The bakery was founded on a clear commitment to handmade production and still has its own bakery workshop today, something the company highlights as one of its defining features. Its pastries, cakes and confectionery are prepared there every day, following traditional recipes and carefully selecting both the processes and the ingredients.
Over the years, Horno Ismael has grown to currently include three stores in Zaragoza, on Juan José Lorente, San Vicente Mártir and Gómez de Avellaneda. But behind that expansion remains the same idea with which it began: making artisan sweets and maintaining a close relationship with those who walk through its doors every day.
Horno Ismael currently has three stores across Zaragoza and its own bakery workshop.
A THIRD GENERATION AT THE HELM
Now, a new generation is beginning to take the reins at Horno Ismael. Raúl Ferrero, the son of the current owner, and his partner, Cristina Navarro, left their jobs in pharmacies to join the family business. He is in charge of the bakery workshop, while she mainly looks after the stores.
Raúl Ferrero grew up closely connected to the family business, which is now entering its generational transition alongside Cristina Navarro.
Raúl grew up connected to the bakery and, like the rest of the family, he always lent a hand when needed. "In reality, we have always been connected to the business. Not working continuously, but coming to help whenever it was needed, just like our cousins and the rest of the family," he explains.
The transition eventually came about differently from what had been expected, and Raúl decided to take it on together with Cristina. They are now learning every day at the helm of the company, with the support of their family. "The good thing about a family business is knowing that you can call your mother, your uncle or your father and, if any problem arises, they will be there to lend a hand. We are not alone," Raúl says.
Taking this step also means assuming a responsibility that goes beyond the business itself. "With a lot of enthusiasm, although also with some fear. In the end, you take charge of a company and it is normal to feel some concern," Cristina acknowledges.
THE SAME DOUGH GRANDPA USED TO MAKE
One of Horno Ismael’s keys is precisely that the passing of time has barely changed the way its products are made. The workshop still operates by hand and uses a formula the family has preserved from one generation to the next.
"In the morning, we make the dough using exactly the same formula Grandpa used. We still work practically the same way, even with many of the same utensils," Raúl explains.
The products that later reach Horno Ismael’s three stores in Zaragoza are made in the workshop every day.
The work begins with the most basic processes. Eggs are cracked one by one, the fruit for Frutas de Aragón is cut and coated by hand, and tea pastries continue to be prepared with a piping bag. Modern machinery plays a limited role in products that depend largely on the hands of those working in the bakery workshop.
Cristina and Raúl have introduced some new products since taking over the business, but always within that same approach. One of them is a larger croissant filled and coated with chocolate. "Anything new we make has to fit in with our pastries and our way of working," they both point out.
The decision also responds to what customers who have been visiting their stores for years expect. "People come in to buy brevas and tell us: 'They are just like the ones I bought when I was little.' That flavor takes them back to their childhood. It has been preserved because we continue to make the products practically as we did at the beginning," they say.
KING CAKES, CHRISTMAS AND THREE DAYS OF MADNESS
If there is one period marked in red on Horno Ismael’s calendar, it is Christmas. The work begins weeks earlier with nougat and continues with the sweets associated with the season, New Year’s Eve products and, finally, the Three Kings cakes.
"Christmas is the busiest time of year, without a doubt. December and January," they explain. Nougat production begins in mid- or late November, followed by one of the year’s most intense campaigns. San Silvestre log cakes and other Christmas products follow one another until January 6.
That day, the workshop completely changes its usual pace. The family throws itself into the work, and any help is welcome. "You do not sleep that day. Every family member who shows up comes to lend a hand. It is absolute madness," Raúl says.
The figures help convey the scale of those days: they estimate that they can make around 8,000 Three Kings cakes over the course of those three days, all through a process that begins long before the product reaches the display window. "The dough has to be kneaded, left to rise, baked and filled. When someone simply thinks of ‘a Three Kings cake,’ they may not realize all the time and processes behind it," Cristina explains.
A NEIGHBORHOOD BAKERY WITH LIFELONG CUSTOMERS
Horno Ismael’s three stores welcome regular customers who have been buying there for years, as well as people who discover the business by chance or through a recommendation. The warm, personal service is one of the features of a relationship that has been built over the years.
Horno Ismael’s stores maintain a close relationship with a customer base made up of several generations of Zaragoza residents.
"There are people who have been coming for a very long time. They are people you have practically known all your life, you know their names and there is a great deal of trust," Cristina says. At the same time, the display window continues to serve as an invitation to those who walk past and decide to come in.
THE CHALLENGE OF MAINTAINING THAT CLOSENESS
Horno Ismael’s future lies in maintaining this way of working while Raúl and Cristina finish assuming all the business’s responsibilities. The company currently has 18 employees, and both know that the generational transition involves much more than learning how to make the products.
"There is also the responsibility of maintaining everything that has been built and ensuring that it continues to work. We are 18 people, so sometimes it is a little daunting to think that there are 18 salaries we have to keep paying," Raúl acknowledges.
They intend for their relationship with the team to maintain the same closeness they have experienced within the family. "We try to make it work like one big family. If someone has a problem, we want them to be able to talk to us about it," they explain.
As the bakery workshop continues preparing doughs, pastries and the products that have accompanied several generations of Zaragoza residents, Horno Ismael is entering its next stage: with a new generation at the helm, but with its recipes, handmade production and close relationship with customers as its starting point. It is a traditional Zaragoza bakery looking to the future without leaving behind the way of making pastries with which it began in 1978.
