BUSINESS || Project Bakeover Reveals Secrets To Building A Successful Bakery Business
Do you have a favourite bakery in your hometown?
We do. As we walk up to our favourite bakery the delicious aromas of baked goods waft out from the kitchen and spill out onto the sidewalk; even before we open the door our mouths are watering. As we step inside, the cozy, rustic, and high-ceiling space welcome us, and the ooey-gooey cinnamon buns are displayed in a brightly-lit glass case. Our attention is immediate drawn to the tasty, fluffy cinnamon buns.
This is how a great bakery experience is like -- it invigorates all your senses. This is also what Project Bakeover, a new show on Food Network Canada, aims to achieve -- to create a compelling experience to pull failing bakery businesses back from the brink of failure.
We had a chance to chat with Co-Stars Master Chocolatier and Entrepreneur Steve Hodge, and Artist and Interior Designer Tiffany Pratt on how they contribute their respective expertise to help the bakeries they meet in each episode of Project Bakeover.
While Steve is a classically-trained pastry chef, the business acumen he has garnered over the past 7 years from running his own business, Temper Chocolate and Pastry in Vancouver, is just as important as his baking expertise when it comes to helping these failing bakeries. From how large each confection and pastry should be to deliver the best culinary experience AND to save costs, to how a bakery owner should manage daily operations with the team to build trust, Steve brings invaluable insights to help the owners turnaround their businesses.
Tiffany completes the balance of the equation in creating and running a successful bakery, transforming the interiors and exterior of each bakery on the show to grab passerby's attention and make them fall in love with the experience of the visit once guests step through the front door. Known for her colourful and engaging designs, you can expect captivating patterns and prints in bold colours that speak to each bakery's brand.
When asked how the two came together to co-host the show, Steve shares that "the TV gods did all the work." And we are glad they did! The duo shared that they met each other for the first time the day before shooting the first episode, and quickly adapted to each other's styles and leveraged each other’s expertise to completely makeover the bakeries they consulted for on the show.
Who knew there could be so many intricacies to running a bakery business? Aren't delicious pastries the be all end all? Watching Project Bakeover will unveil all the minute details we miss as the end customer. You don't see how early the team has to get in to prepare the pastries, how much testing it takes to perfect the taste, texture, and material costing of a new item offering, and most of all, how much work it takes to present a flawless experience for each guest coming in through the door.
Project Bakeover shares what really happens behind the scenes before that tasty cinnamon bun, chocolate pie, or red velvet muffin hits your plate. It's a must-watch this Spring and you can catch the premiere this Thursday, February 4th at 9 PM ET/PT on Food Network Canada.
If you want a sneak peek of how lively the co-hosts are, catch our Editor-in-Chief's conversation with them on our all-new podcast, Main Hustle, available anywhere you listen to your podcasts. Here is the link to the podcast on Spotify and iTunes.
We can't wait to catch all the action on Project Bakeover!
