Meeting the ever-changing demands of your customers has never been more important. This is the secret to success moving forward.

Single-size breads and cakes, for example, are gaining widespread popularity at Las Hermanas 2, which opened eight years ago on the southwest side of Houston, owners Cesar Quijano and Yesenia Romero.

“Smaller cakes are more popular now,” Cesar Quijano explains. “Our customers are buying more single cakes and slices, as well as cupcakes.”

Authentic flavors are equally important to success.

“Our flavors and colors are authentic,” points out Tepatitlán Bakery’s Adriana Chávez, who manages the retail location in Pasadena, Texas, a Houston suburb. “Our bakers are from all over Mexico – Mexico City, Guanajuato. There is a lot of diversity in our city of Pasadena.”

Working closely with BakeMark also matters, ensuring the consistency and high quality that your customers demand.

“BakeMark as very good product, and they help us stay ahead of the trends,” she explains. “They helped us introduce a new line of whole grain breads that our customers love.”

Educating your staff

A huge challenge facing every business in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic is staffing. Bakeries and donut shops of every size and description are no exception. It’s so important to have bakers and salesclerks who know what they are doing, according to BakeMark.

Understand the baking process and your products and how to sell them to your customers and keep your operation running smoothly It takes time to teach and develop those skills and attitudes. It’s critical that you continually build from within – both as individuals and as a team. 

BakeMark is the exclusive distributor of some of the industry’s top brands, including Westco, BakeSense, Best Brands, Multifoods, BakeQwik, Trigal Dorado, C’est Vivant and Sprinkelina, operating through 5 manufacturing plants and 25 distribution centers located across North America.

Your Bakery Team – Build Up Checklist

Compensation

Only you know what you can afford to pay bakers and salesclerks based on your operational income and expenses.  Keep in mind that compensation is ALWAYS on the mind of your staff.  Stay current on market standards and create a pay structure that is fair and competitive to keep your employees happy. 

Communication

Nurture an environment where your bakers and salesclerks can come to you with ideas, questions, and concerns.  They are on the front line with customers, so their feedback to you can be invaluable.  Even something as simple as moving colorfully iced cake donuts closer to kids’ eye-level can help.  Pay attention, and make sure they know you’re paying attention.  They’ll keep the ideas coming! 

Feedback

Continually let your staff know how they are doing and give them encouragement whenever possible.  Tell them you appreciate their efforts.  Also, indicate areas needing improvement to help them do their jobs better and avoid misunderstandings.  Nothing is worse than surprises when it comes to performance evaluations. 

Team Building

Plan regular meetings to discuss your bakery.  Getting salesclerks and bakers on the same page and feeling like their contributions are important increases the strength of their loyalty to you and your operation.  Make sure they are part of new product introductions, so they can effectively communicate and upsell to your customers.  It’s always fun to be on a winning team!

Achievement Recognition

Acknowledge individual accomplishments – a work anniversary, a multi-dozen order to a local school, a birthday, a new way to stack coffee lids, etc.  Everyone loves to know their efforts are recognized and appreciated. 

Your BakeMark sales representative can give you more ideas and suggestions about team building, as well as general industry knowledge, like wages, hours, pricing, product trends, and new production techniques.  They have the knowledge and experience required to help you with employee relations.  It has always been a key element to every successful business, but the stress and strain of the pandemic has amplified its importance to every bakery and donut shop.  Let the strength and background of BakeMark work for you. 

High quality is key

Consumers will stop buying a product when its original price has risen by an average of 40%, according to a new survey commissioned by specialist PR agency Ingredient Communications and conducted by SurveyGoo.

Respondents were asked to select the point at which they would stop buying a selection of food, beverage, and nutrition products due to price rises, using a scale of +5% to “I would buy this product whatever the price.”

High quality ingredients are key. The survey findings indicate that consumers are happy to shop around in order to offset the impact of upward price pressures. Nearly half of respondents (48%) said they had switched to a cheaper brand in the previous three months as a result of price rises, while 26% said they had changed to a retailer’s own-label version of the same product.

“For basic goods, even a large percentage price increase might still only be a matter of cents or pennies. By contrast, a small percentage increase in the cost of a premium nutrition product might be measured in dollars or pounds,” explains Richard Clarke, managing director of Ingredient Communications.

Overall, the results indicated that shoppers were more immune to price increases for low-cost staple goods. For example, the category in which consumers were least price sensitive was milk (dairy), which could increase in price by an average of 65% before respondents would stop buying it. This was followed by bread (62%).