I'm partnering with a bakery that sells mostly bread. The only cakes they sell are whipped cream cakes with fruit topping. The owner agreed that I can put my catalog and decorated cake dummy in the bakery for display, and I only make custom cakes (buttercream or fondant cakes) when customer orders one. I do not use his kitchen at all. The owner takes the order, and he provides me with plain cakes, cake board and box, and then I do the rest with my own materials. My question is, if he only provides the plain cakes, and cake board and box, what percentage do you think the owner should get out of the total cake price? And is there a difference in percentage between sponge cake and pound cake? buttercream and fondant cake?

Thank you so much for your advices.

peachspider

Honestly I think the guy should pay you an hourly wage and whatever you use additionally in the way of food color or whatever he should pay for.

Otherwise I don't know how to divide that up--it's too weird--too confusing.

And you should just work there out of his place.

Where do you work now? If you are in a state that does not allow commercial home baking, it might be worthwhile to make a deal to rent his kitchen after hours, along with a small storage unit for your equipment.

You should follow the normal procedure to figure out how much to charge...add up the ingredient costs and labor costs for the decorating portion of the cake, and factor in any overhead you may have on a per-cake basis.

Where are you planning to do the decorating?

Another thing about bread bakeries, is that they make pennies per loaf--the amount of work, and the time invested are great and the profit is meager. So it's real hard--even harder than cakes to make a profit. And he's got employees too?

Small? I used to stand in the main walkway of the bakery's kitchen to decorate--I was between the oven and the baker's work table--when someone came by, I had to move over into the doorway of the stock room until someone needed to get in there....

I don;t want to be the "that person" who sees the flaw in the plan but I would check with the BOH, I would assume that if you are in any way working with a food product, even just decorating you would have to be working in a licensed kitchen. You are still handling a food product. In regards to the money, if you can figure out a way to meet the needs of your heatlh code then I think the easiest way is to actually have you pay him for the ckae (maybe he can give you wholesale price and then you get the cost of the cake. Truthfully, this type of set up could get really muddy so whatever you decide get it in writing and perhaps set an initial time frame to revisit terms

Percentages? Who knows this is too confusing.

You simply can't do this legally. I'm not saying don't do it--it's your call--but it's exceeding time consuming and complicated to operate this way. I can't see making any headway or money like this. This could have repurcusions for him. I'm not seeing the value in it for you. You have an opportunity to make use of a commercial facility and you want to chaffeur the cakes around.

With the owner taking the orders and you not being there for pick ups confusion can reign. Just as in any shop when work flows from one person to another. This is a recipe for baked alaska tier cake--it'll be nice for a short while.

All the best to you.

I mean just your gas and wear and tear on your car alone puts the cost too far out. See what I mean? Just schlepping cakes from the bakery into your car from your car into your home then out of your home into the car and out of your car into the bakery--at my best, in my day I din have that kind of commitment nor stamina. That's four deliveries before it gets picked up and taken home. Go back to the drawing board on this one Cake-Buddy.

Believe me I get 'the dream' so far you ain't close.

<heart>

I would definitely contact your local health department before you proceed...if commercial home baking is not allowed, that usually also applies to any commercial venture involving food (including cake decorating).

What I mean by "most" of the materials is that they are providing & covering all the costs for all cake ingredients plus the mixing & baking labor (wear 'n tear on the mixer & ovens), utilities, overhead, plus materials for boards and boxes... you just get to do the fun part--decorating! Yes, your contribution is labor, plus $1.00 per pound (more or less) for icing, and pennies for food coloring, not including fondant costs.

When I subcontracted my services for wedding cakes, it was a sweet deal... they paid for everything AND delivered, and we split the total price that the customer paid 50/50 (AND, I also got to keep 100% of whichever options were sold!). This worked for expensive large cakes, but it's not going to work for you on smaller or custom cakes if you don't get to set the prices!!!!

(I wouldn't downplay what they are providing, it's a lot, especially since it allows you to spend more time decorating. I also wouldn't look forward to decorating a custom cake for $20, regardless of how much time it takes or doesn't take!)

No way in he!! would I suppliy materials and decorate a cake for $20. And I certainly wouldn't be letting him set the prices, nor would I let him decide what kind of cakes I needed. This doesn't sound like a good match to me.

After reading the many additional posts on this one I have to agree this is way to convoluted for way too little reward. What is you primary goal in this arrangment? If it's just compensation then run because there's no way you'll get paid enough to have it worth your time, Is it getting your product out there to grow your own business? If so Run because people will always go back to the bakery as the source he's not going to send them directly to you or he loses business, he's not providing space for you to work, marketing opportunity or fair compensation. Iwould say thanks but no thanks

Thank you all for your opinion. Indeed, I don't feel smart in this arrangement, but lesson learned, and I'm going to end it and search and plan for other opportunities. I will definitely look into the health regulations, too.