A traditional bakery in a small Polish town has earned a remarkable place among the world’s leading bakeries, securing third position in an international ranking of the 100 best bakeries for 2026.
Piekarnia Tradycyjna Klementowski, based in Konstantynów Łódzki near the city of Łódź in central Poland, finished behind only Julius Brantner Brothandwerk in Munich, Germany, and Domaselo in Miami, United States.
The result places the Polish business ahead of bakeries in countries internationally associated with bread-making traditions, including France, Italy and Germany.
- Find more news from Poland on our Homepage .
The ranking was compiled by Worth a Journey, a Munich-based travel guide that publishes international lists of notable destinations and businesses.
And Klementowski was not Poland’s only success: six Polish bakeries appeared in the world’s top 100, representing cities and towns across the country.
A Polish bakery keeping traditional methods alive
The bakery’s international recognition is particularly striking because its approach centres on traditional techniques rather than large-scale industrial production.
According to its official website, Klementowski prepares bread using its own sourdough starter and bakes in traditional brick-and-fireclay ovens.
Loaves are shaped by hand, while wooden peels are used to place bread into the ovens and remove it after baking.
The bakery says its bread is produced without the addition of commercial yeast, improvers or ready-made baking mixes.
It also emphasises ingredient selection and its longstanding relationship with a flour mill in Przyrownica, in the Łódź region, whose milling traditions stretch back to 1930.
The business describes more than 25 years of baking experience.
Its approach reflects a style of bread-making familiar to generations of Polish consumers, particularly traditional sourdough rye bread, which has long occupied an important place in Poland’s food culture.
Fresh bread — even late at night
One distinctive feature highlighted by the international ranking is Klementowski’s round-the-clock production.
Rather than baking only during the early morning hours, the business continues preparing bread throughout the day and night.
The Worth a Journey profile specifically draws attention to loaves emerging from the oven late in the evening.
Its selection includes traditional rye bread, Poznań-style bread rolls and doughnuts fried in lard.
Beyond bread, the bakery produces a range of sweet baked goods, cakes and traditional Polish pastries.
The guide also highlights the bakery’s popularity among local customers, noting that queues can form during busy periods and that children’s baking workshops are offered.
For residents of Konstantynów Łódzki, the bakery is an established local business. Its inclusion among the world’s highest-ranked bakeries now gives that local tradition an international audience.
Six Polish bakeries among the world’s top 100
Klementowski’s third-place finish is the headline achievement, but the wider ranking also showcases the diversity of Poland’s contemporary baking industry.
The remaining five Polish businesses span traditional regional bakeries and newer artisan establishments.
| World ranking | Bakery | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | Piekarnia Tradycyjna Klementowski | Konstantynów Łódzki |
| 36 | Wytwórnia Chleba Rzemieślniczego | Legionowo |
| 43 | Piekarnia DEJ | Warsaw |
| 60 | Świeżo Upieczona | Kraków |
| 89 | Piekarnia Podpora | Łódź |
| 96 | Piekarnia Plon | Wrocław |
Wytwórnia Chleba Rzemieślniczego in Legionowo, north of Warsaw, placed 36th. The guide highlights its on-site baking operation, which customers can observe through glass.
Warsaw’s Piekarnia DEJ, in the Bielany district, ranked 43rd, with its traditional rye and wheat-rye breads and seasonal blueberry buns among the products mentioned.
Świeżo Upieczona in Kraków took 60th place, while Łódź bakery Podpora finished 89th. Podpora is noted for its country-style and buckwheat breads.
Completing the Polish representation was Piekarnia Plon in Wrocław, ranked 96th, offering sourdough bread alongside focaccia, croissants and sandwiches.
Together, the six entries reflect the variety of Poland’s baking traditions, from established rye-bread recipes to contemporary artisan baking. The complete Poland-specific list confirms all six positions.
How were the world’s best bakeries selected?
The World’s 100 Best Bakeries 2026 ranking is published by Worth a Journey, which describes itself as an international guide to destinations worth visiting.
According to the organisation’s published methodology, its lists are produced using an algorithm that analyses large amounts of information about establishments worldwide.
The organisers say they also conduct visits to selected businesses to check and recalibrate their results.
Worth a Journey states that businesses cannot purchase a place in its rankings, pay to improve their position or nominate themselves for inclusion.
For the bakery category, establishments must bake bread on site and sell it directly to customers. Supermarket counters, shops primarily selling pastries and businesses that merely resell bread are excluded under the guide’s eligibility criteria.
The list therefore represents the guide’s own international assessment rather than a formal world championship or a prize decided by a panel of baking judges.
A local Polish tradition earns international attention
Poland has a long tradition of baking sourdough bread, particularly rye loaves, alongside a wide variety of regional rolls, festive pastries and sweet baked goods.
Traditional bread remains an important part of everyday Polish food culture, even as modern retail and industrial baking have changed how bread is produced and sold.
Klementowski’s success illustrates how a business rooted in established techniques can attract recognition beyond its local market.
It also demonstrates that international attention is not limited to bakeries in major tourist destinations.
Konstantynów Łódzki may be far less familiar to international visitors than Munich, Paris or Rome, but its traditional bakery now occupies one of the most prominent positions in this year’s global ranking.
For a business that continues to shape bread by hand and bake it using methods associated with generations of Polish bakers, third place among 100 internationally selected establishments is a notable achievement.
And with five other Polish bakeries recognised, the ranking has given Poland’s bread-making traditions a particularly strong international showing in 2026.
