bake - January 2019 - 18

Wholesale bakeries

corn, which has been grown by the same family in

return in lower cost to service and increased order

including Bellegarde

Alabama since 1875. We mill our ﬂour fresh, unlike

accuracy. We're seeing e-commerce orders comprise

any other bakery in the region, to ensure that our

upwards of 20% of the orders some of our bakery

Handmade Pie Co. (right)

customers receive the best products made with local

customers accept from customers. That's impactful

are ﬁnding success in the

ingredients, lots of nutrition and even more ﬂavor."

and, more importantly, proﬁtable."

Mike Clements, owner of BakeSmart, says that busi-

"Pies that ﬂy"

nesses must compete online for their customers.

In 1993, Michigan bakers Wendy and Dave Achatz

"Consumers go to the internet to gather product

began selling pies at local farmers markets and quickly

information, read customer reviews, ﬁnalize

learned that they could barely keep up with demand.

buying decisions, and - most importantly - make

Business was booming, so they bought a nearby

a purchase. If a bakery is unable or unwilling to

apple orchard and opened their ﬁrst pie shop. Achatz

meet and interact with its potential customers in

Handmade Pie Company was officially born.

Bakery (left) and Achatz

online marketplace.

the digital spaces where they spend an increasing
amount of their time, it is becoming ever more likely

"People want slow food, fast," says Wendy Achatz,

that those potential customers will become someone

the co-owner of Achatz Handmade Pie, which encom-

else's customer."

passes six retail pie shops serving the Detroit metro
area and a 20,000-square-foot bakehouse where

Important tools for bakeries to know include Google

they make tens of thousands of pies in small batches

My Business listings, which provide easy access to

each week. "It's wonderful that the American public

useful information for customers. "At a minimum,

is starting to better understand the value of high

every business should have their Google My Business

quality. Our mail order system is doing well - up 5%

listing claimed and up-to-date," Clements says. "This

this year. We've also been using Goldbelly (an online

helps a business get found in web search results and

website for signature foods) for three or four years.

increases the credibility of the business."

We are always willing to try new things."

There's a general hierarchy a consumer will traverse

Achatz says they started shipping pies online 20

when examining a company they want to buy from

years ago and learned valuable lessons along the

online, he says. Can I ﬁnd them on Google? Do

way. "We really thought it through. What would the

they have social media accounts? Do they have a

pie look like on the other end when the consumer

website? Can I buy from them online? Do they have

received it?" she says. "We include a paperboard box

digital rewards?

with a breathable window, in case they want to store
it. We include instructions for toasting it up to re-crisp

"That hierarchy should drive investment," Clements

the crust, because nothing is worse than a soggy pie

says. "The social platforms are relatively low cost but,

crust. It's important to put yourself in the customer's

more and more, e-commerce is where you will see the

shoes. We package pretty well."

18 < JAN 2019 | bakemag.com
http://www.bakemag.com
bake - January 2019

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