Business & Tech

Gluten/Wheat Free Bakery Coming Soon to East Arlington

The bakery will also be 95 percent dairy free, and its goods will contain no tree nuts, except coconut.

A gluten/wheat free bakery is moving into the old Barismo spot in East Arlington.

Something Sweet Without Wheat could open at 169 Mass. Ave. as soon as Saturday, Dec. 1, according to Teresa Fiore, who will manage the shop.

“That’s our goal,” she said recently. “We’d like to be a part of East Arlington First Lights.”

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The family owned and operated specialty bakery, which was started by two Stoneham sisters just over two years ago, is based out of a commercial kitchen on 6th Road in Woburn. Up until now, the bakery mostly wholesaled its goods to local markets and food stores or sold them by phone or online. The East Arlington location will be the bakery's first retail-only operation.

“We’re super excited,” Fiore said. “Arlington just seems really community oriented, and that’s what our business thrives on.”

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The bakery’s owners, Sandy Federico and Christine Penney, started baking the gluten/wheat free treats about six years ago to address Federico’s daughter Alexa’s health issues – Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Soon Penney would learn that she had the same issues and that her son was allergic to wheat, so they, along with Federico for moral support, would go gluten/wheat free as well.

The sisters were determined to bake tastier treats than the “cardboard-like” options available. After they figured out how, they started their business out of Federico’s kitchen in Stoneham, before moving to Woburn eight months later, in the spring of 2011.

Federico’s background is in nursing; Penney was a hairdresser.

Due to the small size of the new store, the baked goods, which include a wide variety of options, even gingerbread, will still be made in Woburn and then delivered to East Arlington each morning.

In addition to being gluten/wheat free, the sisters’ treats are also 95 percent dairy free and contain no tree nuts, except coconut.

Are you excited for Something Sweet Without Wheat? Let us know by posting a comment below.


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