This just in: Gungahlin to welcome a 100 per cent artisan gluten-free bakery
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Gluten– and preservative-free pastries, cookies, cakes and bread have arrived in Gungahlin as Freed.Me Gluten Free Bakery prepares to open a physical store on Gribble Street this Saturday.
Launched in 2024 by founder Laura Convers, Freed.Me Gluten Free Bakery has rapidly risen to become a popular artisan gluten-free stall at the Southside Farmers Market, seeing many Canberra coeliacs line up in the early morning air for one of her coveted baked goodies.
And while it’s said that many small businesses begin out of love, for the Colombian-born chef it’s not an exaggeration.
The creation of Freed.Me Gluten Free Bakery is all thanks to a simple, heartfelt request from the love of her life: “Please bake me some bread.”
“I met her in 2014. She’s a coeliac and her love language was always bread…she’s Irish,” explains Laura with a smile.
“I’d never tried making anything gluten-free before – cakes I have, but bread is a little bit more complicated. So, I started making some for her and then it eventually turned into a business.”
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Like anyone living with someone with coeliac disease, Laura quickly realised that there aren’t many ‘good’ options available for coeliacs in supermarkets. With most products packed full of sugar, preservatives and additives to mimic flavour and texture, she decided to literally take things into her own hands.
After spending a year perfecting her bread recipe, Laura launched Freed.Me Gluten Free Bakery and began selling her bread to the local shops. It’s now seeing it stocked in The Allergy Centre in Jamison Plaza, Ainslie IGA, Go Vita Woden, Mountain Creek Wholefoods, Wiffens, Crust Bakery, L’epi and Supaexpress Deakin, Yarralumla and Campbell.
From there, she decided to try her hand at running a stall at the Southside Farmers Market. And since September 2025, Freed.Me Gluten Free has been the perfect example of the saying “build it, and they will come”, with coeliacs in Canberra investing enough in the business for Laura to make it her full-time occupation.
Quickly gaining an almost cult-like following (with many items sold out before 11 am) what makes Laura’s baked goodies so unique is that everything is made without seed oil and processed sugars – only organic ingredients.
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With bread products ranging from crusty white bread to rosemary focaccia, Freed.Me Gluten Free Bakery has also expanded to selling cakes, pastries and cookies, all of which take weeks of refining and taste testing by her partner.
“I try to use the best ingredients. In all my baking, I don’t use seed oils; I try to use avocado oil instead. For sugar, I try to use other stuff like agave or coconut sugar instead of white sugar,” explains Laura.
“I am aware of everything I put into my ingredients because I am aware of the consequences it’s going to have on your body. I feel responsible…I don’t want to give you something that will make you sick.”
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She won’t allow a single drop of gluten into the café – meaning no oat milk will be available, only almond and coconut – and has partnered with Australian micro-roaster UnTinto Unique Coffee and Melbourne-based SinServantes to serve Colombian coffee and ‘clean drinks’ like chai and turmeric teas that contain no sugars or additives.
Expanding from a market stall on Sundays to a brick-and-mortar location is a big leap for Laura, but it was always part of the plan. Initially, she’ll be open every Saturday from 11 am until 2 pm (or until sold out), with plans to eventually open Freed.Me Gluten Free Bakery on Sundays as well.
But until then, every morning Laura will be waking up early to freshly bake bread, donuts, cookies, cakes, cinnamon scrolls and savoury scrolls for her customers. It’s a one-woman show built on the back of dreams – literally.
“You’re not going to believe this, but [my ideas come to me] from my dreams!” Laura says with a laugh.
“Obviously, with social media and everything I do, I follow heaps of bakeries so sometimes I see something interesting, and then I go to bed, and then it’s like…” she gasps. “I realise ‘I should make this!’ Then I start figuring out how to make it.”
Also planning to add a gluten-free pantry and even more treat options (think cheesecakes and cold desserts), it’s these small steps that are allowing Laura to bring her big dream to life.
“It’s just me doing everything, and I want to make sure that I can supply the demand and I’m giving the best quality,” she says. “Once people know I’m here, I’ll open another day.”
“My plan long term is to have different options for people all around, so they don’t have to travel as far. I would like to have a few locations – but not just in Canberra. In different cities as well.”
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Changing lives one cinnamon scroll at a time gives Laura purpose. Along with providing people with dietary-friendly options, Freed.Me Gluten Free Bakery also brings them – and in return, Laura – joy.
“I wanted to make something for people that can’t really have anything, because that’s the main issue. I saw the struggle…I really want to make a change,” she says.
It truly is a business built on love.
“They [coeliacs] are not used to having options and it’s been really nice. I’m really changing people’s lives, helping them feel like they’re normal.”
“It gives me the power and energy to create more.”
To find Freed.Me Gluten Free Bakery, go inside the Yellowbox Business Centre and follow the signage to the café. There will be free parking available onsite. For more information on how to find the café follow @freed.me_gf_bakery.
THE ESSENTIALS
What: Freed.Me Gluten Free Bakery
When: Opening Saturday 11 July. Open every Saturday 8 am – 2 pm or until sold out.
Where: 4 Gribble Street, Gungahlin (inside the Yellowbox Business Centre)
Web: @freed.me_gf_bakery
