bake - March 2012 - 32
Utilize what you have Catering offers an easy addition to the retail bakery business. Delivering large quantities of product not only creates revenue by moving baked goods out of the shop, but it also sets up the bakery for repeat high-volume business. “We have a 1,500 sq ft building that’s also on our property and was used as a training
Roll out new products and services slowly. Focus on marketing and promotion when they begin to run smoothly within day-to-day operations.
too much at first,” Polletta says, “because we didn’t want to get slammed and not be prepared for it.” As Edgewood added new offerings, Polletta slowly let people know. He wanted enough new business to get things rolling and work out the kinks without getting behind on the day-to-day operations. Once the additions started running smoothly, he ramped up promotions. “We’re right now in the process of hitting hard on Facebook and Twitter and really going out after it,” Polletta says. Signage for Edgewood followed the same pattern as advertising and promotions, moving slowly as things progressed and careful not to promote too much too soon. “As we started the catering, we had more signs put on the building,” Polletta says. “I have one other sign ordered now for the corner.” Edgewood’s involvement in its community has allowed it to subtly promote by word of mouth at local meetings and in the local newspapers as well. “My biggest fear was to put out a big spread and not be ready for it,” Polletta says. “Your first initial experience is so important. I didn’t want people to come here and have to wait an hour for food because we had more people than we could handle.” Financing change
room,” Polletta says. “We had always rented that space for meetings and supplied them with sweets, coffee and tea.” The companies that rented the space from Edgewood soon requested lunch meetings. Once Edgewood agreed, the catering business was born. “We had to come up with a small kitchen for that, so we
started doing the lunches, and that just grew to the point that we had to enlarge the kitchen and we hired a chef,” Polletta says. Edgewood converted its meting space into a banquet hall that now services birthday parties, anniversaries, small weddings and other events. “Once we started getting into the catering and we hired a chef,” he says. “We had to make better use of our assets, so we had to give him more to do.” Baby steps Slowly and methodically, Edgewood grew according to what it felt it could handle. The initial kitchen took about 33% of the baking area. When Polletta needed to enlarge the kitchen to accommodate growth, including a bistro in the evenings, he used existing space. “We went back into the storeroom and took some of that,” Polletta says. “The cost was minimal, because we didn’t have to change the outside of the building or add plumbing or any of that stuff.” The basic equipment he needed was already there. “We just had to make it work for what we wanted to do,” Polletta says. Before spending too much time and money on advertising, marketing and promotions, Polletta wanted to make sure Edgewood could handle the new business while maintaining the bakery’s dedication to quality. “We got them off the ground here and we’ve promoted them, but we didn’t want to promote them
Financing your reinvention will likely prove difficult in the scope of today’s economy. Although it shows signs of evening out, lenders are still wary when it comes to loaning money in the foodservice industry. “It’s very hard — if not almost impossible — to get any kind of loans from the bank for foodservice,” Polletta says. “So many restaurants are going out of business; they don’t want to loan you money.” However, there are other ways to finance. Edgewood had to finance its changes through cash flow. This required strategizing from different angles and figuring out less conventional ways of procuring finances. Polletta and his family (wife, Sandra, and daughter Krysti are co-owners) took money from their retirement fund as necessary. Believing in the need — and in the bakery’s plan — this bold move facilitated Edgewood in bringing the complete transformation to fruition. “If it works, hooray for us, if it doesn’t, we gave it a shot,” Polletta says.
32 < MAR 2012 | bakemag.com
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bake - March 2012
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of bake - March 2012
bake - March 2012
Editor's Note - The Branding Issue
Table of Contents
News Bites - Congress Debates Labor Rules
News Bites - Palin, Deen to Speak at IDDBA
News Bites - Bake’n Joy Celebrates 70 Years
News Bites - Low Sodium Baking Powder
News Bites - Pizza Shops Prosper on Value
News Bites - Siblings Win Cupcake Wars
News Bites - Schools Serve Healthier Meals
Management - Cost Control
Tax Tips - Deductible Expenses
Labor Front - One Handbook for All
Legislation - Confusion over Sugar
Ingredients - Benefits of Bacteria
What Branding Can Do For You
Fishing for Business
Change Is Inevitable
Cake School
Making Dough
Pastry Power
Gluten-Free Facilities
Smaller Graduation Cakes…Plus
Cake Pops
Wedding Cake Consultation Fees
Gourmet Coffee
Products
Showcase
Classifieds
Carta De Introduccion - Renacimiento de “Motor City”
Introductory Letter - Motor City Revival
Pan Y Panaderia - Pan Fino
Pasteles Y Decoraciones - Tres Leches
Tendencias Del Consumidor - Observacion del Consumidor Hispano
Fundido de Sabores
Perfiles - Panaderia “MexicanTown”
Perfiles - Panaderia Sheila’s
Perfiles - Gigante Prince Valley
Perfiles - Panadería Lombardia
Ideas De Mercadeo Especiales
Productos
Bread & Baking
Cakes & Decorating - Tres Leches Cakes
Shoppers Delight - Hispanic Shopper Insight
A Fusion of Flavors
Profiles - MexicanTown Bakery
Profiles - Sheila’s Bakery
Profiles - Gigante Prince Valley
Profiles - Lombardia Bakery
Merchandising Tips
Products
bake - March 2012 - Editor's Note - The Branding Issue
bake - March 2012 - 2
bake - March 2012 - 3
bake - March 2012 - 4
bake - March 2012 - Table of Contents
bake - March 2012 - 6
bake - March 2012 - 7
bake - March 2012 - News Bites - Bake’n Joy Celebrates 70 Years
bake - March 2012 - News Bites - Schools Serve Healthier Meals
bake - March 2012 - Management - Cost Control
bake - March 2012 - 11
bake - March 2012 - Tax Tips - Deductible Expenses
bake - March 2012 - 13
bake - March 2012 - Labor Front - One Handbook for All
bake - March 2012 - 15
bake - March 2012 - Legislation - Confusion over Sugar
bake - March 2012 - 17
bake - March 2012 - Ingredients - Benefits of Bacteria
bake - March 2012 - 19
bake - March 2012 - What Branding Can Do For You
bake - March 2012 - 21
bake - March 2012 - 22
bake - March 2012 - 23
bake - March 2012 - 24
bake - March 2012 - 25
bake - March 2012 - 26
bake - March 2012 - Fishing for Business
bake - March 2012 - 28
bake - March 2012 - 29
bake - March 2012 - 30
bake - March 2012 - Change Is Inevitable
bake - March 2012 - 32
bake - March 2012 - 33
bake - March 2012 - 34
bake - March 2012 - Cake School
bake - March 2012 - 36
bake - March 2012 - 37
bake - March 2012 - Making Dough
bake - March 2012 - 39
bake - March 2012 - 40
bake - March 2012 - 41
bake - March 2012 - Pastry Power
bake - March 2012 - 43
bake - March 2012 - 44
bake - March 2012 - 45
bake - March 2012 - Gluten-Free Facilities
bake - March 2012 - 47
bake - March 2012 - 48
bake - March 2012 - 49
bake - March 2012 - Smaller Graduation Cakes…Plus
bake - March 2012 - 51
bake - March 2012 - 52
bake - March 2012 - 53
bake - March 2012 - Cake Pops
bake - March 2012 - 55
bake - March 2012 - 56
bake - March 2012 - 57
bake - March 2012 - Wedding Cake Consultation Fees
bake - March 2012 - 59
bake - March 2012 - Gourmet Coffee
bake - March 2012 - 61
bake - March 2012 - Products
bake - March 2012 - 63
bake - March 2012 - Showcase
bake - March 2012 - Classifieds
bake - March 2012 - 66
bake - March 2012 - 67
bake - March 2012 - 68
bake - March 2012 - 69
bake - March 2012 - 70
bake - March 2012 - PAN1
bake - March 2012 - PAN2
bake - March 2012 - Carta De Introduccion - Renacimiento de “Motor City”
bake - March 2012 - Introductory Letter - Motor City Revival
bake - March 2012 - PAN5
bake - March 2012 - Pan Y Panaderia - Pan Fino
bake - March 2012 - PAN7
bake - March 2012 - PAN8
bake - March 2012 - PAN9
bake - March 2012 - Pasteles Y Decoraciones - Tres Leches
bake - March 2012 - PAN11
bake - March 2012 - PAN12
bake - March 2012 - PAN13
bake - March 2012 - Tendencias Del Consumidor - Observacion del Consumidor Hispano
bake - March 2012 - PAN15
bake - March 2012 - PAN16
bake - March 2012 - PAN17
bake - March 2012 - Fundido de Sabores
bake - March 2012 - PAN19
bake - March 2012 - PAN20
bake - March 2012 - PAN21
bake - March 2012 - Perfiles - Panaderia “MexicanTown”
bake - March 2012 - PAN23
bake - March 2012 - Perfiles - Panaderia Sheila’s
bake - March 2012 - PAN25
bake - March 2012 - Perfiles - Gigante Prince Valley
bake - March 2012 - PAN27
bake - March 2012 - Perfiles - Panadería Lombardia
bake - March 2012 - PAN29
bake - March 2012 - Ideas De Mercadeo Especiales
bake - March 2012 - PAN31
bake - March 2012 - Productos
bake - March 2012 - PAN33
bake - March 2012 - Bread & Baking
bake - March 2012 - PAN35
bake - March 2012 - Cakes & Decorating - Tres Leches Cakes
bake - March 2012 - PAN37
bake - March 2012 - Shoppers Delight - Hispanic Shopper Insight
bake - March 2012 - PAN39
bake - March 2012 - A Fusion of Flavors
bake - March 2012 - PAN41
bake - March 2012 - Profiles - MexicanTown Bakery
bake - March 2012 - PAN43
bake - March 2012 - Profiles - Sheila’s Bakery
bake - March 2012 - PAN45
bake - March 2012 - Profiles - Gigante Prince Valley
bake - March 2012 - PAN47
bake - March 2012 - Profiles - Lombardia Bakery
bake - March 2012 - PAN49
bake - March 2012 - Merchandising Tips
bake - March 2012 - Products
bake - March 2012 - PAN52
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