Couple brings Icelandic flavour to east end of CBS

By Patrick Newhook/January 13, 2022

Things have become a little sweeter in the east end of Conception Bay South.

The Icelandic themed Volcano Bakery recently moved out of its St. John’s location on Newfoundland Drive and relocated to Manuels.

Gunnar Asgirsson and his wife Christa chose to move the bakery so they could be closer to home.

“We live in CBS,” said Asgirsson. “The plan was always to bring it into CBS. We were not sure if we were going to close the other one or have the two of them… (we decided) if we were going to keep on doing this, we would do it here in our hometown.”

The bakery started in the capital city in 2016. The original owner, an Icelandic friend of Asgirsson, passed away nine months later. The couple then took over the business.

Running a bakery was a different experience for the pair.

“You can just imagine if you went tomorrow and took over a bakery,” said Asgirsson.

“I had no experience. My wife had some experience, but I had none and we kind of just figured it out as we went.”

The move from the city to another town had its challenges.

“The actual transformation of it was fine,” Asgirsson said. “We were told before we moved to CBS with the business everything is so easy here, but it wasn’t that easy. St. John’s is in a lot of ways easier to deal with, when it comes to permits and stuff like that, but at the same time no complaints.”

Since making the move, however, the two have felt encouraged by the response and feel they are filling a niche.

“We have had an absolutely fantastic response,” said Asgirsson. “We found that there is an absolute desperate need for a bakery here in (the east end of) CBS, and people have shown us that we are right,” said Asgirsson.