Bakery Owners - Do You Use Creative Packaging?
Business By lulus Updated 14 Aug 2008 , 10:39pm by peacockplace
I am opening a bakery and cafe in a couple of weeks, and keep getting stuck on what kind of packaging I should put my baked goods in. I would like it to be fun, and unique, but not cost an arm and a leg either. My colors are red, black and white, with a touch of spring green. I already have my labels ordered, they are large white ovals with a red border, with the logo and other information printed on the white part.
My menu will consist of cookies, pastries, pies, cheescakes, custom cakes, etc.
TIA!
Most of my cakes are delivered, and the ones that are picked up usually the lid won't close! (wish they made 12 inch high boxes! hahah)
But when someone picks up an anniversary cake, or samples, I place them in a regular bakery box, and place a piece of satin ribbon around the box. I also have oval labels and use them to hold down the piece of ribbon. It looks really pretty and I get a lot of comments on it.
I have never found a decent price for pink boxes, but you might want to look into those too, especailly for cookies!
As of lately, my focus has been on chocolate. I now have my own Fair Trade Organic chocolate business.
Though my chocolate is usually smaller than a cake I still have done the math for every packaging known to mankind. 
I first figure out what my product is and how much space do I need? (This also pertains to the occasional chocolate cake I make.) From there I look at various sites. I refuse to look at custom made box orders because I do not have "customer-made" money. (That doesn't sound right. Whatever, let's move on 
).
Then I slim down my options and... wait for it...
Do the MATH! Yes, math. You must price out each one of your boxes AND add these costs:
Labor (someone has to be paid not just for decorating a cake but packing too!)
Travel/shipping (if it applies)
Ribbons, etc. (for the favors you'll make for some ppl)
These are very important numbers to have adn many people do not add them into the end food cost and they loss money whether they know it or not.
Good Luck!
I totally disagree about not paying for good packaging. We spend A LOT to have our custom boxes, grosgrain ribbon, and silver embossed stickers made, but they are stunning, and make a huge impression. When we go out on a delivery, people run out into the halls of the office building.."Is that a Sugarland cake ? Where is it going?" Your packaging is part of your brand.
Think about it. Where else would you pay $75 for a key chain,but it comes in that little blue box? 
Tiffany's spends $5-$10 on the key chain, and another $1-2 on the box. Now THERE's a profit margin you can live with.
how many cases to you have to order ?
i'd love to have pretty boxes, but i don't have thousands to invest up front.....i do go thru a couple thousand dollars in boxes in a year....
i guess i could save up and buy a years worth....i know you guys go thru tons of boxes.
hey maybe some people with smaller businesses could split an order?
Thank you so much for your responses. And while I do not have a ton of money to spend, I agree with sugarland wholeheartedly. This is, in my experience, a necessary expense. Which is why I was hoping for some creative ideas that would make my bakery stand out from the crowd, without a lot of money being spent on personalization. Maybe I'm being unrealistic.
Since my 'look' is homestyle, fresh and funky 50's (I don't even know if that IS a 'look' LOL) I was thinking I could differentiate myself with the use of color.
Thank you to everyone who took the time to respond!
how many cases to you have to order ?
i'd love to have pretty boxes, but i don't have thousands to invest up front.....i do go thru a couple thousand dollars in boxes in a year....
i guess i could save up and buy a years worth....i know you guys go thru tons of boxes.
hey maybe some people with smaller businesses could split an order?
I use Image Packaging in New York. I pay about $.58 a box to get our boxes in a custom color, so it's not that expensive. I have to buy a total of 2,000 boxes, ( 500 minimum of each size) to get a run of our blue boxes made.
They have colors that they stock, which have smaller minimums. Our labels are from Maverick Label, and cost less than$.10 a piece. We bought 10,000 before we opened. ( 5,000 each of two sizes). You can buy as few as 250, but the fewer you buy, the more expensive they are. They also have very quick ( less than 10 day) turnaround.
Our ribbon was made in our three corporate colors by " the ribbon factory" and you have to buy 20 spools ( 1000 yards) to get your own design. 20 spools cost $370 dollars, so that is cheaper than going to Michaels.
Do you have contact informaiton for Image Packaging, do they have a website?
I'm not sure exactly what you're going for but I found bakery boxes with a red and white grid pattern on them. If you add a ribbon and custom label it could be cool.
http://www.packagingsupplies.com/Bakery_Boxes_Red_Grid.html
I'm glad you liked them! I think they are really cute and could look really custom with a few little touches.
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