New supply shop opens as baking demand rises

With the proliferation of food blogs in the internet these days and the increasing number of interested home bakes and small time pastry entrepreneurs, another supply shop opens its doors to serve baking needs at the uptown area.

Kerri’s Bake Stop operated by business partners Ma. Theresa Tan, Carolyn Tan and Kerri Gail Ong provides a wide array of baking ingredients from flour, sugar, confectionaries, chocolates, sprinkles, nuts, and pastry embellishments like edible tops and candles, as well as packaging materials.

Kerri’s Bake Stop located in front of the Redemptorist Church which opened recently also offers home baked cookies, pastries and made-to-order cakes designed by Kerri, who happened to have studied baking and pastry in San Francisco, California.

“As much as possible we update ourselves with the latest trend in home baking and cooking so that we will not only stick to what is conventional and so we will have new offerings to our clients,” said Ong in an interview.

Targeting the growing number of home bakers and entrepreneurs these days, Kerri’s Bake Stop aims to tap the huge bulk of housewives and even culinary students and enthusiast with their complete line of baking supplies.

“There are only a few suppliers of baking needs here in Cebu so we thought it as a good investment to do especially that we have found a very convenient location, “ Tan explained about what prompted them to put up a supply store as a start-up business venture.

“We feel that there is a potential for this business because there are already a lot of people doing home business and since our location is near the church and schools, we are also positive to gain a lot of traffic daily,” added Ong.

Waterfront Hotel Pastry Chef Gabriel E. Garcia who was present during the store’s opening said that these days there already are a lot of people going into business and utilizing their skills in baking so baking supply shops such as Kerri’s is a welcome investment.

“With the influx of new investments such as this, it shows people that the baking industry here in Cebu is already very competitive. It’s no longer dominated by only one player so bakers will have more choices now if they need ingredients,” he said.

Garcia further added that, “the products offered in the market will also be wider because it will no longer be limited and isolated to only one major supplier and it will become a lot easier for us to get the stocks for our last minute needs.” 

But because supply shops like Kerri’s Bake Stop is a high risk investment as it deals with goods that looses value through time, Garcia suggested that operators must always put in mind the shelf life of their products to maintain its quality and freshness.

Considering the Cebuano market’s lifestyle shift nowadays which shown an advent of adopting new concepts such as coffee shops, complementary industries like supply stores are foreseen to produce positive impact for the baking sector.

“There is a growing demand and the trend shows that it’s already there, so entrepreneurs should go for it. The market is so big and stores like these area still a few,” Garcia advised.

As a marketing effort to promote their business, Kerri’s Bake Stop will be holding monthly activities such as baking classes to be offered to housewives who want to enhance their skills in baking to also motivate them to do small time business through baking cakes and pastries.