bake - October 2012 - 14

business

Efficient Decorators
Cake decorators come in all shapes and sizes, different personality types, and more often than not, have unique styles and fashion tastes. Cake decorators create art, and like a lot of artists, can lean toward eccentricity. “I’m looking for pink hair, tattoos and rings in precarious places,” says Sherri Paul Thigpen, owner of Paul’s Pastry Shop in Picayune, MS. “Cake decorators kind of get this stigma of what they look like. Cake decorators come in all different packages.” Train newbies your way Turnover in cake decorating remains an issue. With the average employment time of younger people at 18 months, Thigpen and Paul’s are reluctant to dive into the decorating deep end right out of the gate. New decorators learn on boarders and take that responsibility while they learn. The boarders stay the same and “custom” boarders created by the new decorator are not allowed. “We don’t allow them at the beginning of their training to think up new boarders,” Thigpen says. “We tell them what we want them to do, show them how we want them to do it.” Once a decorator becomes proficient and your gut tells you they’ll be at the bakery for longer than a few months, do your best to nurture their talent and show your appreciation. Decorated cakes have become very artistic and you need quality, artistic decorators to compete in today’s market. You’ve got to learn to deal with the different personalities of cake decorators, because you need them in your bakery, Thigpen says. Maintain high skill level and moral When you base your cake prices on how fast it takes someone to decorate, it’s imperative that your decorators are efficient. The best way to become skilled and efficient — at anything — is to do it over and over. Let your decorators decorate cakes. “We don’t want them making icing, we don’t want them making cakes, we don’t want our decorators cutting cakes or putting them on boards,” Thigpen says. “We want them to decorate cakes and use their artistic ability that way.” Each decorator at Paul’s has their own workspace with the materials and tools they need. Thigpen shows her appreciation in many ways to give Paul’s the best chance at maintaining its best decorators. When Paul’s does a television commercial, As television displays more and more highly artistic and elaborate cakes, consumers seek out bakeries to buy those types of cakes. Keep sales high by employing and training artistic decorators who work efficiently and provide the quality products that customers want to buy.
B OB SIMS

it shows its appreciation by letting the decorators showcase their skills. “We let them decide what cakes they want to put in the commercial, we let them decorate the cakes they want in the commercial and we let them be in the commercial,” Thigpen says, “and they all get excited about that.”

“We don’t want them making icing, we don’t want them making cakes…We want them to decorate cakes and use their artistic ability that way.”
Sherri Paul Thigpen, Paul’s Pastry Shop

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14 < OCT 2012 | bakemag.com


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bake - October 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of bake - October 2012

bake - October 2012
Editor's Note - Retail bakery’s tipping point
Contents
Business - Baker's Percentage
Business - Smile and Say Thank You
Business - POS Systems
Business - Efficient Decorators
Business - Save Energy and Money
Business - Reinventing Normal
Business - Basics of Merchandising
Breads - Rounding it Out
Breads - An Extra Pair of Hands
Breads - Bread Troubleshooting
Breads - The Ideas Factory
Breads - Label Cleaning
Breads - All About Yeast
Breads - Artisan Pizza
Breads - Tapping into Consumer Trends
Breads - Rye Revival
Cakes - Troubleshooting Icings and Glazes
Cakes - Stress-Free Cake Assembly
Cakes - Seasons of Change
Cakes - Use Technology to Save Time and Make Money
Decorator Training
Cakes - Flower Power
Cakes - Bak-klene® Makes Baking Easier and More Profitable
Cakes - Quick Decorating, More Profit
Cakes - Festejos Tres Leches Mocha Cake
Cakes - Sheet It Out
Sweet Goods - Gluten-Free Sweets
Sweet Goods - What You Might Not Know About Honey
Sweet Goods - Boosting Pie Profits Requires Trend, Ingredient and Equipment Evaluations
Sweet Goods - Simplify Your Life
Sweet Goods - Bakery Portioning
Sweet Goods - Hazelnut Nation
Sweet Goods - Latino Baking
Sweet Goods - Nutty Ideas for Gluten-Free Baking
Sweet Goods - Raisins for Health
Sweet Goods - Basics of Chocolate
Sweet Goods - Low-Calorie Options
Sweet Goods - Shortening for the Health Conscious
Showcase
Classifieds
Ad Index
bake - October 2012 - bake - October 2012
bake - October 2012 - 2
bake - October 2012 - Editor's Note - Retail bakery’s tipping point
bake - October 2012 - 4
bake - October 2012 - 5
bake - October 2012 - Contents
bake - October 2012 - 7
bake - October 2012 - Business - Baker's Percentage
bake - October 2012 - 9
bake - October 2012 - Business - Smile and Say Thank You
bake - October 2012 - 11
bake - October 2012 - Business - POS Systems
bake - October 2012 - 13
bake - October 2012 - Business - Efficient Decorators
bake - October 2012 - 15
bake - October 2012 - Business - Save Energy and Money
bake - October 2012 - 17
bake - October 2012 - Business - Reinventing Normal
bake - October 2012 - 19
bake - October 2012 - Business - Basics of Merchandising
bake - October 2012 - 21
bake - October 2012 - Breads - Rounding it Out
bake - October 2012 - 23
bake - October 2012 - Breads - An Extra Pair of Hands
bake - October 2012 - 25
bake - October 2012 - Breads - Bread Troubleshooting
bake - October 2012 - 27
bake - October 2012 - Breads - The Ideas Factory
bake - October 2012 - 29
bake - October 2012 - Breads - Label Cleaning
bake - October 2012 - 31
bake - October 2012 - Breads - All About Yeast
bake - October 2012 - 33
bake - October 2012 - Breads - Artisan Pizza
bake - October 2012 - Breads - Tapping into Consumer Trends
bake - October 2012 - 36
bake - October 2012 - 37
bake - October 2012 - Breads - Rye Revival
bake - October 2012 - 39
bake - October 2012 - Cakes - Troubleshooting Icings and Glazes
bake - October 2012 - 41
bake - October 2012 - Cakes - Stress-Free Cake Assembly
bake - October 2012 - 43
bake - October 2012 - Cakes - Seasons of Change
bake - October 2012 - 45
bake - October 2012 - Cakes - Use Technology to Save Time and Make Money
bake - October 2012 - Decorator Training
bake - October 2012 - 48
bake - October 2012 - 49
bake - October 2012 - Cakes - Flower Power
bake - October 2012 - 51
bake - October 2012 - Cakes - Bak-klene® Makes Baking Easier and More Profitable
bake - October 2012 - 53
bake - October 2012 - Cakes - Quick Decorating, More Profit
bake - October 2012 - 55
bake - October 2012 - Cakes - Festejos Tres Leches Mocha Cake
bake - October 2012 - 57
bake - October 2012 - Cakes - Sheet It Out
bake - October 2012 - 59
bake - October 2012 - Sweet Goods - Gluten-Free Sweets
bake - October 2012 - 61
bake - October 2012 - Sweet Goods - What You Might Not Know About Honey
bake - October 2012 - 63
bake - October 2012 - Sweet Goods - Boosting Pie Profits Requires Trend, Ingredient and Equipment Evaluations
bake - October 2012 - Sweet Goods - Simplify Your Life
bake - October 2012 - Sweet Goods - Bakery Portioning
bake - October 2012 - Sweet Goods - Latino Baking
bake - October 2012 - 68
bake - October 2012 - 69
bake - October 2012 - Sweet Goods - Nutty Ideas for Gluten-Free Baking
bake - October 2012 - 71
bake - October 2012 - Sweet Goods - Raisins for Health
bake - October 2012 - 73
bake - October 2012 - Sweet Goods - Basics of Chocolate
bake - October 2012 - 75
bake - October 2012 - Sweet Goods - Low-Calorie Options
bake - October 2012 - Sweet Goods - Shortening for the Health Conscious
bake - October 2012 - Showcase
bake - October 2012 - 79
bake - October 2012 - Classifieds
bake - October 2012 - 81
bake - October 2012 - Ad Index
bake - October 2012 - 83
bake - October 2012 - 84
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