Small and medium sized bakeries have been around for many years. There will likely always be a need for these types of shops, as many customers enjoy the small feel of a local bakery. However, the market can get competitive, depending how many small coffee shops and bakeries are in one city. If you are looking to step up your competitiveness and bring new customers to your small town bakery, remember these important characteristics of a high quality bakery.
Use quality ingredients
Good food and coffee are what bring people back to a restaurant, whether it is a bakery or a sit down restaurant. Good ingredients make people want to try additional menu items. Ensure that you are getting your bakery ingredients and coffee grounds from a high quality supplier. If at all possible, create everything from scratch within your shop for an even more unique flavor. You will have more room to increase prices or keep your doors open, if people are satisfied with your food and coffee items.
Advertising high quality ingredients can be a positive marketing effort. When you advertise the specific high quality bakery items and quality coffee that you serve, people will be interested. Wholesale baked goods also tend to hold value longer and taste fresher when they are made out of high quality ingredients.
Offer food alternatives
Not only do customers have different food preferences, but they also have special dietary restrictions. While one customer may be allergic to gluten, another may prefer only gluten products. One customer may be interested in non dairy coffee creamer options, where another prefers solid milk. The more variety that you have in your bakery, the more customers you can cater to. Customers will also appreciate the special menu items to accommodate allergies and dietary restrictions.
Changing up food items can also be important in keeping a menu fresh. For example, the consumption of bread was declining in the 20th Century, but the rediscovery of artisanal breads has changed that, with bakers producing breads similar to those from 1,000 years ago. Artesian bread is now an important menu item of many wholesale baked goods shops. Changing flavors and introducing new menu items will get new customers in the door and will bring customers back, who have not visited in a while.
Small town relationships
Many people that frequent local wholesale baked goods shops are people who prefer to support small town businesses. You can increase the reputation of your business and help other small town businesses by pairing with them. Bread baked with local ingredients is generally a huge hit with the same type of customers who will visit a small town bakery. You will also find a new market of customers when you visit farmers markets and support other small businesses.
Best pricing practices
If you have ever visited a large chained bakery or coffee shop, then you are aware of the high costs they charge food goods. People who do not want to pay that much for bakery items and their morning coffee are more likely to visit a small town coffee shop. When you shop around for your wholesale baked goods, you can usually pass these savings onto your customers. The decrease in price compared to other local coffee shops will keep customers satisfied and coming back for more.
Fresh items
The final important characteristic of a good wholesale baked goods store is fresh items. Coffee and bakery items are products that most customers expect to be fresh, or very close to fresh. For this reason, many bakeries will use bread baking fresh daily signs to entice customers in for fresh food items. The FDA recommends that adults should eat six to eleven servings of carbohydrates, including bread, daily. You might as well make it fresh.
Bakery items and coffee are some of the most consumed items, all over the world. In 2016 alone, 11.76 million Americans used 5 or more loaves or packages of break in a week. A small bakery that wishes to remain competitive against other city coffee shops needs to ensure their ingredients are always high quality and that their products are fresh.