Baking Up Business

The other day, a woman who looked to be about in her early 40’s approached the counter. “Are any of your muffins low-fat?” she asked. I replied, “No, but all of them are delicious. My favourite is the bran muffin. And bran is healthy!” She pursed her lips and retorted, “I only eat low-fat muffins.” She continued to eye the attractive array of muffins for a few minutes longer, and then retreated into the crowd.

Less than ten minutes later, the same woman reappeared. “Oh, I really wish you carried low-fat muffins,” she said. “I can’t find any and everything looks so good!” At this point, I contemplated taking out a Sharpie and scribbling “low-fat” on the muffin signs, just so this woman could get over herself and buy the darned muffin. (The longing in her expression was truly the definition of obvious.)

After the woman finally left, I wondered what regulations existed that would prohibit me from labeling the Bakery’s muffins as low-fat.  Besides, none of our products even come with a nutrition label. Have you ever walked into a fancy bakery and seen calorie counts posted everywhere? I think not. However, I have walked into a fancy bakery and seen select goods labeled as low-fat. So who decided that?

In Canada and the United States, commercial goods with 3 grams of fat or less per serving are allowed to be labeled as “low-fat”. This has been stipulated by law. But in the case of these corner shop cafes/bakeries, have they really sent in their muffins for a professional nutritional analysis? Even if they’re, for example, substituting applesauce for some of the baking fat (i.e. vegetable oil), do they really know for sure whether there is less than 3 grams of fat per serving? I have my doubts.

I imagine there must be some kind of “low-fat label” police out there, cracking down on these sneaksters offering scrumptious, not-really-low-fat muffins. However, monitoring is only performed on companies whose products find their way into chain retailers located nationwide. So until labeling regulations are extended, the “low-fat” muffins available in your local corner shop bakery will undoubtedly continue to sell…and find their way to thighs near you.

I work part-time at a popular bakery in Vancouver that offers an extraordinary variety of cakes, pastries, cookies, artisan breads, and much more. From the New York  Cherry Cheesecake to the French Chocolate Concorde, there really is something available to win over every “I don’t have a sweet tooth” or “I’m on a sugar-free, wheat-free, dairy-free diet” believer who reluctantly approaches our counter (usually to accompany their sweet-toothed spouse…or the friend who finally realized that eating sugar-free, wheat-free, dairy-free cardboard does, in fact, taste like cardboard.)

Ever since my first marketing course at Sauder began, I could not help but notice all the many applications of marketing strategy that are present at the bakery. Inspired by my ability to actually connect textbook content to real life for once (believe it or not, I have yet to take any second derivatives while counting change), I have decided to dedicate this blog to examining the various marketing aspects of operating the bakery. Henceforth, the bakery will be referred to as, well, the Bakery.

Is the Bakery a value-oriented firm? That, of course, is the million dollar question. I would say that the Bakery has a relational orientation, meaning that it focuses on building long-term relationships with customers. Even if a customer drops under $10 per visit, the lifetime profitability of that customer may add up to something much more substantial. This is in contrast to a transactional orientation, in which the customer-seller relationship is regarded as a series of one-time individual transactions.

Not only does the Bakery build relationships with customers, but it also partners with other businesses as well. At their second location inside a busy shopping mall, the Bakery offers Asian baked goods (i.e. steamed buns, BBQ pork buns, pineapple coconut buns) to cater to the clientele in that area. The Asian buns are ordered and brought in fresh from a bakery in Chinatown everyday, and they are arguably just as popular (if not, more popular) as the Bakery’s offerings. At the Bakery in the mall, we also do a good job of promoting our Chinatown partner, and this has created a strong relationship with our Asian bun supplier.  

Finally, the Bakery does try to evolve over time with our consumers. The trend towards using local, seasonal, market-fresh ingredients in our products has definitely gone over well (the fresh raspberry tarts this summer were gorgeous), as has our new line of gluten-free baked goods. The use of organic flour in our breads and hand-kneading when making the breads indicate that the Bakery is listening to what our consumers want, namely homestyle, healthier baking at its very best.

Bakery Bit: Don’t know what a Concorde is? Take a look at the picture below. The inside is made up of alternating layers of chocolate mousse and chocolate sponge cake, and the outside is covered in small tubes of chocolate meringue. It’s a very delicate dessert. I have destroyed several.