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Open A Bakery In My Town?

GF ME

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GF ME Newbie
GF ME
Posted

Hi everyone. I am kind of a newbie to this site. I was diagnosed w/ Celiacs back in 7/2006 and I haven't felt better. I have always loved to cook/bake, but being gluten-free has been tough for me. I was visiting a gluten-free bakery in the city and purchasing their breads, waffles, cakes for special occasions, baking flour, cookies, etc....but I am sick of spending $100 every trip and not having hardly anything to show for it. $11 for 12 biscotti...That's ridiculous.

Anyway, I am seriously thinking about opening a bakery in Southern New Jersey. My cookies and cakes are delicious and I am sure with some more experimentation I could make anything (and make it delicious). One problem is that I am using a gluten-free baking flour from this bakery, so I would need to develop my own.

I would cater to Wheat, gluten, dairy allergies as well as vegans.

My question to you is... Is there enough of a market for this in the South Jersey area? What are some items that you would love to see sold in a bakery that are hard to get/make.

Thanks!

Michelle

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Sweetfudge Community Regular
Sweetfudge
Posted

hm, i'd love it if there were a gluten-free bakery near me! I have also thought about the business idea. I suppose it's worth a shot...:)

Clark Bent as Stupor-Man Contributor
Clark Bent as Stupor-Man
Posted

depending on where in southern jersey you are, I'm not sure that there is enough of a market to sustain a gluten-free bakery business... not that I'm an expert or really qualified to gauge this... either way, I know a number of areas of southern jersey aren't that populated in comparison to central and northern jersey though I think they've been getting more people due to more affordable housing.. I live in central jersey and work right about where central and southern jersey meet (the brick/toms river/lakewood area).. if your area (or the area where you are considering opening the business) is as populated as the brick/lakewood area, then forget about what I said above.. or you can just forget about everything I said as I really have no clue about businesses and demand for them

on the other hand, since you are also going to offer dairy free foods as well as vegan foods, I think you could gain enough business depending on how you market it... and if your products taste good, people will probably buy them from word-of-mouth even if they don't care about what's in (or isn't in) the food... matter of fact, the more I think about it, as long as you are in an area where you wouldn't really be in competition with local bakeries, you could probably succeed regardless of the gluten-free angle simply with reasonable prices and good food.. I know gluten-free typically means more expensive though but I don't know how significant the price difference would be and how it would affect non-gluten-free customers

as for what to make, a couple bakery items I used to like that I figure would be hard to find gluten and dairy free would be things like cheesecake, a canoli... I haven't really looked for these foods though as I can't really eat anything with sugar right now anyway... which brings up another variable to consider.. a lot of celiacs/gluten intolerant people (moreso for newly diagnosed but also for those who have been for years) have to regulate their food intake for a variety of reasons in addition to gluten: other food allergies/intolerances, leaky gut, candida, blood sugar issues, etc... of course, there are also plenty of celiacs who can eat anything they want outside of gluten.. I just think based on all the above, you would need to have a signficant percentage of your customer base from non-gluten-free people but that is probably achieveable..

if I can square away my intolerances and whatnot, you'll have one customer whenever I go down to AC

Michi8 Contributor
Michi8
Posted

It may be worth it to do some research and build a business case. But may I suggest you start out small? Maybe offering specialty baked items/catering from home? Such as cakes, squares or cookies for various events? You'd still likely have to get a license, but this way you could build up a loyal clientelle that could eventually support a full-fledged bakery business.

Michelle

lorka150 Collaborator
lorka150
Posted

I've been doing this out of my home - I would start out that way, personally - it is a lot cheaper.

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    • knitty kitty
      High DGP-A with normal IGA

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      @rei.b,  I understand how frustrating starting a new way of eating can be.  I tried all sorts of gluten-free processed foods and just kept feeling worse.  My health didn't improve until I started the low histamine AIP diet.  It makes a big difference.   Gluten fits into opioid receptors in our bodies.  So, removing gluten can cause withdrawal symptoms and reveals the underlying discomfort.  SIBO can cause digestive symptoms.  SIBO can prevent vitamins from being absorbed by the intestines.  Thiamine insufficiency causes Gastrointestinal Beriberi (bloating, abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhea or constipation).  Thiamine is the B vitamin that runs out first because it can only be stored for two weeks.  We need more thiamine when we're sick or under emotional stress.  Gastric Beriberi is under recognised by doctors.  An Erythrocyte Transketolace Activity test is more accurate than a blood test for thiamine deficiency, but the best way to see if you're low in thiamine is to take it and look for health improvement.  Don't take Thiamine Mononitrate because the body can't utilize it well.  Try Benfotiamine.  Thiamine is water soluble, nontoxic and safe even at high doses.  I thought it was crazy, too, but simple vitamins and minerals are important.  The eight B vitamins work together, so a B Complex, Benfotiamine,  magnesium and Vitamin D really helped get my body to start healing, along with the AIP diet.  Once you heal, you add foods back in, so the AIP diet is worth doing for a few months. I do hope you'll consider the AIP diet and Benfotiamine.
    • captaincrab55
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    • rei.b
      High DGP-A with normal IGA

      By rei.b · Posted

      Okay well the info about TTG-A actually makes a lot of sense and I wish the PA had explained that to me. But yes, I would assume I would have intestinal damage from eating a lot of gluten for 32 years while having all these symptoms. As far as avoiding gluten foods - I was definitely not doing that. Bread, pasta, quesadillas (with flour tortillas) and crackers are my 4 favorite foods and I ate at least one of those things multiple times a day e.g. breakfast with eggs and toast, a cheese quesadilla for lunch, and pasta for dinner, and crackers and cheese as a before bed snack. I'm not even kidding.  I'm not really big on sugar, so I don't really do sweets. I don't have any of those conditions.  I am not sure if I have the genes or not. When the geneticist did my genetic testing for EDS this year, I didn't think to ask for him to request the celiac genes so they didn't test for them, unfortunately.  I guess another expectation I had is  that if gluten was the issue, the gluten-free diet would make me feel better, and I'm 3 months in and that hasn't been the case. I am being very careful and reading every label because I didn't want to screw this up and have to do gluten-free for longer than necessary if I end up not having celiac. I'm literally checking everything, even tea and anything else prepacked like caramel dip. Honestly its making me anxious 😅
    • knitty kitty
      High DGP-A with normal IGA

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      So you're saying that you think you should have severe intestinal damage since you've had the symptoms so long?   DGP IgG antibodies are produced in response to a partial gluten molecule.  This is different than what tissue transglutaminase antibodies are  produced in response to.   TTg IgA antibodies are produced in the intestines in response to gluten.  The tTg IgA antibodies attack our own cells because a structural component in our cell membranes resembles a part of gluten.  There's a correlation between the level of intestinal damage with the level of tTg antibodies produced.  You are not producing a high number of tTg IgA antibodies, so your level of tissue damage in your intestines is not very bad.  Be thankful.   There may be reasons why you are not producing a high quantity of tTg IgA antibodies.  Consuming ten grams or more of gluten a day for two weeks to two months before blood tests are done is required to get sufficient antibody production and damage to the intestines.  Some undiagnosed people tend to subconsciously avoid lots of gluten.  Cookies and cakes do not contain as much gluten as artisan breads and thick chewy pizza crust.  Anemia, diabetes and thiamine deficiency can affect IgA antibody production as well.   Do you carry genes for Celiac?  They frequently go along with EDS.
    • rei.b
      High DGP-A with normal IGA

      By rei.b · Posted

      I was tested for celiac at the same time, so I wasn't taking naltrexone yet. I say that, because I don't. The endoscopy showed some mild inflammation but was inconclusive as to celiac disease. They took several biopsies and that's all that was shown. I was not given a Marsh score.
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