written by Dave Gwin
You can’t compromise on quality! This was something I understood deep inside, but I had never heard anyone say it until I was talking with Vanessa Gwin many years ago.

Several years later we decided to have another child and were blessed with our son, Riley. I began working for a company in Chicago that required a great deal of travel, so Vanessa began working as a life skills teacher at a wonderful school where Katie had been attending since she was two. But Vanessa has a flame inside that was beginning to grow hot, and soon she was taking menus of her baked goods to coffee shops and specialty stores all around Knoxville. This time there was no stopping VG’s Bakery! I was deep in the heart of Alabama when she excitedly told me that a store wanted 10 dozen of a small pastry, rugelach. The next day she was amazed when the store wanted 20 dozen more! The next day there was the promise of great injury to me if I didn’t come home immediately to help her make the 60 dozen pastries needed the next day. Many more customers began ordering more and more product until finally we had to decide whether we were going to be “hobby” bakers or were we going to be a “Bakery”.

Neither Vanessa nor I had any experience running a business, but we were both completely passionate about real, quality baked goods. Besides, it was 1999 and the whole world was going to blow up on January 1, 2000 so we opened the doors to VG’s Bakery on November 2, 1999. We are now in our 23rd year in Farragut, and we now attend Farmers’ Markets 4 days a week, spreading our joy of baking all across Knox County. There have been many challenges over the years and I am sure there will be many more in the coming years, but with our commitment to quality and our pursuit of excellence we are confident we will be your bakery for generations!