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Flour being dusted over a dark rye loaf on a wooden board, against a black background

Family-run since 1998. Baking while Southland sleeps.

A wholesale bakehouse in south Invercargill, with flour on the floor, ovens on at half one and trucks out before the sun is up.

01 The story

It started with two deck ovens and a pie run to Gore.

Rye & Tussock opened in 1998 in a rented shed in south Invercargill, with two second-hand deck ovens, one van and eleven cafes that wanted better bread than they could buy.

The family still runs it, and someone from the family is still on the floor most nights. The name comes from the drive home after an early delivery: ryegrass paddocks on one side of the road and red tussock on the other. The rye bread came later.

Today we bake for cafes, dairies, supermarkets, schools and caterers from Bluff to Te Anau, and by chilled courier as far as Queenstown and Dunedin. The ovens have grown and so has the range, but the deal hasn't changed: baked overnight, on your shelf by morning.

  1. Two deck ovens, one van, eleven cafes. A rented shed in south Invercargill.

  2. The first pie line, and the Eastern run out to Mataura and Gore.

  3. Into the current bakehouse, with room for four deck ovens and a rack oven.

  4. A separate gluten-free shift, with its own trays, utensils and wash-down routine.

  5. Chilled courier to Queenstown, Wanaka and Dunedin, Monday to Friday.

  6. The Fiordland run to Te Anau and Manapouri, twice a week.

02 The overnight bake

A night on the bakehouse floor.

While Invercargill sleeps, a crew of night bakers turns a few tonnes of flour into tomorrow's bread, pies and slices.

  1. Gluten-free shiftBaked first, before any wheat flour is opened.
  2. Night shift onFlour in, the rye sour fed and checked.
  3. Mixers runningDoughs rest and prove slowly in the retarder.
  4. Pies builtFillings in from the day kitchen, pastry sheeted.
  5. Ovens up to heatDeck ovens at 240°C. First bread goes in.
  6. Pies outBlast chilled to 4°C, then packed and labelled.
  7. Trucks awayDockets printed, cartons loaded, first runs out.
  8. Doors openYour bread is on the shelf. The night crew is home.
Ripe golden wheat in a paddock under a blue sky with white clouds
Wheat, a few weeks off harvest.

03 Ingredients

Local flour where we can.

Our bread flour is milled from South Island wheat, and the oats and barley in our grain loaves come from Southland paddocks when the season allows.

Butter, cream and cheese come from just up the road. Beef for the pies is from Southland farms, minced and cooked in our own day kitchen. When we can't get something local, the spec sheet tells you where it's from.

  • South Island wheat flour, milled to our spec
  • Southland oats and barley in season
  • Free-range eggs and chicken
  • No palm oil in any of our pastry

04 In numbers

The bakehouse in numbers.

1998The year the first oven was lit in south Invercargill.
28,000Loaves, pies and slices out the door in a normal week.
11Night bakers on the roster, plus a day kitchen crew of six.
5 + 2Truck runs across Southland, plus two chilled courier lanes.
180+Trade accounts, from Bluff to Te Anau to Dunedin.
01:30When the deck ovens come up to heat, every night but Saturday.

05 Jobs

We're hiring night bakers.

If you like quiet roads, warm ovens and finishing work before most people start, come and bake with us.

  • Demo listing, not a real job
  • Full time
  • Nights

Night baker

South Invercargill · 4 nights on, 3 off · 9pm to 6am · $28 to $32 an hour plus a night allowance

What you'll do

  • Mix, shape and bake bread and rolls on a crew of five
  • Run the deck ovens and help on the pie line
  • Keep the records our Food Control Plan relies on

What you'll need

  • Happy working nights and lifting 25 kg flour sacks
  • Your own way to get to south Invercargill
  • Bakery experience helps, but we train

What you'll get

  • Paid training towards a baking qualification
  • A proper meal break and the roads to yourself
  • All the bread you can carry home
Hands shaping rounds of dough on a floured bench

06 Work with us

Want our bread on your shelf?

Open a trade account and we'll have a tasting box on the next run past your door.

Apply for a trade account How wholesale works
  1. Apply onlineAbout five minutes, from any device.
  2. A call and a tasting boxWithin one working day, then on the next run.
  3. First deliveryUsually within a week.
Call Apply for a trade account