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do people really pay £3 for a bog standard brownie? |
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#51 |
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Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Yorkshire
Posts: 2,546
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I don't think she will, as she would have done that when she first started. But if all she was interested in was buying a house, then she'll keep prices high, and make excuses for doing it. LS would have to sit on her to keep her down. I was in another forum discussing it at the time and someone tried to make out the difficultes of making cakes etc, which I said was rot, as anyone can make them, and even kids can make them, so anything Alana makes is nothing to write home about. I know someone who made very good decorated wedding cakes and she didn't rip off anyone! Alana disgusts me!
My goodness - another poster who lives at Tunbridge Wells and reads the Times ! |
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#52 |
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Join Date: Jul 2003
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That's a spoiler. I didn't know that was who he followed- I've stayed away from anything that might reveal the information.
I tend not to go to restaurants, but it's a place I don't mind the mark-up so much, as you are paying for a whole experience... A cake I'm less inclined to think of as an experience, and more as a cake... |
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#53 |
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Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Yorkshire
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I didn't notice what chocolate she was using, but you can buy Belgian cooking chocolate.
Yes you can and every supermarket does so - and the same price as their other cookies. |
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#54 |
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Join Date: Jan 2016
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The main cake businesses in the UK are based in "not expensive areas" to take advantage of cheaper labour and property costs.
Hull, Bradford, Blackburn, Cardiff, Oldham, Hamilton (Scotland). If Alana did that it would mean she has cheaper overheads but higher transport costs. Or goes for cheaper transport but massively high overheads in an "expensive area" I also think she is making a cardinal sin in her costings - nobody drilled down the figures like they do on Dragon's Den. I believe the "19p" is raw material costs only. That brownie would weigh 80-100g raw deposit weight Even cooking chocolate is going to be several pounds per kilo Bake stable chunks even more so http://www.makro.co.uk/barry-calleba...unks-25kg.html This is the Makro cash and carry price - she will not be buying huge amounts At 20% chocolate - about right for an indulgent product - the chocolate alone costs 10.8p. Therefore EVERYTHING else costs 8.2p. If she using butter - then butter would be about 20% of the recipe - butter is about £3.60 a kilo - supermarkets are actually cheapest place to buy as they discount it (90p a 250g pack) Butter cost for the brownie would be therefore 5.8p per unit. So we are at 16p and she has not added any flour or sugar yet. Or even used any electricity to mix and bake - no packaging either. I also wonder if she is paying business rates on the converted outhouse on her Parents property, I would bet they may not have told the Council !! I owned a bakery business many years ago and found that the costings by the previous owners did not include Labour. The answer was: "I made them myself and I was here anyway" I didn't know cooking chocolate still existed. I remember in the 80s there was this stuff that looked like chocolate, but just tasted awful. Maybe its better these days. Then again she's not looking to retain customers if she's just at one off stalls. |
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#55 |
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Join Date: Dec 2012
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I didn't know cooking chocolate still existed. I remember in the 80s there was this stuff that looked like chocolate, but just tasted awful. Maybe its better these days.
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#56 |
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Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: West Midlands
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I didn't know cooking chocolate still existed. I remember in the 80s there was this stuff that looked like chocolate, but just tasted awful. Maybe its better these days.
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#57 |
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Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 14,185
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So Alana would only be selling her £3 slices for £1 to the trade, cutting a heck of that profit margin she currently enjoys.
Add in the outsourcing costs (despite it being 'By Alana') and her profit margins are going to being cut from both ends. Still, better than the mess of Courtney's gifts. |
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#58 |
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Join Date: Jun 2010
Posts: 6,547
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So Alana would only be selling her £3 slices for £1 to the trade, cutting a heck of that profit margin she currently enjoys.
Add in the outsourcing costs (despite it being 'By Alana') and her profit margins are going to being cut from both ends. Still, better than the mess of Courtney's gifts. Did notice she was calling them "chocolatey" instead of "chocolate" which you legally have to do if they are cooking chocolate. So this reinforces previous posters observations. You will not get into big retailers at that price if this is the case, only real chocolate is allowed. I have been in the baking Industry for over 35 years. In my view Alana will struggle to do very much. Lord Suggs will probably lose his cash for the first time Luisas cupcake business went west after the show aired IIRC |
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#59 |
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Join Date: Jan 2007
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If you want to grow a business you need repeat sales.
I have been in the baking Industry for over 35 years. In my view Alana will struggle to do very much. Lord Suggs will probably lose his cash for the first time Luisas cupcake business went west after the show aired IIRC But at a RRP of £3, Mr Kipling needn't worry. |
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#60 |
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Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Yorkshire
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I think there's the potential for it to be a small success - after all, she's making a tidy profit now - but she seems to be naive in thinking she'll keep those profit margins when scaling up.
But at a RRP of £3, Mr Kipling needn't worry. Long time since he baked as well. Every man and his dog actually bake his cakes - but under his name. |
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#61 |
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Join Date: Jun 2010
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[/b] Long time since he baked as well.
Every man and his dog actually bake his cakes - but under his name. Kipling also make all the Cadbury cakes under licence |
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#62 |
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Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Lytham St Annes
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What put me off completely was when she was making the cakes without even a bobble holding her hair back, the thought of that hair getting mixed in gave me the boak!
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#63 |
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Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 12,218
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Local delis and cafes, if they aren't making their own cakes, will all have individual small cake makers who will cook what they need to order, and a lot cheaper then Alana will want with her distribution costs. In small cafes and shops, people want a home- ade product, not a boxed and branded one. She should either go for the large retailers OR stick to festivals. The two different markets are not compatible
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#64 |
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Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 2,060
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If they are high quality ingredients and well made, I can see them selling very well, in independent coffee shops, foodie markets and for big catering events too..
She uses Belgian chocolate and everyone that tried them was impressed. The point is they are not bog standard brownies. I would buy them, I pay not much less for a brownie or a piece of cake at a coffee shop. Everything you pay in a cafe or restaurant is marked up for profit. That is business. I think she knows what to do and will make a success of it. I don't think the batch she made in the Apprentice house kitchen are illustrative, the ones that arrived in boxes for the final task are and they are clearly very good. |
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#65 |
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Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: UK
Posts: 928
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Alana is right to say that profits in cakes are high, as long as you keep the overheads down. She sells her cakes for £1 to a cafe and they sell them for more to cover their costs. Cafes always have huge markups on food, everyone knows the real unit costs are low. I think Alana will be successful and I wish I could try her wares (unfortunately I have a medical problem and can't eat cake). If the quality of her cakes is high and they have originality - the peanut butter ones looked interesting - I think she's onto a winner.
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#66 |
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Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 21,720
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http://shop.konditorandcook.com/coll...x#.WFZeWevfWrU
Konditor and Cook sell similarly priced products and have many successful shops in London |
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#67 |
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Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 666
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Quote:
So Alana would only be selling her £3 slices for £1 to the trade, cutting a heck of that profit margin she currently enjoys.
Add in the outsourcing costs (despite it being 'By Alana') and her profit margins are going to being cut from both ends. Still, better than the mess of Courtney's gifts. |
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#68 |
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Join Date: May 2012
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I can imagine she has no idea of the amount it will cost to train staff in basic food hygiene and safety.
She ought to know better and be refused to be filmed without a hairnet - assuming she does have food safety qualifications herself !! |
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#69 |
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Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 666
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Looking at their accounts they seem to have made £24k profit last year though.
24 k proffit for them is ridiculously poor. |
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#70 |
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Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 666
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If they are high quality ingredients and well made, I can see them selling very well, in independent coffee shops, foodie markets and for big catering events too..
She uses Belgian chocolate and everyone that tried them was impressed. The point is they are not bog standard brownies. I would buy them, I pay not much less for a brownie or a piece of cake at a coffee shop. Everything you pay in a cafe or restaurant is marked up for profit. That is business. I think she knows what to do and will make a success of it. I don't think the batch she made in the Apprentice house kitchen are illustrative, the ones that arrived in boxes for the final task are and they are clearly very good. |
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#71 |
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Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 381
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That's a spoiler. I didn't know that was who he followed- I've stayed away from anything that might reveal the information.
I tend not to go to restaurants, but it's a place I don't mind the mark-up so much, as you are paying for a whole experience... A cake I'm less inclined to think of as an experience, and more as a cake... I've never understood how anyone could justify (paying) restaurant prices for something that you up pick up off a counter and walk around eating whether it's a cake or a pasty tim |
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#72 |
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Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 1,726
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That costs pennies to make?
I know people pay that for something that's special like raw / organic / gluten / sugar free (like http://www.nestandglow.com/healthy-r...-fudge-muffins and they have expensive ingredient. but for a bog standard tray bake it seems bonkers! |
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#73 |
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Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 1,726
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The main cake businesses in the UK are based in "not expensive areas" to take advantage of cheaper labour and property costs.
Hull, Bradford, Blackburn, Cardiff, Oldham, Hamilton (Scotland). |
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#74 |
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Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 915
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I do think she will have to rethink her pricing structure. She mentioned the individual portions being available to buy in places where you pick up a sandwich for lunch, but I don't think people would buy a £3 slice cake for a lunch treat along with a sandwich, drink etc
Her best bet is to develop the foodie festivals side of the business. This will allow her to keep an increasing share of the profits (which now presumably have to be shared 50% with LS.) If she intends to sell at £1 a slice to retail she is going to have to scale up massively and as others have said there probably isn't as much in it for her if she goes down this route. Could this be the first time LS has to take a hit? |
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#75 |
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Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Yorkshire
Posts: 2,546
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Incorrect, at the moment only the cupcakes are outsourced by Premier
Kipling also make all the Cadbury cakes under licence And indeed I have since bought this product under the Kipling brand and I asssure you it is exactly the same. |
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