How we took our home baking business to the next level
We wouldn’t expect you to have heard of us, but you may have tasted some of our products. That’s because the key to our success so far has been a keen strategic focus on our B2B business. Let’s take you back to the beginning.
Cray Bakes started small, simply providing brownies to friends and family who wanted a batch for an occasion. We never really took it that seriously and it was always a hobby. We charged just enough to cover our costs and barely made any profit. This all changed when we got the opportunity to supply a local farm shop.
Our first stockist came just before the pandemic hit, and to our suprise we found that the product was a hit with their customers. Differentiation was the key, as nobody in the area was really providing this range of flavours and different products, at that time anyway. We found ourselves quickly becoming more popular, and with this our brand awareness in the area was increasing.
As our brand was growing, we took a bit of a internal look at what we wanted to achieve. What started as a hobby had become an opportunity to grow a business pretty quickly, so we had to develop a plan. We looked hard at what we wanted to achieve and deliver over the next year: growth and fast. But, how do we achieve it? Important to remember, this was just a few months before a global pandemic was going to change the world as we knew it.
Our initial thought process was pretty simple
Step 1: Grow our number of stockists
Step 2: More people eat our product and come follow us
Step 3: We keep innovating and stay ahead of the, ever growing, local competition.
Step 4: More people know Cray Bakes and orders come in directly
Step 5: Do more local events and markets to go direct to the customer.
I know this isn’t really a strategy, more of a wishlist of activities we were going to undertake, but at this point we were probably quite inexperienced and just wanted to focus on making the best darn Brownies we could.
So, then you know what happened. An event no business could ever really prepare for, a global pandemic. However, what we actually found was that our industry actually thrived rather than dived.
Firstly, it seemed like every man and their dog started to bake at home to cure the boredom. However, we actually found that there was a massive demand for our product, people couldn’t go out to get us so they wanted us direct to their door! We weren’t going to start going delivering ourselves, so to meet the consumer demand we started our postal treat boxes. This wasn't anything revolutionary, but it met a user need to get delicious treats to our customers when they were feeling the need for some comfort. Initial sales were crazy, and we found ourselves unable to meet demand.
The next thing we found was that more local businesses approached us to start stocking them, they wanted a popular product in their outlets to bring customers back in. After the first wave of the pandemic when places started opening back up again (remember that?), we were stacked out with orders from our stockists. We couldn't stock them fast enough before hungry customers were grabbing them off the counter. It’s important to remember two things here:
- This was all being done in a small home kitchen
- Me and Matt were also working full time at our jobs at a charity! So this was all being done in our spare time.
But with everything all going well, we also found that a lot of people in the area wanted to emulate us. Probably initially at the start of the pandemic, there were at least 6 or 7 different small home bakeries set up doing exactly what we was doing. Even to the point where they were copying our exact layout of Caramel Nibbles on top of a brownie! So, how to differentiate ourselves from the competition?
One of the things we’ve always had feedback on is that our branding is strong; from our name, to the colours we use, and even our brand personality across our social channels. We also aim to use our branding across everything we do, so keeping the name in the front of people’s mind in the area. What we’ve also found is how it’s easy to remember. With customers frequently asking for us in our different stockists. Brand recognition is vital!
But, what’s most important for us, and what sets us apart from the competition has to be the product. Customers won’t come back time and time again if your product is crap. What makes our brownie better than the competition? What sets us apart?
Consistency is part of it. We hand make every bake we make, and I won’t drop the qaulity. I’m not afraid to throw batches in the bin if they aren’t up to standard.
We’re also constantly innovating and creating new and exciting flavours for our customers, which we’ve seen as a massive selling point for us.
And really, we’ve learnt over time that you absolutely need to be at the top of your game with customer service to make sure every person who eats our product feels part of our brand. You can get a brownie anywhere pretty much now, but people come to our markets to see us and the massive selection we always deliver.
So with everything going so well, and continually more business coming in, we had to make a decision to take that leap, jump off that cliff into the ocean below. Our very first unit. And we have never regretted it to this day. It’s amazing, and increased our production 3x the amount we could do at home.
Also, we found our mental health improved. I was working at home in my full time job in the kitchen 8–4 and then spending my evenings baking in the same kitchen, sometimes until 11 or later. This wasn't healthy and moving the business out of our home enabled us to get our home back and have some seperation between the business and our personal life.
Businesses, we’ve found, also have more confidence in us and our product manufactured in a professional kitchen. Which has meant our B2B side of our business has grown significantly, and into different areas such as East Yorkshire which has expanded our customer base.
But, even though having a large range of stockists is great, what can be a challenge is the consumer knowing that it’s a Cray Bakes. So, onto our next challenge. Growing our B2C part of our business.
