Inpan and the bakery of Sant Joan

Itziar Lecea / Ciutadella – The Inpan workshop has no time to stop. The proximity of the holidays means that work is intense, that everything has to be given for a few days to be able to meet the orders that have been scheduled. Sant Joan, as a traditional festival, requires having those pastries, sweets and details that mark the date. And, since 1970, when it began its activity, Inpan has been helping businesses and families to fill the table with tradition. In fact, as the current manager, Tonia Salord, says, “Inpan is a company that was created with the idea of serving all the bakeries in Ciutadella; therefore, Sant Joan, Christmas, Easter… we have always worked with a lot of clients, in addition to the bakeries: supermarkets, points of sale, hotels, restaurants… It covers many sectors.”

What news do you have for this year?

Last year we started making anise macarons, and they were very well received. However, we had the idea of making caixer confits, which are those round candies, with a bean-shaped cut and many colors. So, this year, we got started. We have people with great value in the workshop, because they are there by vocation, and it is very appreciated. This helps to do the job better, which helped this good reception, which translated into sales expectations that we exceeded by far. As a novelty for this Sant Joan, we are also making some bags of caixer confits, others with confits and macarons, and others with macarons, to give as gifts or have as a detail.

Why do you like these types of products?

It is a small sweet, which makes you excited. And, above all, it is Sant Joan.

What other pastries can't be missing on these dates?

One of the must-haves is the Sant Joan ensaimada, which we make in many sizes. Last year we innovated with an ensaimada that weighs 1.5 kilos, it is an enormous and beautiful size, it attracts a lot of attention and looks spectacular on a table. We also make carquinyols, since last year, and they can be obtained in bags but also in bulk. And let's not forget the food that is in every house for parties: rubiols, formatjades, sweet and savory cocas, confits de convit, de caixer... We make absolutely everything.

Is it easy to maintain the gastronomic tradition during these dates or are new products introduced?

I have to break a spear in favor of the population of Ciutadella, which is where we do the most work. All the traditional products continue to sell very well: formatjades, rubiols and cocas, when there are celebrations, that's what ends up being consumed. It's ours, it's what we know the most and it's what works best.

And what about people from outside?

I think it's more about the most visual product, the one they see the most in photographs. So, they tend to prefer pastissets, ensaimadas, carquinyols... They buy the most repeated product, the one they've seen the most. Although there are also those who buy formatjades. But they buy them once they've tried them. The meat formatjades here are very different from those from anywhere else, like those you can find in England or Galicia. Ours has a different texture, and when they've tried it and liked it, we have customers who ask us to pack them up to take on the plane.

What do you put on the table of those who, being from outside, have and open a house in Ciutadella for Sant Joan?

I think that the people who have a house here are totally integrated. I know Catalan people who have a house in the center and buy the same things as someone from Ciutadella. They have had the opportunity to come, repeat and try everything we have, so it is introduced into the party just like we do.

Is the tradition of the recipes maintained?

They are very traditional recipes, very ours and, above all, we take care that they are made with zero-kilometer product, with product from here. To give you an example, we would never use an egg that comes in a bottle, or from abroad. If we have eggs two kilometers away, we use the egg from here. We try to take care of this aspect above all else. This way we serve products made with fresh ingredients, and we have the security of turning a wheel that helps us all grow.

Do you know how many kilos of product you make for Sant Joan?

It is an outrageous amount of what we produce, and it is difficult to quantify because we have many product branches. What we can say is that this year, because of the holiday season, which is coming up all at once, we have planned to work intermittently. We can't stop for anything, and the staff will have to give 200%, which is heartbreaking. But it's the only way to serve customers. We have to thank the entire great team we have, because they are the ones who make it possible for everything to work out, even in times of a lot of work like now.

The entire company has around 30 people. And within the workshop, there are about 23, 24 people. We have a large workshop, with three well-defined branches: pastry, pastry and bakery. To cover all of this, a lot of people are needed.

You also share tradition through pastry courses, like the one you did recently.

Yes, I would say it is the fourth course we have done. The Consell Insular, through the Department of Economy, tries to promote local products, so they asked us to do a workshop on pastissets, mantecados -which are also very typical of Sant Joan-, and carquinyols. The workshop went very well, about 40 people came and we had a great time. At Easter we also did a formatjades workshop. It is a space where we share a lot, people get to know us and learn new things, there is always a trick to share.

Is it a way of transmitting tradition?

Yes, what we do is give them printed recipes, they see how the dough is made and participate in the preparation of the products, which they then take home. We have three people in the workshop who, apart from being very good at their job, take great pleasure in serving the people in the workshops, and this is not paid.

Do young people sign up?

Yes, there weren't many at the last one because it fell on Cinquagesma, but at Easter we did have a lot of young people. The cool thing is to see how people of all ages come, from 17 to 75 years old. It's a way of seeing that the tradition is alive and continues to be passed on.