A family-run bakery, Stacey’s Bakery, is reporting “surprisingly healthy” business levels in spite of fears that the cost-of-living crisis that would cause consumers to cut back on overall spend on bakery products.
Stacey’s, which has stores in Ilkeston, Heanor and Eastwood, believes that its cakes, cream buns and other sweet treats are being viewed as an “affordable indulgence” rather than a non-essential expenditure.
The company has even been surprised to see substantial increases in sales of a number of its popular lines in the last year. It attributes this unexpected phenomenon down to the company’s competitive pricing, which is beating prices offered by its competition.
“Like most local businesses, we’ve been extremely conscious that our customers are facing big challenges due to the cost-of-living crisis,” said David Stacey, Managing Director of Stacey’s Bakery. “But the main feedback we seem to be getting currently is what good value we are. We’ve had lots of comments recently saying how much cheaper we are than other bakeries, which is always heartening.”
Most of the sweet treats at Stacy’s Bakery are on sale for under UK£1. It is the cream cakes that tip over that mark due to the price increases on cream over the past year. Sales of gingerbread products are proving very popular, as the company has reported it has sold between 2000-2500 gingerbread items per week across its four stores.
Other traditional favourites like flapjacks, congress tarts, egg custards and seasonal products made for Christmas and Valentine’s Day have outstripped expectations, and mince pies have become a popular treat all year around.
“There’s always a demand for our mince pies. We have to make them throughout the year, even at the height of summer,” David added. “We all need something to look forward to and, with financial pressures from almost every corner at the moment, our customers are still flocking to our stores because I think they see us as an affordable indulgence.
“While they may have scrimped on their energy usage at home and maybe been forced to postpone their annual holiday, there’s hopefully always room in the budget for a cake!”
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Caitlin Gittins
Editor, International Bakery
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