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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to think that people will pay £2 for a cake pop?

222 replies

theotherloobyloo · 07/12/2011 13:34

I'm planning to start a baking/cake business at home, and am thinking of just doing cake pops. DH says that I am barking to think that anybody would pay £2 for a bit of cake on a stick - is he just being a miserable git (always a possibility) or is he on the money on this one? I'm done my sums and I think that to make a go of cake pops I'd have to get about two quid a pop (as it were). All views appreciated ... even if you think that cake pops are boakworthy yummy mummy dross

OP posts:

NigellaPleaseComeDineWithMe · 07/12/2011 18:02

I'd cost them out fully for the ingredients then typically add twice that amount 1/3rd would be labour and 1/3rd overhead - approx. Homebake your o/heads are typically less but the labour is possibly more so even out a bit.

DurhamDurham · 07/12/2011 18:13

I think £2 is a tad expensive but may but one as a one off treat, it's not something I would be having every week.

I picked up some yummy looking mini macaroons in M&S last week without looking at the price, I mean how expensive could they be?! I almost fainted at the checkout when I found out they were £4.99!!! I still had them and they were delicious. Won't be buying them again, strictly a one off treat

melodyangel · 07/12/2011 18:16

Sorry but no way would I pay £2 for a cake pop they are horrible. Even DS who is seven threw his away when we tried them. Yuk yuk yuk.

I also hate cuocakes covered in lots of sickly icing.

How about mini cakes such as mini Victoria sponges and mini lemon drizzle cakes? I would pay up to £2 for those as a treat.

melodyangel · 07/12/2011 18:18

BTW are you going to call your business Looby Loo's?

gothicangel · 07/12/2011 18:18

ive made cake pops, and tbh if made well they are quite nice, ds loves them. and can be made in loads of diff ways, ds likes my cookies and cream ones and choco orange brownies ones, but as i said before £2!! per one! no way in hell

TheAvocadoOfWisdom · 07/12/2011 18:51

Candy melts ingredients:

Colorburst Pastels:Sugar, partially hydrogenated palm kernel oil, reduced mineral whey powder, Whole milk solids,
nonfat dry milk solids, titanium dioxide (coloring) gum arabic, soy lecithin, salt, artificial flavor, FD & C
yellow #5, FD & C red #3 FD & C blue # 1

I wouldn't feed a dog hydrogenated palm kernel oil. Do you know how bad that stuff is for you? That's why I think the trend for these cakes will be short lived, when people realise quite how much crap is in them.

yellowraincoat · 07/12/2011 19:01

I think £2 is a bit much, although I did once pay £2.75 for a cupcake in Hummingbird in London. I felt sick with myself aftwerwards. I just don't think most people would want to pay that much.

Also the idea of a cake on a stick is a bit silly. I don't know why, just the idea of cake + stick makes me feel a bit ill. What about making mini cupcakes instead? Easier to eat, probably easier to make, I think they'd look nicer too.

jasper · 07/12/2011 19:12

the reason people pay over the odds for cake in , say, Starbucks is because you get to lounge around on their comfortable chairs for half an hour while you eat it.

Get0rf · 07/12/2011 19:27

I think the real risk with a business like this is that at the moment, presumably, baking is a hobby which is really enjoyable. Turn this into a business and I would imagine the repetetiveness, labour-intensiveness and poor profit would soon mean you would loathe baking.

I wouldn't pay that for a cake pop, mind you I wouldn't pay £3 for a cupcake. The icing is too much and they are sickly.

I also think the cupcake explosion is overdone. I think in this economic climate it would be a bad idea to go into this without thinking blindly that it would be a roaring success.

Get0rf · 07/12/2011 19:30

I just looked to see how you made cakepops as I didn't know - it looks incredibly labour intensive and fiddly, no wonder you wanted to charge 2 quid!

ebbandflow · 07/12/2011 19:31

Cake pop's like muffins don't look like they taste very nice, so I wouldn't buy regardless of the price. I would work on delicious tasting cakes if I was you.

Doozie · 07/12/2011 19:32

I paid £1.95 once for one in a swish coffee shop. In my weak defence, there was a lot of hustle and bustle going on, DD had me at a weak moment before I knew what I was saying yes to.... By the time it was in the bag I felt it was a bit late to pull out of the purchase. Anyway, I felt that was very steep for a small ball of cake on a stick. Although I think my DD would disagree as she was in heaven and thoroughly enjoyed it (but then again she rarely eats cake). The table next to us a Mum sat down with her three children and they all had one and from their conversations is obviously something they do regularly. Regardless it is not an experience I'm going to repeat.

OP, sorry to be another downer on your plans, but how about trying something else than the cake phenomenon that hasn't flooded the market as much? Slices, biscuits, cookies, fudge, brownies, whoopies?

ebbandflow · 07/12/2011 19:33

sorry not muffins-meant cupcakes.

yellowraincoat · 07/12/2011 19:37

You know what I would be inclined to pay a bit more for? Something that looked like I could have made it at home. For example, an apple pie or a banoffe pie that you could get out for a nicer dinner or at Christmas. Advertised right, that could be a big hit.

Get0rf · 07/12/2011 19:47

Actually in looking at the recipes they sound vile - sponge cake all broken up and mixed with frosting, and then moulded into balls. I have never eaten one but that sounds a bit grim.

LittleLucifer · 07/12/2011 19:48

I think there is some confusion over what a cake pop is. You can buy cake pops in Starbucks which are a one-bite treat on a stick. But there is another type - it's a three layer muffin with icing which is inserted in a plastic canister which you then 'pop' up. Which do you mean OP? And what/who is your market?

I paid £1.50 for one at the weekend at a fayre but would probably go up to £2. However, my girls & I are cupcake freaks and I'll happily pay for overpriced cake for 30mins of happiness in a crowded tea shop! Usually as an alternative to lunch!

Get0rf · 07/12/2011 19:48

I would go for the homemade puddings thing - that is a good idea yellowraincoat. I would pay good money for a homemade apple pie or truffle cake or something.

daenerysstormborn · 07/12/2011 19:49

looks like people do charge £2 for a cake pop, they'd have to be out of the ordinary to warrant that price though.

PigletJohn · 07/12/2011 20:09

looby, where will you sell these cakes?

DitaVonCheese · 07/12/2011 20:12

Lucifer the plastic cannister thing is what I've had.

Get0rf · 07/12/2011 20:15

Good lord - those £2 cake pops on daenery's link look marvellous. but that woman can charge that presumably because she has a reputation and evidently has published a pop cake recipe book.

God knows how anyone makes any money, they must take hours to make.

OP - do you have 6 young children that you can enslave rope in to do the donkey work?

marthastew · 07/12/2011 20:26

What about broadening it out to be a home baking business that makes cake pops and other 'small cakes' for special occaisions? Personalised or themed cake pops/cup cakes/macaroons/cookies etc for weddings and birthdays etc?

The homemade puddings idea is a good one too. You could end up with orders from local pubs and shops.

Its good that you are doing research first!

WholeLottaRosie · 07/12/2011 20:29

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

yellowraincoat · 07/12/2011 20:31

Yes, the more I think about it, the more homemade puddings is a good idea. There's not that many places you could buy something like that and you could sell them on to other shops.

When I worked in a cafe, a woman used to make cakes for us to sell on per slice. Could you do something like that?

AnotherMincepie · 07/12/2011 20:32

Don't the cakes just fall of the sticks when you eat them (like the last bit of ice lolly always does)?

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