passion for baking that began at a young age, Vickers set out to bring a unique, nostalgic concept to Lakeland through Honeycomb Bakery.

“Our menu focuses on simple preparations of fresh, wholesome ingredients. Our Country Sourdough is made of as little as three ingredients, and we specialize in natural sourdough fermentation to promote complex flavor and good gut health,” explains Vickers. In addition to their creative variety of breads, Honeycomb Bakery features sit-down classics such as The Lox on Rye, Heirloom Caprese Bruschetta, and Baked Brie and Apple Butter. Each dish is intentionally crafted as an experience, with an unforgettable warmth and flavor.

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Founder and owner of Honeycomb Bakery, Benjamin Vickers (pictured above), standing in the store’s historic brick-and-mortar located across from NOBAY apartments. The storefront made its debut this past fall.

With such a rich and delicious selection, Vickers gives credit to two major creative elements that inspire Honeycomb Bakery’s palate: nostalgia and nature. “Many of our most beloved breads and pastries are reimagined versions of classic loaves and pastries. Bread making has been practiced for literally thousands of years, but there is something deeply rewarding about putting your own spin on it, adding to the traditions of our ancestors.”

“We just want to use our skills as artisans to make our beautiful city a better, yummier place.”

Vickers recalls baking with his sister and his mother for the first time as a child in the comfort of their home in Lakeland. From meringues and birthday cakes to biscuits and hushpuppies, his love for the art and passion for professional baking was birthed out of his familiarity with traditional home-made goods. After the hobby developed further, Vickers enrolled in culinary school to refine his craft.

Each dish is intentionally crafted as an experience, with an unforgettable warmth and flavor.

With so much passion and love for the Lakeland community, the best is yet to come for Honeycomb Bakery. As for future goals, Vickers shares: “We are almost finished with building our wholesale production bakeshop, which will allow us to move out of Catapult’s shared kitchen and grow our ability to serve the local restaurants and cafes of Lakeland.” There are also plans for lunch services to be added at Honeycomb Bakery’s brick-and-mortar, including the addition of soups and salads.

While the local shop continues to buzz with excited new visitors, Vickers and his team remain rooted in what they call their purpose. “We just want to use our skills as artisans to make our beautiful city a better, yummier place.”

HONEYCOMB BAKERY
213 E. Bay Street
Lakeland, FL 33801
863.816.3143
honeycombbread.com