Planning A Bakery

[madwriter78]

Good Evening everyone!

I'm in Central Florida (right outside of Tampa) and I'm currently in the very early planning stages for a gluten-free bakery. My best friend of over 13 years suffers from severe gluten allergies, and his frustration and suffering inspired me to look deeper into creating more options for those dealing with Celiac Disease. He told me the best first step is to come here and gather information and tips, so I'm really excited to get started.

If y'all could be gracious enough to give me any common allergies that you suffer from as well as any tips, links and information pertaining to starting up a gluten-free bakery I'd be very appreciative!

Thanks so much in advance and I can't wait to see what everyone has to say!

[Mizzo]

I do not have any experience in opening any business but I can tell you about one that recently opened near us.

Firstly they do not advertise outwardly they are a gluten-free bakery . There name is Twist Bakery in Millis Ma. when you go inside they have a sign advertising their allergen free items. They are in a strip mall and get many walkins this way.

They serve a small amount of lunch items and dinner items. Usually they have 2 -3 hot meal items , 4-5 sandwiches on their own buns and a couple of salads. Also, they sell their rolls

Their bakery is , gluten-free, pnut, Dairy , soy and egg free items. They have coconut items separated as they are the new 9th allergen !! In addition they will make to order Bday cakes.

I bet since you are not direct competition they will talk to you about their business plan. They are on Facebook. The owner is Celiac and her husband works there as well.

[fantasticalice]

Being the health nut that I am I'd 1st like to tell you that most

gluten-free bread stuff has no nutritional value and I, for one, have

stopped eating it. I too was going to do a gluten-free deli but not get

into all the allergens. Too much libel if you ask me. Arepas is

what I had in mind as well as pandabono, which is manoic flour/starch.

You can make a great sandwich with both these products.

Good luck!

[Takala]

Some items which may bother other people with celiac/gluten intolerance:

millet - potential for cross contamination high, also reaction level medium for general population

oats- this just kills it for a percentage of celiacs, even the gluten free oats

soy, especially soy flours and soy milks - if you're using a legume flour, use something else!

peanuts - that's sort of obvious, nobody uses peanuts except at home, it seems

dairy - lots of celiacs need the dairy part to be "optional"

eggs - don't have a percentage of celiacs who are egg intolerant

_______

I did not list my worst bug a boos first, because I am best on very low carb high protein nut and seed flours, and some bakeries will not use nuts because of potential for nut allergy reactions. But I react to flax poorly, and that ***** seems to show up in everything these days. Plus I think it tastes awful. But I must be in a minority on this item.

[lucia]

I think there are different directions you could go with this. I've heard repeatedly that entrepreneurs will be most successful concentrating on a single product that they do well, at least to start. If there are no other dedicated gluten-free (or vegan) bakeries in Tampa, then you may find you can concentrate solely on baked goods. You may find yourself swamped, especially with delivery orders (gluten-free birthday cakes!).

I'm most familiar with Babycakes here in NYC. They market towards an audience that is vegan OR gluten-free OR concerned about health generally (because they don't use any refined sugars in their baked goods). They have a whole selection of goods to meet/avoid everybody's preferences/allergens with the only hard rule being that they don't use refined sugar in their baked goods. Whatever you decide to do, I think it's worth keeping in mind that if you're going dairy-free at least on some products anyway, these products will be naturally vegan. That's a whole other market beyond the gluten-intolerant/celiac crowd.

Also about Babycakes, to my surprise my husband loves their cupcakes/breads, even though he isn't forced to go there for his dessert (he gets the regular cupcakes). He says they taste "like real food". Because they leave out refined sugar and other gunk, Babycake's food really does have a refreshingly "real" (for lack of a better word) taste to it. It's really good! I think it tastes like something that would have come out of the oven in 1920.

Babycakes plays up the whole 'retro' vibe, which jibes with the impressions I'm relaying of their food. Their servers and bakers all wear little pink aprons and caps and everything written down is actually in script. It does feel like entering a bakery out of time. Course, NYC is a specialty market, and I know Babycakes in Manahattan gets lots of out of towners. But they have a new bakery now way out in Far Rockaway in Queens that is also wildly successful while serving purely a local market.

[Cara in Boston]

We go to "All Can Eat" bakery in Randolph, MA frequently and love it. It also does not outwardly advertise that it is gluten-free so they get a lot of people in for coffee that don't NEED to eat there. What I love is that they also serve traditional breakfasts (eggs, pancakes, etc.), lunch (pizza, chicken nuggets, etc.), and dinners that are safe for us to enjoy. It is just about the only place we can take our super-sensitive son and we really missed going out for breakfast on the weekends. The food is so good, the gluten-eaters in the family don't mind or notice.

They also make birthday cakes - VERY IMPORTANT. I think they do a lot of take-out desserts during the holidays. We bought our pumpkin pies there and stuffing mix for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

They have quotes up on the walls from past customers. I get teary reading them - everyone is so thankful that there is a place like this available.

My son LOVES to look in the pastry cases and know that he can pick any item he wants. It is so refreshing to not have to give the staff the third degree before we order something.

I think they have a web site - check it out.

Cara

[Juliebove]

I do not have any experience in opening any business but I can tell you about one that recently opened near us.

Firstly they do not advertise outwardly they are a gluten-free bakery . There name is Twist Bakery in Millis Ma. when you go inside they have a sign advertising their allergen free items. They are in a strip mall and get many walkins this way.

They serve a small amount of lunch items and dinner items. Usually they have 2 -3 hot meal items , 4-5 sandwiches on their own buns and a couple of salads. Also, they sell their rolls

Their bakery is , gluten-free, pnut, Dairy , soy and egg free items. They have coconut items separated as they are the new 9th allergen !! In addition they will make to order Bday cakes.

I bet since you are not direct competition they will talk to you about their business plan. They are on Facebook. The owner is Celiac and her husband works there as well.

I agree with this! We have a similar bakery in this area that is also vegan. I think without offering additional food items so people can get a quick meal, they won't do enough business. This place also sells their things off and on at various other restaurants, and stores. I just wish they would be consistant! My daughter loves there stuff but we never know when we can get it in a store.

They are too far away from us to be able to go there.

[Mizzo]

We go to "All Can Eat" bakery in Randolph, MA frequently and love it. It also does not outwardly advertise that it is gluten-free so they get a lot of people in for coffee that don't NEED to eat there. What I love is that they also serve traditional breakfasts (eggs, pancakes, etc.), lunch (pizza, chicken nuggets, etc.), and dinners that are safe for us to enjoy. It is just about the only place we can take our super-sensitive son and we really missed going out for breakfast on the weekends. The food is so good, the gluten-eaters in the family don't mind or notice.

They also make birthday cakes - VERY IMPORTANT. I think they do a lot of take-out desserts during the holidays. We bought our pumpkin pies there and stuffing mix for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

They have quotes up on the walls from past customers. I get teary reading them - everyone is so thankful that there is a place like this available.

My son LOVES to look in the pastry cases and know that he can pick any item he wants. It is so refreshing to not have to give the staff the third degree before we order something.

I think they have a web site - check it out.

Cara

FYI

I don't know where you live but I have been to Allcaneat in Randolph and Twist in Millis IMO is much better. If you have the opportunity you should check it out.

There is a restaurant just 2 miles down the road that has a limited gluten-free menu that we frequent a few times a month ( they are also good) but we will goto Twist now half of those times which is a 25+ minute drive because they are that much better.

[jenn42]

I too live in Central Florida and know of a Vegan bakery that has gluten-free baked items. They are baked fresh every morning. They are delicious!

[Cathey]

Check out Barenakedbakery.com or ind her on Facebook, they are on Long Island. They are a 100% gluten-free bakery and cafe, they do offer special orders of vegan and egg free. The cafe runs a weekly special theme each week, Greek, Italian, Mexican. Look under Menus and look at the Ingredients page, will give you an idea of other allergy free products she will make.

Hope this helps, good luck.