‘It was my superpower.’ How a Modesto bakery found sweet success selling sourdough
“Everybody thought I was nuts. I even thought I was, because I was like, ‘What am I doing?’ But it was something that I just had, and for whatever reason it just spoke to me. I guess you could say it was my superpower.”
That superpower Katie Hudson wields is bread making — specifically, sourdough.
Though sourdough bread making had a viral social media moment as a pandemic hobby, Hudson wasn’t inspired by the trend. She did come to this passion through Instagram, however.
Hudson was a fan of MatKat Sourdough, buying it regularly at the Modesto Certified Farmers Market, and saw a post from the business owner in 2020 seeking a buyer as she was moving out of state. Hudson said she had a good job in outside sales, the freedom to make her own schedule, but felt something more was calling to her.
“So I messaged her, and later that week, I was at her place in Santa Cruz watching her to see what she did. I’m like, yep, I’m buying it,” she recalled.
Hudson bought all the equipment, the name and the recipes. (MatKat was named by the former owner after Matkatamiba Canyon, which is part of Grand Canyon.)
Everything seemed to be going smoothly — until it came to the actual baking.
“There were a lot of tears, a lot of failures,” Hudson said. “Sourdough has a mind of its own. So you have a lot to learn.” By trial and error and many tutorials on YouTube, Hudson finally achieved the loaf she was aiming for.
“The first year was hard, but after four months, I doubled my income from my previous job.”
Soon, Hudson was baking hundreds of loaves a week.
As the business grew, Hudson, now 49, enlisted her family’s help. In the early days, her husband, Mike, would help clean and sanitize the cottage bakery and do whatever was needed. Her adult daughters stepped up, too. Today, Kayla and Krysta both work with their mom full time as the manager and market assistant, respectively. “There’s no way I could’ve done this without them,” Hudson said.
In the four years since starting, Hudson has it down to a science. With sourdough, it has to be. Sourdough is unique because it is fermented, which gives it its distinctive sour taste. Hudson said it’s all about “the mother,” or the starter, which is added to all bakes and then fermented for three days before being baked.
Sourdough can be used for many different bakes not limited to bread. MatKat also produces sourdough cinnamon rolls, sourdough focaccia and highly popular sourdough chocolate chip cookies.
The loaf variety changes seasonally, but favorites including jalapeño cheddar, olive rosemary, garlic parmesan and the best seller, classic rustic, always are on the menu. MatKat also bakes sandwich loaves and baguettes.
Hudson said she’s committed to using locally sourced ingredients. “I support local businesses as much as possible, even when I first started. So that’s a big part of doing the business is staying local, purchasing local where I can, and then supporting other local businesses,” she said.
Hudson uses organic flour, which is much more expensive than regular, and this philosophy has inspired a future in-house partnership with her baking assistant Emily Melgard. Melgard and her husband, Kristofer, farm almonds in the Hughson area but are embarking on a transition to growing organic wheat to supply MatKat.
Hudson shows no signs of slowing down. She plans to expand the business into an event company and space on her family’s property in Oakdale and to expand the bakery and kitchen to allow caterers to utilize the space.
While she has no plans to open a brick-and-mortar location anytime soon, MatKat can be found weekly at the Modesto, Oakdale, Ripon and Sonora farmers markets, Son’s Farm Stand in Oakdale and Nature’s Whole Food Depot in Sonora. Weekly pickup orders can be placed on the website https://matkatsourdough.com.
This story was originally published August 5, 2024 at 6:00 AM.
