The global cake and bakery market is a huge and budding industry. As per a market report by Mordor Intelligence, the industry is projected to grow at a CAGR of 3.5% per year till 2026. If you are planning to start a cake shop in 2021, the industry forecasts are in your favor.
People are actively pursuing baked goods and products and the demand has only risen during the lockdowns. More and more small-scale cake baking businesses are sprouting and people are experimenting with different flavors and ingredients. Curb-side deliveries have become a norm and cake shops that can offer healthier baked good options, stand to gain the most.
So, tie your apron tight and put the oven to preheat as we take a look at the 5 actionable insights that are propelling the market forward.
1. V for Vegan
Vegan is not hipster anymore. It’s modern, mainstream, and equally delicious. 40% of chefs and industry experts consider vegan desserts as the hot trend of 2021. Instagram is full of vegan chefs that are churning out deliciously healthy vegan dessert recipes one after the other.
And the trend isn’t limited to vegan anymore. Customers, in general, are walking away from meat-based sweet goodies – creams, eggs, and butter, etc. – and eyeing more plant-based options with mounting interest.
Specialty items that have to do with vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, and keto-based desserts are enjoying increasingly massive support from everyone. Compared to cream and butter, these plant-based options seem fresh, light, and healthy. And with no compromises on taste.
As a cake shop startup, if you do not plan to offer vegan dessert recipes or gluten-free cakes, for example, your business model may not be as viable as you had originally thought. This target market is continuously expanding. People who used to discard vegan as boring and rabbit-food have come around to see the goodness that it has to offer, especially when there is no marked change in taste.
So, whether you are a strictly vegan dessert shop or not, it won’t hurt the profits (or the brand image) to keep a few tasty vegan cakes baking in the oven.
2. In-Store Bakeries for Pipin’ Hot Freshness
While cake-businesses from home are also booming, the industry is witnessing a surge of in-store bakeries in supermarkets and superstores. Value-conscious consumers are especially driving this trend. Some other factors are fresh baking, healthy options, convenience, and information-rich labels.
These cake shops, compared to the traditional size of a corner bakery, are small. But they offer convenience and value. As you are shopping for groceries, you can stop at an in-store bakery for an oven-fresh bagel and get on with your shopping.
These shops not only ensure that their products keep flying off the shelves, the enticing aroma creates a powerful atmosphere in the supermarket – making people feel hungrier and more excited to continue shopping. Therefore, it’s no surprise that we see big brands such as Target, Costco, and Whole Foods, all offering pipin’ hot goodness to customers, right from their in-store bakeries.
3. Artisan & Authentic
Businesses aren’t competing on quality or unique value propositions anymore; those have become a given. The global market is saturated and there isn’t much differentiation between products anymore. In this climate, consumers are choosing to engage with brands that they find relevant – and they find authenticity highly relevant.
From baking procedures that have been passed from one generation to the next to the ancient ingredients of old times, consumers are looking for an artisan-style authenticity from their cake experts.
But this demand for authenticity is not limited to special ingredients or custom cakes only. Consumers are looking for story-based marketing, authentic brand representation founded on an ideal restaurant logo design, and a brand narrative that is genuine and compelling.
If you can bring the two together – create a cake recipe that has a beautiful story behind it and you tell that story well through impactful marketing – consider your job done.
4. Sugar, Thy Many Names
The modern consumer is sugar-conscious.
To bring them to your cake shop and entice them to revisit, you need to more than offer just run-of-the-mill sugar-free options. While these are preferred by customers with diabetes, what about others? Consumers, who do not have health issues and are just trying to lead a healthy life, want options where they consume sugar in a more responsible, sustainable way.
So, as a modern cakery and baking business, you need to let go of your corn syrup, white sugar, and fructose and invest in healthier, organic sugar options.
Think of dates. Rich in potassium, magnesium, and fiber. And natural sources of sugar. But these have high sugar content, so even a few are great to bring in the sweet taste. Some other healthier and organic sugar sources include starch-based sugar syrups such as those made with sweet potatoes. Coconut and pomegranate are also rich sources of natural sugar and offer a ton of additional nutrients.
As a cake-making startup that’s invested to provide healthier sweet-tooth recipes, researching more on healthy and natural sugar resources will improve your prospects. Even if you are not marketing yourself as an organic cake shop, investing in natural sweeteners is just a good business practice overall. It makes your desserts healthier, allows you to tap into the health-conscious market, and reduces your reliance on processed sugar products that are not good for anyone.
5. Sweet & Sustainable
As marketing professionals, we keep seeing sustainability recur as a future trend for myriad industries. Consumer products, restaurants and food, retail and shopping, oil and gas, even entertainment and real estate businesses are thinking of ways to keep their businesses sustainable.
Why?
Because 42% of consumers (and this number grows every year) are now choosing brands based on the origin of their products, the ethics of the business, and how it treats its human capital.
So, taking care of the environment and being a sustainable business is not only just good brand PR, it’s going to affect your profit and loss statement too. So, to make sure your bakery is running on solid, sustainable grounds, think of ways you can adapt your business practices to be more conscious of your impact on society, economy, and ecology.
- Reduce your packaging waste.
- Recycle and repurpose.
- Invest in energy-efficient equipment.
- Use energy resources responsibly.
- Source local ingredients.
Finally,
These are the five major trends, prepped and ready to be infused into your overarching business strategy. Make sure to implement them in everything you do to keep your cake brand fresh and hot for years to come.
