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For years the head baker at Vital Vittles kosher bakery, Huong Tran-Ya, could not get her son Daniel to eat his vegetables.

Then one day, in jest, he challenged her to "put them in the bread."

She did.

And so Daniel's Carrot Bread was born into Vital Vittles' family of 100 percent whole-grain organic and kosher breads, rolls and sweets.

"Daniel liked it and so did our customers," said Vital Vittles general manager Kass Schwin, who is also a co-owner.

There are many stories like this one behind the bread at Vital Vittles, which in September celebrated its 25th anniversary as a natural foods bakery, at 2810 San Pablo Ave. in Berkeley.

The Persimmons Holiday Bread, for instance, came about by accident — a car accident between a Vital Vittles delivery truck driver and an elderly German persimmon farmer.

When the farmer, who has since passed away, came by the bakery to pick up a check to cover damages to his vehicle, he suggested in his thick German accent that they should try baking the squat, orange fruit into their bread.

They did.

To this day the bakery continues to buy the persimmons for its holiday bread and challot from the late German's farm.

But while Vital Vittles' recipes may have evolved from only a few to a couple of dozen, the actual method for making the flour has not changed at all. Since the day the bakery was opened by Schwin and her ex-husband Joe, the flour has been ground daily on the original stone mill and the breads have been kneaded by hand.

"Hardly anyone does this because it's laborious and not real efficient," said Schwin, who dreamed as a child of living on a farm and making food from scratch.

"Customers often say, 'Oh, my mother used to grind wheat that way — I haven't tasted bread like this in years.'"

The bread itself is "not big and puffy looking" but "dense," she said, maintaining all the elements of the wheat, which are often removed from refined breads.

"I'm an enemy of refined products. We're all about basic, down-to-earth food that's fresh and full of life. Even our oil is unrefined and our herbs are fresh. We grow rosemary here at the bakery."

Schwin, who is Jewish, and her team of 20 employees, three of whom are co-owners, bake about 7,500 loaves each week, though never on Saturday.

Most of their products are distributed to Bay Area stores like Whole Foods and Mollie Stone's or sent out to customers via United Parcel Service.

They are also sold at farmers' markets or straight out of the Vital Vittles bakery, which received its kashrut certification in 1990 and is overseen by Chabad Rabbi Ben-Zion Welton.

Friday is a particularly busy day for Vital Vittles, with an increase in challah orders because of the approaching Sabbath. Oftentimes observant Jews call in to special-order the bread. The same goes for the High Holy Days.

"A lot of the people who buy our breads consider the fact that it's kosher as a reassurance," said Jim Riesenfeld, a friend of Schwin who volunteers his time at the bakery. "Even people who aren't Jewish recognize that the kosher label says something about the breads' quality and high standards."

Despite being what Schwin describes as "a small, homegrown operation," the bakery has managed to persevere and maintain a large following of loyal customers.

Schwin believes it is because the bakery makes a product that is "unique, tastes good and is really good for you." Also, because the bakery does not use eggs or milk in the breads, there is a following among the growing number of vegans in the community.

In fact, Vital Vittles has never had an advertising campaign over the past 25 years. Most of its success has actually come directly from word of mouth.

"Usually, if we can just get our bread into people's hands," said Schwin, "they like it."