To think that the apprentice business will fail because these prices are ridiculous?!

[Flossie87]

I was having a look at apprentice winner Harpreet's new website - ohsoyum.co.uk - this morning and oh my I am shocked!

• £16 for a box of 6 brownies or £30 for 12
• £19.50 for 4 cookie cups or £38 for 8

Surely these prices cannot be right? I know these fancy dessert/treat places are normally more expensive but surely these prices are too high?

AIBU? Would you spend the money on these treats?

How big are the brownies? I had a brownie delivery occassionally during lockdown which was only slightly less than £16 for six brownies, they were big slices though, a less greedy person than me could’ve cut them in half and had 12 reasonable sized ones

Surely this market is completely saturated? Every fucker and his wife are post lockdown professional brownie / blondie bakers. And the UK wonders why we have an obesity crisis.

Most weeks involved doing deals - how about offering £10 for four brownies.
The portions look far too big - didn't someone say they could not eat a whole one.

@comealongponds

How big are the brownies? I had a brownie delivery occassionally during lockdown which was only slightly less than £16 for six brownies, they were big slices though, a less greedy person than me could’ve cut them in half and had 12 reasonable sized ones

They don't seem to have sizes listed on their website, or any photos which give an idea of scale.

Not the best series this time, But the two girls in the end were very switched on women , as opposed to some of the very un enterprising men on there. I was surprised that Alan Sugar would adhere to either fancy desserts and cakes, or pyjamas for investments. as he already knows that the market is flooded with these things.

I am not surprised about the prices shown, for fancy desserts, as some people will pay out for stuff like this. Maybe not in some run down high streets, but in more trendy towns and cities.

I honestly don't know what he was thinking. How is a little cake shop an investable business? What is he going to do with that?

I think the whole process is flawed though. You can get fired for a bad week but have an amazing business plan that no one ever sees. This year it was bad luck that all 4 women in the final had very weak propositions. Still not convinced there weren't some agendas at play that had nothing to do with ability.

£15 for 8 at my favourite cake by post place. I’ve used this a lot

My local dessert shop charges £4 for premium brownie type cakes or a small cheesecake so her prices don't seem out of line with the market.

It's something I definitely wouldn't pay that much money for but those dessert/ sweet places seem to always be busy so people are buying the products.

@Phos exactly. It makes no sense. There wasn't one decent business idea in the final . They were all terrible.

@DrSbaitso

It's been running for years already; this is just a name change, possibly a branding change (I don't know what it all looked like before) and a huge injection of publicity. Why would it fail now?

I don't like the name, though.

She had 2 physical shops before The Apprentice. The money was partly to move into online deliveries.

@LadyMacduff

I didn't realise that this was about the show and I hadn't watched it yet

I did think she would win after the interviews episode though.

I agree - thought she was pretty good in the interviews round.

Not sure our NT cafe is that expensive and once OH had got past the initial dating stages he's not bought me cakes there.

@LadyMacduff

I didn't realise that this was about the show and I hadn't watched it yet

I did think she would win after the interviews episode though.

Even though it says the apprentice in the title?

It's a completely saturated market. Before lock down I used to be involved in food festivals, outdoor shows etc all over the UK. The applications for stalls selling brownies/cupcakes were so large we had to limit them, otherwise we'd have show full of cake sellers. It's not a sustainable business as far as I could see.

I just want "the apprentice" to actually go back to being an apprentice and work with Sugar. All of the final 4 business plans were a pile of shite. If I had been Sugar I would have refused to back any of them!

@Ozanj

It’s comparable to Lola’s / Fortnams / Harrods. So I think there is most definitely a gap in the market for her.

Yes but Harrods and F&M are well known premium brands. If I had a delivery from either of those I would be chuffed This brand is not the same and the branding is certainly not premium or aspirational

@ItsSnowJokes

I just want "the apprentice" to actually go back to being an apprentice and work with Sugar. All of the final 4 business plans were a pile of shite. If I had been Sugar I would have refused to back any of them!

I agree with this! It should go back to being a job working for Alan Sugar and learning from him rather than being a drawn out version of dragons den.

Overpriced baked goods and overpriced pjs are two of the most unoriginal ideas for businesses that have ever been on there, baking especially is an oversaturated market.

All that for a boxed brownie business, isn’t Lola’s cupcakes a previous winner?

There’s also the £5.50 DPD delivery charge

I suspect these types of businesses won't weather this storm in the future. Unless its a rare exception (I special birthday or anniversary) I am not paying for over-priced food items. Unless they are gold plated and covered in diamonds you will struggle to see me buy any cake over £3.50 and that is at an absolute push.

In some ways we need to cut back on these things to get prices to lower back down again. If we just keep paying for over-priced items then prices will just continue to rise. For example, I am actively cutting out food items or down-grading if they get to a certain price.

I have subbed pawns for fish-sticks because I refuse to pay over £3.70 for prawns. I also now go for cheaper versions of fish instead of salmon. Cadburys have lost my money by putting up the price of chocolate buttons - I used to get several bags a week. But I won't be paying upward of £1.20 for a bag that hasn't increased in size.

Sadly I suspect that people will continue trying to power through. Once these companies see that we won't pay over the odds we may see their pricing adjust accordingly (or they can go bust). Its harsh but we must force companies to lower prices because they aren't going to voluntarily.

Looking at one of her competitors (Kaspas) menus - she has way overpriced herself.

I do know of a few cake/cookie companies which deliver and are 'luxe' but even their prices seem more competitive than hers.

The branding is awful - look like a kid’s brand with premium pricing.

@XYChromo

There’s also the £5.50 DPD delivery charge

@XYChromo - the delivery charge isn't an issue - most companies even those which aren't cakes ones have this and I'm happy to pay this.

The bakeries which I know which are charging similar prices (Cutter and Squidge) charge approx £16 for 12 mini brownies but e.g. they're salted caramel, chocolate Nutella etc and the reviews online (and from people I've bought them for) are great.

Oh damn - Kathryn Burn lost with her bespoke pyjamas expect to see her on a reality show near you soon!

1kg of flapjack £15 here.
www.flapjacknation.co.uk/
Really good small company