Ideas for business? What would you like to see more of?
I am in the Bay area and would like to start my own bakery business. I am doing some research to find out what it is people would like to see more of that is not out there (or hard to find). I have been experimenting with gluten-free vs. whole wheat pastry flour vs. vegan vs. healthier alternatives using natural sweeteners that would be suitable for diabetics. I would rent a commercial kitchen and sell privately to customers and/or vendors. I would not have a store.
Some of the ideas I am working on:
Gluten free cakes, cupcakes, wedding cakes?
Gluten free bars and cookies?
French macarons in different flavors sold individually or in bulk?
Dairy free organic frozen yogurt made with natural sweeteners?
Organic cookies and baked goods?
Naturally sweetened baked goods?
Or?
Thank you for any suggestions or feedback that you may have.
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9 Comments:
Before reading your list of ideas, the first thing that popped into my mind was macarons. However, this is a Clevelander speaking...not sure how many bakeries are at least partly dedicated to making those.
I haven't been back to SF in a long time, having spent a month on vacation each summer throughout my childhood and into grad school, but I have a feeling that it's still more or less the same in that there are probably a lot of businesses that cater to the organic, gluten-free, natural stuff crowd.
Diabetic baked goods are interesting that would fill the niche of "what do I get so-and-so as a gift since s/he is diabetic?" I'm sure there are cafes or boutiques that would love to carry a very small variety of baked goods like that. It would be nice to show that diabetic baked goods don't have be like gnawing on cardboard. However, everyone that I know who is diabetic, and have acknowledged the lifestyle change needed, are excellent cooks since they end up making their own food.
This may be beneath you, but I had the feeling that SF is pet-friendly from the amount of poop I encountered every time I went to parks. I didn't have any pets growing up, so I may be gauging things wrong here. Are there a lot of pet biscuit bakers?
On the one hand, you don't want to put all your eggs in one basket at the start, but then you don't want to be too varied and be a master of none.
Not being a baker...what is not quite the rage but building in popularity in Europe?
Then again, more and more people are finding themselves to be sensitive to gluten...
Cassaendra at 2:53AM on 08/07/09
Before I read your list, I was going to say gluten-free options, especially breads. It can be challenging since they tend to dry out so quickly, but as I learned about the diet, I was shocked (SHOCKED) at how horrible the commercially prepared loaves are in comparison to a homemade/handmade equivalent.
Cupcakes/cakes/wedding is a great angle, absolutely. But everyday things would be awesome too. I like my own, homemade bread, but it would be fun to be able to choose interesting options prepared by someone else, especially at the holidays, like cornbreads, ciabatta loaves, english muffins, rolls, etc.
savecara at 9:30AM on 08/07/09
Not that you want to be knocking off all of the ideas but BabyCakes here in NY is super popular. Their cupcakes are the talk of the town, pardon my use of that awful expression. Maybe check out their menu for ideas?
meem21 at 10:46AM on 08/07/09
I would like to see more good German food options in the St. Louis metro area. There used to be several good German restaurants in the area and now I think we are down to only one or two plus two or three across the river in Illinois.
tusti at 10:56AM on 08/07/09
Just when I think New York can't sustain another cupcake shop, I see a new one every weekend, so maybe you could succeed there. Macarons are nice, but they seem to have a shelf life of 3 days at most and they are more difficult to make than cupcakes.
I visit the Bay Area 3x a year, and it seems that there are quite a few great bread shops (like Acme), Indian sweet stores, excellent ice cream, cutesy French pastry shops like Miette, and there's Mr. Zanze who makes the best cheesecake in the planet. SF also seems to have a lot of conscious, organic, gluten free, vegan bakeries like Cafe Gratitude and other establishments. What seems to be missing are:
1. A Middle Eastern style pastry shop. You could make your own Turkish delight. All the Turkish Delight that's imported in this country tastes old and are full of preservatives. If you've ever had the freshly stuff, it's amazing.
2. Austro-Hungarian bakery - You would need to make a reconaissance trip to Vienna (or NYC) for Demel and to Budapest for Gerbeaud to see how fantastic these middle European cakes and pastries are. The owners of Bravo Fono in the Stanford Shopping Center had one going for a while. I don't know if it's still around.
Ortolan at 11:07AM on 08/07/09
pie lollipops! (from the earlier s.e. article)
kristin314 at 12:16PM on 08/07/09
aahaha Bay Area?
GIGANTIC GREEN DAY fan here.
Green Day themed?
jk
Seriously:
North America needs more Eco-Friendly locations. I've never been to the area but you can't get enough environmental conservation
hungrychristel at 1:21PM on 08/07/09
Meat in a cone!
Pavlov at 9:29PM on 08/07/09
Oh yeah the lolli-pies! Totally.
sailordave at 10:21PM on 08/07/09