Mr Mappy's bread delights

Valdeen Shears

He walked from Malabar to Arima.

Then he biked from Malabar to Trincity, all for the love of his daughter...and all to sell his own brand of bread.

For Brian Shears, 41, it wasn't to compete with similar products on the market, but all to enable himself to provide a more sustainable legacy for her.

Shears, owner of Mr Mappy's (baked products), recalled working in the construction industry and thinking that it was his calling. Then his daughter was born and his perspective on life changed drastically.

"I just couldn't do it anymore. I knew then that I had to build a stronger foundation for her. I had to go back to my roots and the gifts handed down from my ancestors. So I remembered my grandmother's determination that I was the first born grandson and was to be equipped with the Shears sweet hand in cooking and baking. So from early, Norma Shears, (grandma) held my attention next to my mom, in the kitchen," said a smiling Shears, as he shook his head in remembrance.

His first walk through Malabar and into Arima, in 2012, saw Shears armed with several loaves of bread and a determination to offer the public something unique. By 2015, he was a fully registered business.

Customers soon coined his first product the "Super Loaf," because of the variety of all local ingredients in it.

"I guess its because of all the stuff I pack into it. It has pumpkin, sweet potato, beet root, gooji berry, raisins and multi-grain. What I think surprised them when they read the label, was that with all those ingredients I was still able to offer something, not only healthy, but tasty and soft. It was not "heavy", as I think they (customers) expected, having so much in it," he said.

Combining flavours

Their response, he said, ignited a fire to go further and create other baked products.

Soon Shears was combining other flavours with each other and the Empress and Man Supreme loaves were born.

Then this was followed by the avocado and garlic baguette and others.

Shears said his baking is very intrinsic to his faith, as he believes that he pays homage to his ancestors' community spiritedness, by using all local ingredients.

"I grew in a time, when baking was a village thing. We had fire on top and fire below. I was often in charge of gathering the driftwood for baking and cooking. We cooked and baked by fire side or clay outdoor ovens. It was the sweetest bread and bake and roast fish I know to this day. We lived in harmony. We ate together. This is what I knew as a child and young man growing up in Matelot.

"Making and watching things work together for a greater good, whether its being kneaded by hand or a whole community coming together to address a village need."

Shears recalled life experiences that shaped his character like being a part of the construction of his alma mater, Matelot Secondary, alongside then principal Rosario Hackshaw and her team of teachers. Seeing villagers and students assist with the building of the school's desks and tables, all by hand, just so students would not have to face the troubles of minimal transport to the nearest secondary school in Toco.

"Listen. Those days, those values..Miss Hackshaw was the greatest teacher/principal ever born. They didn't see us as just students, we were their children, they were our parents," he said wistfully.

Mr Mappy's greatest influences

As a child, Shears lived with the sea as his backyard; when children, he said, heeded the stern "looks" of their elders, before words of warnings or punishment even had to be meted out.

Shears says his greatest tutors were his mom, Bernadine Shears, and his grandmother both now deceased. He said both women commanded great respect from him and his five siblings.

And while they may have departed this life, Shears said all they taught him about combining flavours, blending ingredients, would always remain with him.

"I never went to culinary school or industrial places to learn what I know or can now do. I learnt by smell, touch, taste and my taste buds. My grandmother's insistence that I cook and bake, often saw me getting first dibs at tasting every dish that came out of our kitchen. Then there was the influence of my grandfather, Carrington Mappe. Boy could he cook," joked Shears, with a toothy grin.

His grandfather's influence, while not as large as the two strong women in his young life, became the inspiration for his brand.

Now, Mr Mappy's baked products have dominated the UWI Agri-Tech three-day event for the last three years. So much so, Shears said, he has been jokingly ordered by its organisers, to change his name to "Mr Sold Out."

"This is no lie. I go with at least 150 to 200 bread each day for the three days and it sells out faster than that. It is fulfilling and confirmation that I made the right choice when I put down my tools and picked up a bread pan instead," said Shears.

Not one to forget in any way where he came from, Shears remembered buying a bicycle from a neighbour to be able to cover more ground, just a couple months after he first started.

Little did he know that his determination to succeed was being admired and would soon bring him a blessing.

"I got introduced to the owner of Eastside Bakers and he gave a me a life-changing start. He gave me my first industrial oven, my first sets of bread pan, my first stands and I knew that, for sure, this was my ancestors plan for me all along," he said.

His passion is now shared by a close relative, who works alongside him at his kitchens in Malabar Gardens, Malabar–business director and transporter, TJ Bowen.

Not just about bread

To date, the Super Loaf remains his number one seller but Mr Mappy's pimento hops, hot dog bread and hamburger buns, are quickly catching up, he noted.

Bread isn't the only baked product Shears has under his belt, as he also offers an assortment of muffins, in flavours that scream "all local." His flavours of choice for muffins are often chadon beni, ginger and coconut, guava etc.

Shears, does not look at a mango as just a mango, or passion fruit as simply a fruit to "make juice," but rather as flavour that can be added to others.

Shears has also started producing bagels, which weigh less than 200 grammes, are rich in fibre (less flour) and fashioned to cater to those who are looking at their portion sizes. Even better, are their flavours: roasted coconut and cinnamon, pumpkin/cinnamon etc.

Mr Mappy also prides itself on offering high nutritional and medicinal benefits in all its products. Shears noted that moringa, considered a "superfood" for its highly nutritious profile and powerful anti-inflammatory antioxidant and tissue-protective properties, is used in all his products.

It's just shy of amazing, the wealth of knowledge Shears can share when it comes to his ingredients. His customers, though, have grown accustomed to him letting them know that avocadoes offer 26 per cent of folic acid to consumers, as well as over eight essential amino acids.

Men, if you want to boost your libido, improve your prostate health and consume natural proteins, then try Mr Mappy's Man Supreme and for the women, have a slice of the Empress loaf.

While, he won't share all of his recipes with John Public, Shears said you won't find him using products that are not local or can't be grown or nurtured right here on local soil.

With this in mind, one can surely grab a muffin of almost any local fruit imaginable from Mr Mappy during his busiest days at the Santa Cruz green market every Saturday morning.

But come early...cause they usually are all sold out long before he is scheduled to get home at 1 pm.

The Mr Mappy brand can also be seen flying off the shelves at Mama Moringa Shop on Western Main Road, St James. Shears is also in discussions with other establishments in both west and south Trinidad, intent on marketing his brand all across the country.

You may be lucky to get one, however, if you are like most of Mr Mappy's regular customers, you will simply follow suit and place your order.