Archive for October, 2010

Party Platters

Party Platters

Some people in many industries believe that all they have to do is: put up a sign, open their doors for business and the public will flock through the doors and into their store in droves.

You know WHAT?

The bakery can be that type of store!

But you do need to consider how to plan things from start to around 5 years ahead.

Whow! That scared a few people didn’t it?

But, it should not really bother you in the least.

WHY? Because you did a business plan and in your business plan you decided that at Christmas you were going to make your happy holiday customers life easier by doing just what the super markets do all through the year.

We never want to compete with the super market as a general rule though! Because they have deeper pockets, but here is where we can compete with fresher, on-the-premises, homemade style products with party platters!

Christmas is just such an occasion. People tend to splurge, or upgrade their festive entertainment options, and they love to experiment with nice looking cakes and pastries.

Party platters are absolutely great for any occasion, but Christmas and New Year festivities command a slightly different style of products.

  • Petite Fores
  • Profiteroles
  • Shortbread’s
  • Rich Dark Fruitcakes
  • Fancy cupcakes
  • Breads
  • Canapes
  • Veal, Ham & Egg Pies

There are so many products i could teach you about, that could be made to celebrate Christmas or any other festive occasion. But there just is not the room in this article to mention every single one of them.

You can of course visit my web site where i show you how to start a bakery and i can even visit your location if you require on-site consultations to learn how to make some of, or all of these products.

Bakery- A good Business to start!

One of the beauties of a home bakery is that you don’t need a heck of a lot of equipment to get you started. Just a stove, a few pans, some ingredients and that “special” recipe. If you want to get a little fancier, you’ll find a timer (to keep you from over or under cooking an oven full of goodies on those busy days when you’re preoccupied with more than you can remember) well worth its small investment.

Think Clean, Think Quality

When you operate a family-sized home business, you quickly realize that there’s no one to pass the buck to when you goof something up. You-or your family-alone are responsible for any slipshod work and, if you expect your enterprise to grow and thrive, you’re well advised to set high standards for yourself and to constantly make every effort you can to exceed them.

For example: If you, as we do, shell the nuts which go into your baked goods make double danged sure that you do the job with utmost care. People are finicky-and rightfully so-about the food they eat and, especially in today’s hard times, they want value for their money. Even one strand of hair, passed over and left in one of your pies or loaves of bread, could be enough to turn off your best customer.

Another example: Don’t be too cheap to invest in giving your products a quality image. Plastic bags and even cake boxes can be purchased from paper wholesalers very cheaply. The cost, in short, is hardly anything at all compared to the atmosphere of care and the “guarantee” of cleanliness that such packaging adds to your goods.

Pricing Your Products

If your baked goods are really above average, don’t underestimate them. We’ve found (to our pleasant surprise), that the individual or family with something tasty to offer has no trouble commanding a fair price for his, her, or their products. There’s so much prepackaged and machine-made food on the market these days that genuinely mouthwatering goods are welcomed with open arms. If what you have to sell is really in demand, don’t be afraid to ask a premium price for it.

The problem with most bakery owners today is the frequent rising of raw materials. To offset the extra cost, it is better to reduce the size of the products rather than increase the price.

Work for More than Money

You cannot get rich instantly in the bakery business. But then, you don’t have to stop it when it’s coming. Be quite content for while as long as your little home enterprise guarantees your day-to-day survival, keeps you relatively independent of being your own boss, and leaves you free to pursue other interests.

Basic Baking Equipments and Supplies

  • Oven
  • Tray
  • Slide bread roller
  • Bread cutter
  • Mixer
  • Sealer
  • Display cabinet
  • Bakery supplies (flour, sugar, oil, etc.)
  • Refrigerator

Some Marketing Tips:

  • Try to reach out to the market oustside your area.
  • Account all of the expenses thoroughly.
  • Try to make some experiments. The bakery business is somehow dynamic that people want to taste other types of bread.
  • If possible, consign your products to other stores, “potpot” boys or other maglalako.
  • Reach out for the customers (for regular and potential customers) like making deliveries in the morning, making some posters or flyers of your bakeshop, magbahay bahay to offer you products this is is what you call information dissemination because of course who would buy in your bakeshop if the customers does not know your place or you exist.
  • Would be very particular of the quality of your products because a good product speaks for itself. The quality of your product will help you gain more customers thru words of mouth.
  • Know your competitors products, strongpoints and weakpoints
  • Market Penetration – prioritize all the customer around your area, they will be your based customer.
  • Sales Clerk – get your family involved with the business instead of hiring people. Save the payroll for something more important.
  • Come up with a specialty bread that only you are baking
  • Don’t always depend on your baker – study new techniques, try something different, something new.

Employee Benefits

Employee Benefits

There are many, many people in an employment situation.

In fact there are so many people employed and looking for work that this particular story is going to make every single employer cringe each and every time they think about taking on a brand new person to their business.

Why is that you ask?

Well Ronny; the burger chain, has apparently just been credited, (one of my least visited food chain), to offer the best employee rewards program employer, in a long time.

Work 12 years and eat for free while on duty. YES! Eat for free and your reward could be $17.5 K!

Oh! By the way you have to put on something like 30 Kilo in weight.

Check out the story here!

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/101028/world/lt_brazil_mcdonald_s_obese_manager

Bagels for breakfast

Bagels for breakfast.

There are many high profile establishments that offer bagels for Breakfast as well as any other time in the day treat.

bagel-omelet-and-baconIve purchased them from the usual doughnut place i sometimes visit. But, more to the point i have made them in their hundreds within my own bakery.

There is a big difference though! The ones you can buy with all kinds of topping on them, such as Cheese, Onion, Poppy Seeds, as well as Sesame Seeds from super markets and these establishments, are made from a type of bread dough.

Now don’t get me wrong!

Bagels are a type of bread dough in that they are made with a certain kind of flour, yeast, salt, maybe shortening and a little sugar and water.

The biggest difference is in the preparation of the dough and just prior to baking. You see a good bagel is baked on a brick oven floor after it has been boiled in a sweet & sour solution. The sweet & sour solution give the bagel a unique texture, flavor and color.

It can be even further enhanced by baking in a wood fired oven. You can learn how to make your own by starting your own bakery business.

But, here’s an article that wants to have you believe the tasty bagel is full of sugar.

In fact there is very little added white sugar in the dough!

http://ca.shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/5-dangers-your-dentist-never-told-you-blog-23-shine.html

After you read that article it really becomes clear and comes down to brushing your teeth after every meal.

Something I was told to do as a child, some 70 years ago.

A Mince Pie

A Mince Pie

I hear you loud and clear saying; “What the heck is a mince pie”?

A mince pie to me is a Christmas delicacy made in the bakery!

At least it is to me! To some people a mince pie might be considered to be a meat pie. But it is NOT made with meat!

It is in fact made from a variety of fruit. Such fruit as Currants, Sultanas, Raisins, Candied Orange & Lemon Peel and Apples.

Sugar and water is also added.

Added to the fruits are spices like a Mixed Spice, Nutmeg, Ginger, and All Spice.

Plus in some varieties a substance called Suet is also added, but in today’s society this is generally left out. Suet will give the pie a slightly different flavor and as far as i am concerned a personal touch.

Mixing these ingredients together requires a maturing stage which can be from a couple weeks to several months.

I used to make my own mincemeat fillings in a bucket with a lid that was tight fitting and every day i would shake the fruit up to rotate the syrup that forms as the fruit matures.

I would also add one other ingredient to portray a very different flavor – I would add either a portion of dark rum or a small quantity of rum essence. Brandy will work too!

A bakery is one of those few businesses where manufacturing and retailing measures are performed by the same people.

You have to be an extraordinary baker and business person producing and selling distinguishing goods. Have experience in both areas before starting, including areas such as organizing and accounting.

If you decided to buy an existing bakery, cautiously evaluate the opportunity. Study the reasons for selling and assess possible profits, sales, operating cost, assets and liabilities. Discuss with an expert about the situation of the bakery equipment.

If possible, try to ask a lawyer to review any agreement. If you start a new bakery, do the same kind of alert assessments and consult with an accountant and a lawyer. Also, refer to the service business plan books. Above all, expect early mornings, a few long days and rigid physical work. Sales vary during the year you will be busiest during special days and holidays.

Bakeries are classified in different types, you can choose in what type to invest in putting up bakery business.

  • Small retail – Regularly one-store operations with two or three staff that bakes and sell the products on-site. Often specialize in fancy, baked goods. Small retails may grow into chain operations with the baking done in a central location.
  • In-store - Operating out of big retail grocery chains and rising in popularity, some in-store bakeries do not make earnings – they simply offer service and build traffic. Sometimes autonomous bakeries can operate in-store as separate businesses; in these cases, profits must be made.
  • Wholesale plant – These are large, mechanized operations which bake in large volumes. Wholesale plants distribute to independent grocery stores, chain stores and superstores.
  • Medium – Frequently independently-owned and operated; medium-sized can focus selling through wholesale or retail outlets.
  • Hot Bread/Buns – Often part of a franchise or working alongside. An example is a bakery producing sandwich buns/croissants. Usually offer a large variety of bread and buns constantly throughout operating hours.
  • Cake – Specialties in wedding cakes, birthday cakes, cheesecakes and can be very beneficial. Location and product quality are serious in determining success.
  • Donut – Independently-owned or franchises, often operating 24 hours per day. As in hot bread/buns bakeries, many use basic pre-made mixes available from millers and bakery suppliers.
  • Other – Bakeries growing in popularity, specializing in cookies/muffins/bagels.

Lastly, monitor the use of all baking supplies and ingredients. Record incidents of spillage, spoilage and outflow during production.

The main ingredient is usually flour. Find the lowest probable purchase price for an acceptable grade.

It is also best to train staff to make products according to strict weight specifications: because overweight products result in losses. Train staff to save packaging and to open one unit at a time as needed and calculate the expenses of each prepackage unit and the packaging itself. Permit staff to taste product as a training aid but do not allow continuous nibbling.

Always remove all foodstuffs from shelves after expiry dates and monitor stock rotation.

You need also to count your customers each hour to establish traffic patterns and schedule your staff accordingly and make sure they are on time. For advance monitoring, give each cashier a separate cash drawer and constant cash float and count the cash the end of each shift.

In all business, it is best to establish procedures for managing all areas of the business. This includes recording monthly account and filling out purchase orders/receiving records.

Christmas in the bakery

Christmas in the bakery is a very special time.

It is also quite a busy time too.

There are numerous products that can be made in a bakery from candy to cakes and bread to soup. But Christmas is about helping you enjoy your festivities.

Now I know there are some people, who think that the word Christmas should be changed to a number of other terms, but I am an Englishman and for over 70 years December 25th has always been Christmas to me. If you celebrate the day by some other name I am not going to contradict you.

With any social occasion whether in a bakery or any other business there has to be a plan. The plan must know what that occasion is and then plan the products for that occasion.

So when it comes around to Christmas there are dozens of items to be made. Some of which can be made months in advance whereas other need to be made a lot closer to the actual date.

October is a good time to start the fruit cakes and cover with either almond paste or marzipan. We also get to make the Dundee cakes.

In case you are unfamiliar with a Dundee cake, it is a rich fruit cake with Almonds on the top in circles.

There are many ways to make Christmas cakes. Some are made with currants, raisins, sultanas, orange and lemon peel. Some even contain cherries, candied pineapple and other candied fruits.

Some of these recipes need time to mature, while others are best matured in the fridge.

Island Abbey Foods

Island Abbey Foods was founded five years ago by John Rowe and his wife in the basement of their house in Montague.

Here is another of the home based business that has made good.

Check out the full story here on Yahoo.ca

My honey is a sweetheart

My honey is a sweetheart!

Is your honey as sweet?

NO, I’m not talking about sweet heart of a spouse. Though i could be talking about my own honey.

I’m talking about that very sweet syrupy stuff that is produced one teaspoon at a time.

A creature that lives solely to produce just a little over 5ml in it’s entire life and then dies. This is all produced by the same little creature that we rely on to pollinate all our foods.

It is now one of the biggest trophy winners and you can see the results and the article by clicking our link below to see the article on Yahoo.ca

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/cbc/101018/canada/canada_pei_pei_honeydrops_wins_sial584

Red Celery??

Red Celery??

http://d.yimg.com/bg/p/101016/capress/i128723712014855247.jpg?x=180&y=120&sig=dd4g9W47UIDs_7WY1ADXlQ--Who in there right mind would want to eat red celery?

It tastes the same they say. Ummmm?

Another science project to alter human consumptions that will very likely go the same way as the green tomato ketchup.

Anyway below is the Yahoo link to see that story.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/101016/world/us_red_celery