Audrey Lecky, owner of AML Bakery in St. Mary, explains how she got into the business.

Keisha Shakespeare-Blackmore, Staff Reporter

Audrey Lecky is a businesswoman who literally adds flavour to her work. As the owner of AML Bakery, which actually stands for Audrey Marcia Lecky, in Port Maria, St. Mary, buns, breads and other goodies are her forte, but she was not always a master of the trade.

In 1991, she bought the over 100-year-old business. At the time, she knew nothing about baking but the previous owner promised he would assist. He, however, was not able to live up to his promise as he migrated to the United States soon after. With the assistance of the workers, friends in the business, books and observation, she made it.

"You can take a recipe out of a book but it's different when it comes down to making the actual product," she said. She notes that when she bought the place it was a zinc and cardboard structure. And shortly after, the Public Health Department came knocking. They wanted to know when she was going to vacate the premises because the previous owner said it would no longer be a bakery. Mrs. Lecky was backed into a corner but looking at the potential of the bakery, she decided to have a go at it.

"You see, it is not easy to get a foothold into a business. Thus, I told the health Department that I would prepare a plan and renovate the building but I needed time," she said.

However, the obstacles would not stop there. Shortly after, she bought the business her husband, Dennis Lecky, who was terminally ill, was told he had six months to live. He eventually died, five months later. At the time, she was operating a dairy farm, plus caring for three children many people asked why she took on such a huge responsibility with her husband being ill, she said, " I had to survive."

Reconstruction

Mrs. Lecky shows off her delectable buns. - Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer

In October 1994, she started reconstruction of the bakery and completed it in June 1995. It was never closed during the reconstruction, she simply moved everything from the back to the front until the back was completed, then the opposite when the front was to be refurbished. She did not employ a contractor, only a consultant who told her what to buy. She said she was lucky, however, to get workers who toiled day and night. Wearing the hats of mother, contractor, dairy farmer and bakery owner was very stressful, she told Flair.

The farm slowly died because she could not manage all the responsibility. Plus, the demand for beef had gone down. As such, she concentrated on the bakery. She notes that it is her faith in God that carried her through all these years.

"When I pray, I just relax and let Him work, I take myself out of it," she said and it seems to be working.

'King of Buns'

Last year, they were crowned the 'King of Buns' when they won first prize in The Gleaner's Food Easter Bun competition. Since then, AML has been doing tremendously well. They supply some of their products to St. Mary, Portland, St. Thomas and St. Ann, but their buns are in supermarkets in most parishes.

She regrets not being able to satisfy the demand of the market but she doesn't want to end up dissatisfying her customers.

"When you bake so many buns, you don't bake up to the standard. Sometimes you compromise the quality," she explained. She single-handedly develops the recipes for the buns; not even her sons know the secret. Many bakers have tried to pry the secret from her, but she's not telling.