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My family owned and operated a full service bakery. That means they did everything from breads, to cookies, to cakes, to weddings and special orders, as well as
by emacsen 5y ago
My family owned and operated a full service bakery. That means they did everything from breads, to cookies, to cakes, to weddings and special orders, as well as seasonal favorites.
Being a baker is hard. Your staff has to be there nearly all the time prepping, proofing, baking, selling, you're competing with not only supermarkets but also operations like Costco/Sam's Club which can produce high quality baked goods at very low prices, etc.
Also remember that your operation is like a factory where you're always dealing with storing supplies, which expire in a matter of weeks sometimes, and then your produced goods expire in a matter of days.
Also, you'll be dealing with customers whose only experience is supermarket bread, which doesn't go stale, doesn't mold, etc. and they will think your product is inferior if it does.
I think things have changed since when I was a kid in the 80s, but if I were to start a bakery now, I'd be thinking about niche products- focus on a tiny market segment, specific to specific groups- health conscious, gluten free, specialty flavors or some other segment that is going to be willing to pay for a premium product. Do not try to compete on price.
I'd be thinking about marketing heavily, and I'd think about creative outlets for both producing and selling.
For example, maybe sell at a farmer's market instead of a storefront. For production, rent a commercial kitchen instead of fronting the money for making equipment, selling online or subscriptions as well. Basically cut your costs as much as possible while you do your proof of concept.
- test001only 5y agoCurious, why doesn't supermarket bread go stale as quick as bakery bread? Is it because they use some sort of preservative (I could not find anything obvious in the ingredients list)?
- zo1 5y agoAccording to google: Some common bread preservatives include calcium propionate, sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate, and sorbic acid. Also, last I read about it, there is some trick or loophole that allows them to use additives for bread making that don't need to be listed in the ingredients list. Google bread making enzymes, that's their umbrella term IIRC.
- emacsen 5y agoIt's a combination of factors. First, as the other replies mentioned, there are preservatives and stabilizers in supermarket breads. Also, any bread in a plastic bag won't go stale as quickly, but it can grow mold due to the presence of moisture, but factory bread contains things like calcium propionate that inhibit mold growth. Bread without preservatives and kept out of a plastic bag will go stale in a short time (a couple of days maybe).
- wrycoder 5y agoStand it on the cut edge and cover it with a thin dish towel.
- Fire-Dragon-DoL 5y agoIt depends on the flour. A friend of mine baked bread, but he also made the flour (and everything really. Not for mass production). His bread took a week to go stale. It was also amazing to eat (not an expert). He grew his own wheat and had some very specific requirements when making the flour (he didn't own the grind, but he was friend with the owner). That's all I know. Of course no GMO.
- mbfg 5y agoI don't doubt for a minute that being a small bakery business is super hard, and competing against supermarkets etc is frustrating, but i don't think it's because the quality is the same. Supermarket cakes, etc, are absolute trash. I don't know any of them that use butter, which makes their cakes taste awful. The problem is, people just don't have the time or energy to go to separate bakeries, or don't have the mindset to do so. also if you bake a good cake there's likely no way you can compete with supermarket prices. So there's no doubt in my mind you can easily out compete supermarkets on quality, unfortunately, it doesn't seem to matter.