Success In Baking Business Need Not Be A Mystery

Numerous novel bakery ventures – croissant shops in the mid-1980s, for example, or cupcake shops in the 2000s – have learned a lesson the hard way: “consumer tastes are fickle.” A key reason for the failure of cupcake ventures was the realization that cupcakes are a special occasion treat. People just didn’t stop in every day. Specialty bakery shops can still thrive, but only if they diversify with complementary items like coffee, doughnuts, or ice cream. An even better recipe for specialty baking success is to sell into both retail and wholesale markets. Achatz Handmade Pie Co., for example, has sold fresh pies to consumers for 22 years. But it branched out into wholesale pies, and has prospered by providing pies to Whole Foods, Kroger Co., and the 90-store Wegmans grocery chain.