bake - February 2013 - 26

down our throats,” she says. “It seemed to us

and no envelopes to address!). Sure, I could save

that a lot of establishments spent all their time

some cents here and there by adding vendors, but

on messaging and marketing and no time in the

the money I save on ingredients would get lost in

kitchen making sure these amazing ingredients

administrative time. My time is deﬁnitely better spent

were actually cooked and seasoned properly.”

on product development and communication – these

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tasks are what drive sales and keep us all engaged

Tofte addresses any customer questions about their

and entertained.”

bakery’s commitment to local sourcing either inside
the store or, at times, on a blog post or social media

Sun Street has upgraded the quality of certain ingredi-

message. “We do some Tweets or Facebook posts

ents as the bakery cafe’s sales have become stronger

about a farmer I love because I want them to get all

and more reliable. “We get better meats, better choc-

the attention they can get. But for the most part, our

olate, better nuts,” she says. “Our primary goal is taste,

ﬁrst priority is to make tasty food and to create an

always, and as our cash ﬂow has gotten healthier

environment where people can eat that food without

we’ve been able to spend more on ingredients.

being surrounded by preaching,” she says. “Sometimes
I’d like to brag a little bit more about the quality of

“Cost is not much of a factor because I know if I

our sourcing, but I need to stay focused on the task at

get some relatively expensive currants from the

hand, which is making delicious things to eat.”

farmer at our market, I can do something with them
and charge enough to make it work,” she says.

Buying practices

“Sometimes I’ve been offered fruits at outrageous

Tofte says they prefer to keep their vendors to

prices, and while I’d love to use them I just can’t.

a minimum, including working with friends and

Many of our smaller orchards, especially plums, sell

farmers from the local farmers’ market. They

at high rates to pastry chefs who will maybe use half

continue to strive to buy responsibly produced

of a plum on a $9 dessert – unfortunately that just

ingredients. Any changes they’ve made in buying

doesn’t work for us.”

procedures involve increasing the integrity of those
relationships and ingredients.

Keeping track of stale rates is another important
aspect of daily business.

“We’re a small shop and I do the books. So I’ve found
that managing ingredient costs includes keeping the

“We’re very small, so it’s all verbal and visual,” Tofte

number of vendors we use to a minimum. I’m also

says. “Our retail staff tells us bakers if there was

a huge fan of cash on delivery (no bills to process

an atrocious amount of stuff left over and then we

26 < FEB 2013 | bakemag.com
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bake - February 2013

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