Imagine the enticing aroma of freshly baked goods, the warm glow of a pastry display case, and the promise of something sweet or savoury. No doubt, bakeries hold a unique place in the culinary world. Accordingly, selling profitable bakery items can give you a unique opportunity to satisfy customers’ demands. Most importantly, those sweet and delightful bakery items will make them return to your bakery shop. To get started, find out the most profitable baked goods for bakeries you should offer below!
What Are the Best-Selling Bakery Products in 2024?
Opening and operating a successful bakery shop requires skills, passion, and careful planning. In this context, one of the most important decisions you will make is deciding which profitable baked goods to offer on your menu.
Moreover, choosing the right mix of Popular bakery products can help you attract more customers.
Let’s have a look at popular and In-demand bakery items you should offer at your bakery shop!
1. Cakes
Up ‘till today, cakes are one of the most profitable items sold in most bakeries. The best thing is that there are various types of cakes you can bake.
The most popular types those bakery lovers crave are such as:
- Chocolate cake
- Red velvet cake
- Cream cake
- Strawberry cake
- Cheesecake
- Carrot cake
- Banana cake
- Rainbow colored cake
- Unicorn cake
So, if you have the skills to bake those popular cakes, your customers will surely love to visit your bakery shop and you can also use custom cake boxes with logos to add personal touch.
2. Cookies
Due to their small size and cheap production cost, the profit margin for cookies is high. If you want to offer these delightful bakery items, you can try selling chocolate chip cookies, sugar cookies, oatmeal raisin cookies, gingerbread cookies, or peanut butter cookies.
3. Bread
Bread has always been one of the top 3 best-selling products. One of the reasons might be because bread is one of easy-to-make baked goods.
You can offer many types of bread to increase your bakery sales, such as white bread, brown bread, or wholegrain bread.
4. Artisan Bread
The aroma of freshly baked artisan bread is irresistible for bakery lovers. Consider offering a variety of artisan bread, from sourdough to baguettes. Also, you can introduce unique flavors and toppings to stand out.
5. Cupcakes
Cupcakes are loved as they are the perfect canvas for creativity. You can create visually appealing and delectable cupcake flavors that cater to customers seeking a sweet treat.
6. Cinnamon Rolls
Nothing beats warm cinnamon rolls with plenty of cream cheese glaze. However, these delights require more time and are labor-intensive. So, if you want to offer them in your bakery shop, it’s more profitable to sell large rolls at a high markup.
7. Croissants
The flaky, buttery goodness of croissants has been a bakery favorite since years ago. You can experiment with savory and sweet variations, such as chocolate-filled or almond croissants.
8. Brownies
Generally, brownies refer to flat, square treats that originated in the USA near the end of the 19th century. However, these bakery items became popular in the United States and Canada in the early 20th century.
Speaking of the name, it came from the brown tint of the cookie. A careless cook who omitted baking powder in his chocolate cake batter mixture gave rise to folklore. Isn’t that interesting?
9. Donuts
Donuts are another very popular item that should not be missing from your bakery shop. With a little creativity, you can offer the most popular types of donuts like glazed donuts, chocolate filled donuts, peanut donuts, and so on.
10. Muffins
Muffins are baked instant bread that come in individual serving sizes. Speaking of the size and cooking procedure, American muffins are almost similar to cupcakes. However, English muffins feature a sort of yeast-leavened bread.
11. Bagels
Yes, bagels are one of the most profitable baked goods you should offer for your beloved customers. You can offer the best-seller variations, such as plain bagels, bagels with grains (with poppy seeds, sesame seeds, or a mix of grains). In addition, you can also provide pumpernickel bagels, salt bagels, blueberry, and egg bagels.
12. Sandwiches
Sandwiches sell well in almost every bakery, especially with ham, cheese, tomato, chicken and egg.
13. Pies
Yes, pies are in the list of best goods to sell at a bakery. You can start offering popular apple pie, pumpkin pie, cream pie, custard pie, or meringue pie.
14. Wraps
Similar to sandwiches, many people love to eat wraps during breaks from work or school.
15. Gluten Free Baked Goods
Today, more people are choosing to purchase gluten-free products. Accordingly, it’s a good idea to have at least a few of these types of products in your bakery’s inventory. For example, you can offer gluten-free bread, rolls, and pastries.
16. Tortillas
Delicious tortillas have the potential to be very profitable for your bakery. The interesting thing is that corn and flour tortillas have few ingredients and cook quickly. Hence, you can offer these items in your bakery and grab more sales easily.
17. Macarons
Macarons are also famous as one of the high margin baked goods. Often known as a French macaron, you can bake tasty macarons with icing sugar, egg white, almond flour, granulated sugar, and food coloring.
Useful Tips for Choosing Profitable Baked Goods
It’s completely alright if you cannot offer all of those profitable baked goods above. In fact, there are essential factors to consider when selecting bakery products that will increase you bakery sales.
Have a look at the factors to consider below!
Customer Demands
What do your customers regularly buy and enjoy having from your bakery shop? Also, don’t forget to pay attention to local taste preferences.
Production Costs
Simple bakery items with minimal ingredients are most budget friendly to offer.
Shelf Life
Offer bakery items that stay fresh longer and are easier to produce in batches.
Staff Skills
Also consider your bakers’ strengths and specialties.
Kitchen Size
Make sure you have the capacity for storage and display those profitable bakery goods.
Equipment Needs
Evaluate if you need special ovens, proofers, or other equipment.
Seasonality
Consider offering bakery items according to holidays, events, and weather.
Dietary Needs
Don’t forget to include options for gluten-free, keto, paleo, and vegan customers.
Profit Margins
Offer bakery items with the highest markups that you can reasonably charge.
By keeping these factors in mind, you can develop a balanced lineup of delicious, affordable bakery treats.
How to Market Profitable Bakery Products?
As with any business, there are many factors that can affect the success or failure of your bakery business. However, of course, as a baker and entrepreneur, you need to know how to increase bakery profits
Here are some bakery business tips to help you generate higher sales!
Invest in Decor, Ambiance, and Experience of Your Bakery Shop
Keep in mind that your bakery shop should be more than just a place to buy bread and pastries. More than that, it should be an experience for your customers. Hence, the decor, the ambiance, and even the music you play can all contribute to this.
You can consider having a sitting area where your customers can enjoy their food and drinks. This decor will encourage more people to stay longer and spend more money.
Most importantly, you should also pay attention to product display. For customers who want to bring your bakery items home, you should pack them properly in custom bakery boxes for bakery items.
Offer a Broad Range of Bakery items
One mistake that many bakeries make is not offering a broad enough range of bakery items. The reason could be because they only have a limited oven capacity. Or else, maybe because they only specialize in a few types of baked foods.
However, the reality is that customers like choice and variety. For example, some customers might come into your bakery just looking for some bread. But if you don’t have many options for your bakery items, they may likely go somewhere else.
Compensate for Low-Margin Products with High-Margin Bakery Items
Some bakery items might have very low-profit margins. In fact, some of them have gross margins of less than 10%. If gross margins are so low, by the time you deduct operating costs from it, the net profit margins you get will be minus, if any.
This is why you should carry high-margin items to offset low-margin baked items. High-margin items can include drinks, desserts, and pre-packaged foods like lunches. Now, you can make some new bakery menu ideas from these items.
For example, you can offer drinks like coffee, tea, and juices with profitable dessert items to go with it.
Understand Market Swings – Daily, Weekly, And Seasonal
Another important factor to consider when trying to make proper bakery marketing strategies is to understand market swings. This means that you must understand how demand fluctuates on a daily, weekly, and seasonal basis.
For example, you might find that demand is higher on the weekends or during the holidays when people crave your bakery items. Or else, you might find that there are certain months when people are more likely to buy bakery items.
By understanding these market swings, you can then adjust your pricing and promotional strategies accordingly.
Wrapping Up
So, those are the most profitable baked goods for bakeries you should offer to generate more sales. Don’t forget to consider essential factors like customer demands and production costs when choosing the items you want to sell.
In addition, you must also pay attention to product display and use bakery boxes with dividers to pack and preserve your delights properly. You can get top-notch boxes for bakery items from The Custom Bakery Boxes!