I have a small coffee bar and would like to sell cakes. I think I would like
to sell/display slices of different types of cakes rather than 2 or 3 large
cakes giving less choice.
I must buy full cakes and slice them up but how can I best keep the stock ?
In freezer will they keep fresh for how long ? I cannot expect high sales
yet I would like to sell variety .



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

"-keevill-" > wrote in message
.. .
>I have a small coffee bar and would like to sell cakes. I think I would
>like to sell/display slices of different types of cakes rather than 2 or 3
>large cakes giving less choice.
> I must buy full cakes and slice them up but how can I best keep the stock
> ? In freezer will they keep fresh for how long ? I cannot expect high
> sales yet I would like to sell variety .


How long before you plan on going out of business? Customers expect fresh
products. Be content with offering just 2 or 3 types of cake. If they don't
sell after a day or two, give them away to friends or throw them away, and
then try something different. As far as keeping them fresh, visit
competitors and notice what they do.

JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
> "-keevill-" > wrote in message
> .. .
>> I have a small coffee bar and would like to sell cakes. I think I would
>> like to sell/display slices of different types of cakes rather than 2 or 3
>> large cakes giving less choice.
>> I must buy full cakes and slice them up but how can I best keep the stock
>> ? In freezer will they keep fresh for how long ? I cannot expect high
>> sales yet I would like to sell variety .
>
>
> How long before you plan on going out of business? Customers expect fresh
> products. Be content with offering just 2 or 3 types of cake. If they don't
> sell after a day or two, give them away to friends or throw them away, and
> then try something different. As far as keeping them fresh, visit
> competitors and notice what they do.
>
And your local health department may have certain regulations about this
too. I would always check with them.

-keevill- wrote:
> I have a small coffee bar and would like to sell cakes. I think I would like
> to sell/display slices of different types of cakes rather than 2 or 3 large
> cakes giving less choice.
> I must buy full cakes and slice them up but how can I best keep the stock ?
> In freezer will they keep fresh for how long ? I cannot expect high sales
> yet I would like to sell variety.


Slice them. Freeze them in heavy duty sealable plastic with as much air
pressed out as possible. Each morning, defrost as many slices as you
think you might reasonably sell. Display them where the customers can
see them. Warm them in the oven just before serving.


I'd rethink the decision to have more choices rather than fewer.
Customers faced with a greater number of choices don't necessarily buy
more overall. I think 5 choices is about the right number. Make sure
you always have something chocolate, something spicy, something creamy
with icing (like a lemon cake or a banana cake), and something not so
rich like a muffin. (That leaves you one wild card.)


With a coffee bar, the emphasis should be on the coffee. I'm betting
your real profit and sales come from there. (I despise coffee, but I'm
sure I'm the minority. I order milk and cookies when I go to a coffee
bar, and the clerks are always glad to get me what I've asked for, but I
can tell they're looking at me funny, wondering where the child is, and
sometimes thinking I have a good idea.)


--Lia

"Julia Altshuler" > wrote in message
. ..
> -keevill- wrote:
>> I have a small coffee bar and would like to sell cakes. I think I would
>> like to sell/display slices of different types of cakes rather than 2 or
>> 3 large cakes giving less choice.
>> I must buy full cakes and slice them up but how can I best keep the stock
>> ? In freezer will they keep fresh for how long ? I cannot expect high
>> sales yet I would like to sell variety.
>
>
> Slice them. Freeze them in heavy duty sealable plastic with as much air
> pressed out as possible. Each morning, defrost as many slices as you
> think you might reasonably sell. Display them where the customers can see
> them. Warm them in the oven just before serving.


Cakes with frosting are going to look mighty ugly after the treatment you
just described.

JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
>
> Cakes with frosting are going to look mighty ugly after the treatment you
> just described.


Right. Frost individually AFTER rewarming.
--Lia

"Julia Altshuler" > wrote in message
. ..
> JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
>>
>> Cakes with frosting are going to look mighty ugly after the treatment you
>> just described.
>
>
> Right. Frost individually AFTER rewarming.
> --Lia
>


Lia, that's just plain silly. Stop already. Please. :-)

On Nov 27, 5:45�am, "-keevill-" > wrote:
> I have a small coffee bar and would like to sell cakes. I think I would like
> to sell/display slices of different types of cakes rather than 2 or 3 large
> cakes giving less choice.
> I must buy full cakes and slice them up but how can I best keep the stock ?
> In freezer will they keep fresh for how long ? I cannot expect high sales
> yet I would like to sell variety .
>
> --
> Posted via a free Usenet account fromhttp://www.teranews.com

I know of several bakeries that freeze their cakes. Wedding cakes are
often made months in advanced and kept frozen. The key is keeping the
moisture in. Moisture is lost when the defrost cycle on the freezer
runs too long and the cake is allowed to thaw out and re-freeze over
and over. To prevent this you can adjust your freezer's defrost cycle
if possible or you could make sure that your freezer stays full. When
a freezer is full the items help keep each other cold. Also make sure
everything is wrapped in moisture proof wrapping. Cakes should be
frozen unwrapped as quickly as possible and then wrapped. The
wrapping should be removed before the cake is defrosted to keep the
icing from sticking. As far as variety goes, I would only offer maybe
4 or 5 varieties at a time. If you offer too much variety then you're
going to have a lot of waste.

JoeSpareBedroom wrote:

<<Customers expect fresh products. Be content with offering just 2 or
3 types of cake.>>

It's also a way to set you apart from Starbucks; the Starbucks stuff
looks good, but most are pretty dry. I'm only going to accept the
calories if the pastries are very, very good.

On Nov 27, 2:45 am, "-keevill-" > wrote:
> I have a small coffee bar and would like to sell cakes. I think I would like
> to sell/display slices of different types of cakes rather than 2 or 3 large
> cakes giving less choice.
> I must buy full cakes and slice them up but how can I best keep the stock ?
> In freezer will they keep fresh for how long ? I cannot expect high sales
> yet I would like to sell variety .
>
You're going to buy someone's cakes for resale by the slice. Ask the
bakery where you buy them what they recommend for storing or
freezing. Or ask if they can make cupcakes and buy them in quantities
tailored to your sales.. While just about everything freezes, many
things don't thaw well. That is, they just aren't nearly as good as
freshly made. I count cake among those things. -aem

Greg Esres wrote:
> JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
>
> <<Customers expect fresh products. Be content with offering just 2 or
> 3 types of cake.>>
>
> It's also a way to set you apart from Starbucks; the Starbucks stuff
> looks good, but most are pretty dry. I'm only going to accept the
> calories if the pastries are very, very good.

My church (before I moved) had a coffee house and we served muffins and
pies. There were no problems storing those.

Best of luck to you.

Becca