We share more tips for café owners looking to venture into the baking world.
BY EMILY JOY MENESES
ONLINE EDITOR
Featured photo by Jamie Hagan
Last week, we launched part one of our guide for coffee shop owners looking to add house-made pastries to their menus. Read below for even more tips on how to launch a bakery program at your shop, and to hear from more café owners who have done so with success.
Tip #5: Focus on Complementary Pairings
You’ll want your pastry menu to complement your coffee menu, not take away from it. When thinking of which pastries to offer, consider what would go well with what you currently offer. You can even host a night of taste-testing options with your team to find out what sorts of baked goods would go well with your beverage options.
Tip #6: Be Flexible with Scheduling
Baking is time-sensitive, so plan ahead to meet demand without overwhelming your team. As you test out your bakery program, stay flexible with your expectations and make adjustments as you find out what does and doesn’t work for your group. The last thing you’d want to do is burn out your team for trying to do too much in too little time, so start slow!
Tip #7: Consider Hiring a Specialist and Dividing Tasks Mindfully
Maintaining both a coffee and bakery program can be difficult for anyone, so if you have the means to do so, consider hiring a specialist. You may want to consult a skilled baker when initially launching the program to help you develop your first few recipes, or enroll in short-term baking courses to learn important techniques that will help you create quality items.
In addition, mindfully dividing tasks up amongst staff will help you avoid confusing your team members. Jessica Durrie shares how limiting crossover between coffee and bakery staff has helped her team at Princeton, N.J.’s Small World Coffee streamline their operations and keep staff stress to a minimum.
“About seven years into our 31 years in business, we began producing our own baked goods and now operate a full kitchen that serves as a commissary for both our cafés,” Jessica says. “We limit crossover training to simple tasks, such as baristas scooping scones while kitchen staff handles batch production, to keep each team focused on their strengths.”
Kisa Koenig of Driggs, Idaho’s Rise Coffee House emphasizes the differences in hiring bakery staff versus front-of-house staff. “Even though coffee has always been a priority and focus in our business, the bakery and brunch aspect is what has made it financially lucrative,” Kisa says. “Staffing has been a work in progress. … We found that bakers weren’t necessarily the personalities to enjoy the customer-facing portion of the (business). Our solution was to bring on an afternoon baker to help prep and make things, i.e., cookies, scones, etc., to have frozen and ready to bake in the morning. Hire experienced bakers, and understand this personality type often differs from the typical barista/café employee.”
In Conclusion
Venturing into the world of pastry-making can open up exciting opportunities for coffee shop owners, offering a way to diversify menus, attract new customers, and build a more sustainable business model.
“With the current economic situation, it’s so scary for some of these coffee shops to survive on just coffee sales,” says Lisa Whitehead, co-owner of Eugene, Ore.’s Southpine Bakery & Café. “We’ve seen too many good people wanting to share well-crafted coffee and not being able to survive. We started five years ago implementing a small menu of pastries, until it grew to a full brunch menu, (and now) our coffee and food are pretty parallel in sales.”
As with any major change, it’s important to start small when venturing from the coffee world into the baking world. Listen to your customers, keep communication open with your staff, and stay adaptable as you navigate challenges. With the right amount of planning, your coffee shop can thrive as a dual-purpose destination, impressing customers with both specialty coffee and house-made treats.
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