Bakeries

[Hardhaton]

Hi everyone.
I'm thinking of starting a bakery in the village I live in.
I love baking and I miss the old fashioned bakeries. So my idea is to have fresh bread everyday as well as specialist items like wheat free ect.
I do not want to be a greggs or a baker oven. As a family of 6, I use at least 1 loaf a day! I'm sick to death of paying stupid money in supermarkets when its not fresh and full of fat, sugar, and other bad things. The idea will be to produce 1 loaf for the same price or less but be fresh and 'clean'.
I will offer specialist cake survive as well.

So my question is would this be something you would use, if availiable in your area, or would you still use the big supermarkets?

I would use it if it was within walking distance. Sounds like a great idea, good luck!

Oh I'd love a local bakery where we live, we also get through loads of bread each week, and our local shop only sells the mass produced over processed type.

We get through huge amounts of bread as we're all toast addicts. As well as that, we love our carbs. My trolley today contained 2 types of 'normal' bread, fruited soda bread, hot x buns and crumpets. That'll last us no time! I do have a breadmaker which I use sometimes as I prefer it to shop bought.

So yes, I would definitely use you.

I would always use a good bakery over the supermarket.
But I'm in London and we have tons of amazing artisan bakers. I would also expect to pay much more for their bread. The difference is vast.
Where abouts are you? There's an amazing village bakery where I'm from that started a couple of years ago.

I live in Buckinghamshire, its about an hour outside London. We have generally lost all the village shops and we are now being crammed with tesco and sainsbury's.
this is something I have been toying with for a while.

I was also thinking of setting up classes on various things. Baking, cake decorating, kids baking.
As well as to the elderly residence within the village a delivery service.
The set up cost will be thro the roof tho, and that really is bothering me as I could be in 100k worth of debt to get it up and running!

I have a bakers just across the street. It's bad. Kept afloat (imo) by the v close high school and white van man buying pies and filled rolls. If it sold things that a traditional baker sold I would use it, though I suspect it would have gone out of business.

The thing which annoys me most about bakeries is that you can't get a loaf of bread or half a dozen rolls after about lunchtime. But I guess that's the ideal to cut down on waste. I suspect that is another reason supermarkets have put most fresh produce shops out of business. Not just price. Not many working age people around in the middle of the day anymore.

The bakery I was thinking about is in Suffolk. There was a feature on him in the telegraph. I'll try and find it for you.

so this is the feature below - he started very organically producing loaves in his garage I think and selling locally. And had a market stall so he could really test the market before investing in proper premises etc.
here is the feature -
www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/9698360/Word-of-mouth-Pump-Street-Bakery-Suffolk.html
their branding is gorgeous and they also have a little citreon van that goes around local markets etc.
but they also have a little room and some outside tables and at the weekend they do brunch etc - it's very simple but a really amazing place. I have even booked a cottage there in August so we can go to the bakery every day.
Also it's a village with a lot of through traffic, walkers, cyclists etc so they get a lot of "tourist" trade as well as locals - I think it's probably hard to survive just on local custom in a village.
And he also does courses - as do most artisan bakers now and that is also a great revenue stream.

I think it's a great idea, could you do baguettes too? I'd much rather go to a bakery for fresh baguettes then bread but tbh I'm not a bread person

Cheers I will have a look now x

Wow he really has gone on a mission.

I'd say perfect gluten free baking and that would be your good selling point.
Establish links with local restaurants, pubs where and care homes they can have your toasted gluten-free bread and add it to their menu.
Use local produce and start selling on farmers markets I think - before committing yourself to big rent.

I would definitely use it, also a family of bread addicts. But we live in a very touristy/fairly affluent town with high footfall every day which has weekly food market, brilliant farmers market i.e quite foodie and while there is a good "chain" bakers there is a deli which does really nice bread but they only sell it at weekends. I asked them about this because I would probably but it 3-4 times per week but they said they couldn't sell enough of it during the week. There is a market stall once a week selling bread on the food market though - maybe that would be a way to get up and running quickly and test your market.

Late to the party but here's my two pence worth.

Our local bakeries are closed on Sundays, early close on Saturdays, not open Bank Holidays - as we are a seaside town that is when we are busiest - so tailor your opening hours to your customers.

I cannot get gluten free baked good anywhere. I would give anything for a decent gluten free pizza base or cake.

Love the delivery to the elderly idea, and sounds like with classes etc you are willing to add multiple income streams to your business so you could do well. GOod luck.

Have a look at this business in Australia - it's a very successful franchise, and the items they sell are brilliant.

Bakers Delight

My brother has been working with a girl who set up her own bakery along similar lines to your idea. It's been a struggle to make it financially viable. They actually make most of their money by providing outside catering (for local businesses) and lessons.
They are still going but it hasn't been easy.

Wonky and OP - when we lived in Oz, we went mad for the spinach and feta twisty loaf and have spent time trying to find something similar back here without success!

OP, I think it would work really well with a bit of market research for products. I'd love a great bakery in my little village. Luckily we have one in the next village over though, its a co-op shop (I don't my the cooperative local stores, I mean its been bought and is staffed by the villagers).

Oh, and I agree - if there's a way you can do brunch in a weekend morning, you'd make a mint I'm sure. I miss this the mist from Australia. Everywhere does gorgeous breakfasts - fresh fruit smoothies made in a blender, fresh fruit juice made in he juicer, eggs, sourdour toast, pastries, muffins, etc.

Sigh.... now I'm craving a custard and almond roll.......

Saturday morning brunch in Oz...... sigh..... yes there are definitely things I miss.

Def advise starting with a stall before paying shop rates. Then you get to see what people will buy and pay in your area.

Or combine with a coffee shop so you are busy all week.

Also think how many loaves you have to sell to make profit - 50 p per loaf profit is a lot of bread to sell each day

We don't have a bakery in our village, but Co-op sells bread. I work, so wouldn't be able to get to a bakery during the week and I think lots of people are probably in the same position. Do you know what kind of sales you would need to make it viable?

We have a small artisan bakery in our village that recently opened. It started with the baker selling from a van outside his house, until he found a small shop which he converted. He bakes wonderful bread - sourdough, pizza, foccaccia and some buns and cakes. But it isn't cheap.
There is already an existing bakery in the business which, in the past didn't do very nice bread but largely served the local tradesmen - sandwiches and pies etc.
There's also a mini supermarket that sells prepackaged bread and stuff baked from frozen such as baguettes.
What sort of level would you be aiming at? The artisan bakery produces wonderful bread, but the bread isn't cheap. The other bakery could produce better traditional bread, I would imagine, for not so much more than they currently charge. But some people will just go for the convenience of the supermarket and sliced bread.

BTW, one of the great thing about Bakers Delight is that you can get all the loaves of bread sliced thin or medium.

And the one thing I really don't like about some bakery's bread, is just how hard the crust can be. Suspect that a lot of people are like that.

But I do luuurve fresh bread.

We have a bakery and three shops. It's incredibly hard work. The fixed costs are high. The hours are anti-social. You have to sell a lot of bread to make a profit and there is a limit as to what you can charge for a loaf of bread. The price doesn't always reflect the effort you have to put in! However, there is a demand for craft/artisan bread and it is rewarding running your own business (most of the time). Another thing is even second-hand equipment is expensive. The National Association of Master Bakers could give your further advice. Good Luck!