Althea Bread is an artisan bakery in Charlottesville, Virginia that prepares stone-ground, naturally-leavened breads made from local, heirloom, and ancient grains. Althea began as a passion project in 2018 in Marian and Susan Bayker's home, where they toyed with sourdough, local sourcing, and milling their own grains. Sharing bread with family and friends evolved into a small bread subscription program, then scaled due to demand to become a mainstay at Cville farmers markets.

In 2020, Althea moved into a commercial production space and expanded their bread and pastry offerings. They also developed new connections and deeper partnerships with a network of farmers and millers in Virginia, including Deep Roots Milling, another Foodshed Capital borrower.

Now, they're launching Althea's next chapter in a brick-and-mortar space near downtown Charlottesville. A low-interest loan from FoodCap is helping them purchase new bakery equipment and outfit their new space, which will open in April 2024.