These companies will all get bread you order online to your door. Besides that, you’ll find a wide range of bread styles and ways to have it delivered: fresh, frozen, sourdough, gluten-free, and more. Get out your bread knives and see if one might be right for you.
Best Bread Delivery Services of 2022
Best Overall: Zingerman’s Bakehouse Best on a Budget: Panera Bread Best for Frozen Bread: Wildgrain Best for Bagels: H&H Best for Specialty Breads: Goldbelly Best for Gluten-Free: New Cascadia Traditional
ProsOne-off orders, gift boxes, and subscriptionsFamiliar and uncommon loavesSpelt, rye flour milled in-house from local grainAdd-on pastries ConsExpensiveBagels and challah only available via special order When it comes to bread, Zingerman’s does not mess around. This bakery offers bread from creative to traditional, with plenty of gift box options and it’s simply worth ordering. Zingerman’s uses natural leavening, and the bread bakes up with a sturdy crust that holds up to shipping. Some of the flours, including spelt and rye, are milled on-site from grains grown in Michigan. What began in 1982 with Zingerman’s Deli in Ann Arbor, Michigan, has grown into a family of specialty food businesses. The bakeshop has been selling hearth-baked bread to locals as well as shipping it nationwide since 1992. Zingerman’s founders initially began the Bakehouse to improve the bread for their deli. While they certainly have pumpernickel and numerous European-style ryes, they also bake rustic peasant bread, like the big three-pound Farm Bread, and creative bread studded with fun ingredients such as the Peppered Bacon Farm Bread. If you want to really commit to high-quality carbs, there’s the Bread Club, with monthly infusions of rotating bread. You can sign up for as little as a loaf a month for three months ($75) to two loaves a month for a year ($445). Unless your bread budget is very generous, Zingerman’s is likely not suited to becoming your daily bread—it’s better for gifting and treating yourself. Some of the spendier items, like the Deli Deluxe Gift Box (four loaves for $85) and the Bread Club, have free shipping. When you buy loaves a la carte, they ship in two business days. Rates vary depending on the order total, and you can choose the date you would like the bread to arrive. Shipping to Alaska and Hawaii carries an additional $10 fee. ProsLow delivery feesMix of loaves, rolls, and dessertsAbility to add on prepared meals ConsDelivery limited to areas near Panera locationsBreads often sell out in the afternoon Panera is almost so obvious for bread delivery that it’s easy to overlook as an option. But if you have a Panera in your area, you can order bread for delivery or pickup. It’s the same bagels, bread bowls, baguettes, tomato-basil loaves, and more that you will likely recognize from your lunch orders. Just go to the Panera website and select “bakery” or use the Panera app. But first, check to see if there’s delivery available in your area because Panera doesn’t ship. The cost of delivery will depend on your location, but it’s often reasonable, and can be as low as a dollar. So you can add a few loaves of bread to a lunch order and save yourself the shipping cost of other bread delivery services. A baker’s dozen bagels will cost $13.19, but on Tuesdays, the price drops to $7.49. A loaf of white whole grain bread is $5.79 and a classic white loaf is $9.99. These prices are close to what you’d pay at an independent, brick-and-mortar bakery. For large orders, consider Panera Catering, which has bundles and packages for easy shopping. ProsBakes from frozen in 25 minutesNaturally fermented loaves and rolls ConsSubscription-only modelExpensive The one drawback with fresh bread delivery is shelf life. While lots of loaves freeze well, there’s still a temptation to finish a shipment of the good stuff while it’s plentiful and at its best. Wildgrain’s workaround is to ship frozen par-baked bread you finish baking in your oven whenever you need a hot and crusty fresh loaf. No thawing, no proofing: 25 minutes from the freezer to emerging from the oven. Wildgrain ferments its loaves naturally using high-quality ingredients. The centerpiece of the boxes is real sourdough bread which comes from the fermentation process. The subscription box offers monthly variations on the core theme of rolls, loaves for slicing, pastries, and hand-cut fresh pasta. It’s all frozen, so you can parcel it out as needed as the weeks pass to your next shipment. Since it’s a subscription, there are no one-off orders. The company allows you to substitute items in the box and select add-ons. It’s also somewhat expensive, at $89 per month (shipping is included). You are able to pause subscriptions or change the frequency. Pros:Authentic New York bagels with free shippingCream cheese add on available ConsNo subscriptions available You can get mediocre bagels at any grocery store in America; but if you’re going to bother having them shipped to you, you might as well get the best ones possible. Many famed bagel producers in New York City and elsewhere offer to ship, but H&H Bagels’ offers its products via Goldbelly—and they cost less than those from comparable bagel shops. For New Yorkers heading home to visit family, H&H Bagels were often toted along on the plane to share. Now you can get in on that action without the plane or the visiting family member hookup. The best deal is 24 bagels for the price of 12, which is $69 with free shipping. H&H has all the classic flavors you’d expect, and with that deal, you can choose up to four different flavors to compose the two dozen. Bagels freeze well, so you can stock up and parcel them out for a while this way. Why We Chose It: Whether you’re hankering for a taste of bready goodness from a hometown bakery or wanting to try a buzzworthy loaf, Goldbelly connects you with regional favorites from bakeries across America. ProsFavorites from bakeries across AmericaBrowse by region or type of baked good ConsExpensive You may know Goldbelly as the company for ordering Detroit pizza or lobster roll kits. But it’s also terrific for connecting you with special regional bread you can’t get just anywhere. Goldbelly pairs with restaurants and bakeries, functioning almost as an online specialty food store. Want real West Virginia pepperoni rolls from Tomaro’s in Clarksburg? Rye bread from Omaha, Nebraska’s Lithuania Bakery? Goldbelly makes it easy to try new food experiences or reconnect you with treasured ones you remember from your past. On each item’s page, you’ll find an ingredient breakdown, storage and serving tips, and shipping details. Shipping costs and methods depend on the business the baked goods ship from. Goldbelly ships all over the U.S. ProsDreamy gluten-free bread, rolls, and bagelsMade without dough conditioners or eggs ConsNo subscription optionExpensive shipping for some locations You know how all too often gluten-free bread looks like deflated imitations of their gluten original counterparts? New Cascadia Traditional’s bread isn’t like that. It looks and tastes like good old bread. You can finally cut into sandwich loaves that aren’t squat and boxy. The crust Rustic Italian loaf offers an airy, open crumb, while the lox-worthy bagels are terrific. Established in Portland, Oregon, in 2007, New Cascadia Traditional grew out of co-founder Chris Gumke’s severe gluten intolerance. The company’s initial experiments grew from stalls at farmer’s markets to a full-blown bakeshop that will deliver bread. These products freeze well, so you can place an order to freeze and thaw as needed to supplement your weekly grocery store haul. A sandwich loaf runs $7.50 and four bagels are $10. The bakery ships items fresh, sending them out to the continental U.S. Tuesday through Friday, so refer to the shipping page on the company’s website to strategize your order or check in with customer service. Shipping costs are based on weight and location, and the bakery recommends using the fastest option possible to ensure quality. There is no subscription option.
How Do Bread Delivery Services Work?
You can place one-time orders from most of these services; only one of the services we recommended, Wildgrain, is subscription-only. With some, you can set up recurring orders for regular deliveries of bread with no fuss. With others, you need to place a new order every time. Some breads have better shelf life than others, and the service you are ordering from often takes that into account when it determines shipping methods. Bread isn’t as perishable as other fresh food, but it is usually best enjoyed shortly after baking. For that reason, most services use faster, more expensive delivery methods. Before placing an order, take a close look at the company’s shipping policies; they often will leave a shipment at your door if no one is home. Most subscriptions allow you to pause or suspend recurring orders.
How Much Does It Cost to Use a Bread Delivery Service?
The price will depend on the service and sometimes even the frequency at which you buy the bread. Keep in mind that bread delivery is not inexpensive. Free shipping is great, but look at the cost of the bread itself: If the shipping is free, is the price of the bread reasonable?
How Do I Choose the Best Bread Delivery Service?
Consider if you have a local market with delivery or pickup—it’ll likely be less expensive. But if the bread at stores in your area doesn’t measure up to your expectations, having bread delivered can save you time and give you the options you want. Think about how much bread you go through in a week and see if there’s a service that fits your needs.
What Types of Bread Can I Buy Online?
You can purchase almost anything. If you just want regular bread you’d find at a grocery store, consider ordering it through a grocery delivery service like Instacart or FreshDirect, because you’ll save a chunk of change that way. Given the delivery fees associated with bread delivery, buying bread online is best for gifts, splurges, and everyday bread that you can’t get easily at stores where you live. From hearty and dense pumpernickel loaves to authentic New York City bagels and gluten-free bread that’s totally worth eating, you can buy every bread you can dream of online.
Methodology
First, we considered whether the bread was good enough to bother ordering, since there may be something just as good not far from where you are. We also took into account ease of ordering, selection and variety, shipping costs and policies, and customer satisfaction.
