Ready to Start a Bakery Business?

Ready to Start a Bakery Business?

Bakeries are found across Australia, they are one of the most popular establishments for bread, pastries and other light meals. Bakeries allow you to express your culinary creativity and expertise, but operating one faces it own unique challenges in comparison to other businesses in the industry.

Here we analyse the different challenges involved with opening and operating your very own bakery and what kinds of bakery equipment you’ll need to operate.

Ready to Start a Bakery Business?

BAKERY TYPES

There are many different bakery types and the first step is to properly identify what kind of bakery you want to build from the ground up.

Retail bakeries are the most common type, they sell baked good directly to patrons and they can come in different forms. A bakery cafe is the most common retail type and offers small dining spaces for eating in and coffee/tea, counter service bakeries usually only have a front-of-house to serve directly and no dining areas, food trucks stock and sell bread and pastries through a mobile vehicle and a speciality bakery focusses on one type of baked good (wedding cake, cupcakes etc).

Wholesale bakeries, by comparison, stock and sell baked goods in larger venues like supermarkets and delis. They usually need to produce much higher quantities because of bigger demands in these larger establishments.

After identifying what type of bakery you want to operate its then time to move onto the usual business inception processes.

STARTING A BUSINESS PLAN, OBTAINING FUNDS and LEASING

Like starting up any other business, it’s important to begin with a business plan. A business plan will help set everything out from the executive summary to the company overview, market analysis, business offerings, management plans, marketing and financial projections.

Next step is to obtain funds for various expenses (leasing, operational costs, staff, management, stock, equipment etc) and finding a suitable facility to start your business. To generate this money, you’ll need to look at the different types of loans available and what one is best suited to help you get a foothold.

Finally, a location and appropriate place for your business is important. Consider key factors like your region’s demographic, the accessibility to your bakery, competition, distance to suppliers, size and space and health/safety regulations.

You’ll also need certain food, safety and handling licenses as well to operate. Many of the steps involved with acquiring these licenses can be found online.

EQUIPMENT One of the most significant points, if not the most important, is the commercial catering equipment you’ll need for your new bakery. Bakeries typically have their own specific equipment that’s needed to create the bread/pastries stocked and to display your meals, snacks and dishes.

When it comes to storing frozen goods like dough or pre-made pastries, a chest freezer can be a great addition to a bakery’s equipment list.

OVEN

The first piece of equipment you should consider is a bakery oven. FED stocks a wide range of quality heavy duty ovens suited to bakeries, especially our combi or convection ovens, which can bake your goods or utilise dry heating for bread and pastries.

DISPLAY

Open Bakery ShopNext piece of equipment to consider is your display unit. Most bakeries have a display unit situated at the front of their store to showcase their freshly baked desserts and foods. Depending on what types of food you want to present can help solve what type of display unit to purchase. A chilled or cake display is ideal for light meals, sandwiches, breads and small cakes/desserts, while a hot food display or pie warmer is great for sausage rolls, pies and meat-based meals. Many bakeries will use both types, but the decision will rest on the owner/manager. Another important piece of equipment for any commercial kitchen is the bain marie, which is used to keep food warm for extended periods of time. This is especially useful for buffets, catering events, and other situations where food needs to be kept at a consistent temperature.

BREAD PROVER

Stainless steel retarder provers or bread provers are used for the final baking process. All bakeries utilise these machines to improve the fermentation process, help the dough rise and provides the optimal temperature and space for your mixture.

SLICER

Bread slicers are another unique accessory mostly used by bakeries. These tools slice up freshly backed loaves and bag the slices for purchase or use them for sandwiches and other meals.

DOUGH SHEETER

Dough sheeters are great for smoothing or creating lumps out of mixtures of dough for your pizzas, bread rolls and other bakery snacks. Many of these efficient tools come in both manual and electric options and are a convenient accessory for any bakery.

MIXER

Commercial mixers or spiral mixers are universally used by every bakery and designed to mix and combine your dough ingredients together. This is a must have item.

After purchasing this equipment you can then move your sights onto hiring and marketing your new bakery!

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