Your dream of starting a bakery business brings all sorts of imaginations to your mind. You envision a bakery store display enriched with cookies, croissants, breakfast sandwiches, bear claws, and cinnamon rolls. But, the execution process is not as easy as dreaming.
When starting a bakery business, you need a winning business plan that works, an efficient marketing plan that doesn’t give up on you, and, most importantly, a killer bakery menu. Your customers need to know what products you are offering and how they can order.
Your bakery menu sets you apart from your competitors. It’s something that helps shape your bakery business’ brand persona. Your bakery menu is a critical part of your business, helping your target customers engage and make their buying decisions. So, how to create one? This article should help you with that.
10 Steps To Create A Bakery Menu For Your Bakery Business
Here are ten actional tips for creating the best bakery menu for your baker business.
1. Write Down Your Bakery Menu
Your first step to drafting that killer bakery menu is to write down that menu itself.
Take a pen and a paper, and start writing the names of the items you’ll provide to your customer. It’s just like prepping for a cake you bake. First, you list down the things you’ll need for the bake and collect them. Your approach to the bakery menu should be just that.
Yes, you must list all the popular items your customers seek. But there’s no need to limit yourself or your bakery. Do you think your customers will stop by for a cup of coffee and croissants for breakfast? Well, if it’s a yes, then you also have to add coffee to the menu. Try thinking out of the box. You might want to offer different milk alternatives like almond, soy milk, or oat for an upcharge. Or do you see your customers ordering cinnamon rolls and mashed potatoes?
Picture a scenario of your small bakery where your customers enter with a smiling face and order the best bakes you offer. Take a step further and think of what they might want to order. Got your answers? Now, write them down. When you add additional items to your bakery business menu, it not only makes your small bakery crowded, but it also boosts your chance to gain more profit.
2. Build Menu Categories
Your customers need to know what’s in your inventory. But that doesn’t mean you’ll list down a bunch of cakes, cookies, croissants, cinnamon rolls, and bakery items on the menu and expect customers to order anything. It’s important to categorize what you’re selling to everyone.
Can’t find how to categorize them? Try taking a look at your competitors’ café and bakery menus. You can even get some examples on the internet. Some common bakery menu categories include cakes, breads, pastries, etc.
Now, are you done categorizing those items in your menu? If yes, start thinking about how you will want them to appear on your website. For example, you can follow your customer’s day and list items for breakfast, lunch, dinner, etc. This way, you can let them find what they are looking for at what time of the day.
You can even take your product pricing as the parameter for your menu categorization. You can let the menu category appear at the top.
3. Pricing
Now that you are done with categorizing your menu, the next step is all about calculating their value.
Remember, bakery menu pricing should not be random. It has to be well thought out and calculated. You want the pricing on the menu to be accessible to a wide range of customers. Your pricing strategy becomes a crucial part of designing your menu.
Do your calculations right. Start by taking your compensation benefits, maintenance, repairs, inventory costs, and health & safety benefits into account. A good decision would be to look at the menu pricing of your direct competitors.
Incorporate different values and plus points you already have as a bakery into your menu. This is a way to attract your customers’ attention and make them curious to order that one item your menu is proudly displaying.
No matter what your pricing is, keep it transparent on the menu. It’s okay to have higher product pricing than your customers. But, explain why there is such a high price. Are your ingredients sourced locally? Or do you only use organic ingredients in your bakes? If you mention these points on your menu, it’ll help you justify the price.
4. Write Menu Descriptions
Your menu descriptions are ideal parts of your menu. Your menu description is also a point of attraction. It’s the flavor of your bakery brand that you showcase through words. Now, whether you want those words to be full of bakery puns, humor, or wholesome depends on you.
You can even think of a certain tone that resonates with your audience. You can take a simple approach or a classic one. Your menu description can also have the story behind a particular item. Also, you can let your customers know if your products are gluten-free or if you are not using any non-vegetable ingredients. In fact, you can even imagine yourself sitting in your customer’s chair and thinking of what you’d like to know about the item you are eating.
5. Choose Your Bakery Menu Color Scheme
Never underestimate the power of color. Your menu needs to have the colors your brand uses to express its personality and image. This is the fundamental language that lets you communicate what your bakery stands for.
Now, whether you choose colors or leave it completely minimal with black and white is up to you. Minimal color schemes with black and white are quite common. They also go well with some bakeries. Plus, you’ll save money on prints because black and white prints are cheaper than colors.
But do take the liberty of using some colors on your menu. You can leave it monochromatic with one color or use multiple colors to share your brand’s voice. If you are choosing multiple colors, choose the right color combination that doesn’t seem chaotic but is chaotic.
6. Bakery Photos of Your Items
Here’s one element you cannot forget. Most importantly, you cannot overuse this element either. Your menu should have some photos of your bakery and your items. Your printed menu needs some colors and, most importantly, some photos of items you already sell. Yes, there are photos of your items on your bakery’s Facebook and instagram pages. While those are important, you cannot avoid the touch of your excellent bakeries on your menu. Adding photos of your items to your menu is a strategic value addition.
There’s no need to overexert yourself and add tons of photos to the menu. Too many photos will make your menu feel too crowded and might seem chaotic. Take photos of your items and use a few small photos of your specific items for the bakery categories.
7. Fonts, Spacing & Composition
When you start the design for your bakery menu, it’s important to consider the kind of design layout you’ll go with. The entire composition needs to be strategic. You have to think of where to add your items, descriptions, photos, logos, and other elements. Most importantly, it’s really important to think of what font you’ll be using for your bakery.
There are different fonts you can choose from. Even different design layout examples are also there to help you out. But, if you take the entire work into your own hands, it might be a little difficult to handle. It’ll be a good decision to hire a professional and let them handle the designing and the other parts of the process. But, if you are doing it all by yourself, ensure that your menu has the right color, font, and design elements as per your bakery’s brand image.
8. Design Your Bakery Menu
Now, let’s count everything we have so far. We have written the menu and the categories, as well as the menu description, pricing, and color scheme. Now, it’s time to put them all together in one place.
You can do it yourself and design your own bakery menu. But your bakery menu is more than a few words put together and a few colors thrown on a piece of paper. It’d be best to get help from a professional writer and a graphic designer. You’ll spend some money. But help from professionals will only help you craft the best menu.
But, if you don’t want to take a more cost-effective approach, use some bakery menu templates available online and follow in their footsteps to draft your own bakery menu. Here’s a tip: Keep the writing on the menu crisp and short, and don’t expand it more than it needs. Just one or two pages are enough.
9. Choose Your Menu Layout
Well, if you have come all this way, you do deserve some appreciation. It’s difficult to get all the previous right. But the hardest part yet is to choose the right layout. You can find different design layouts online. But, before you choose any layout, consult with all the stakeholders of your bakery.
Show it to some of your old and regular customers who have seen you build the bakery from scratch. They might be able to give you a good opinion on the menu. Show the layout to your family, friends, and your employees if you have any. Collect as much feedback as you can and make the necessary changes to improve the bakery menu design.
Whichever layout you choose, ensure that it is clutter-free and as flexible as possible. You want to have more room to add new items and expand categories. Also, a clear and organized menu feels way easier and more attractive to read than one filled with chaotic design and colors.
10. Proofread and Print
The review part of your bakery menu requires your utmost attention. You cannot have any spelling mistakes or mistakes in the numbers, description, phrasing, or any items that you are providing or not providing.
Always remember that your customer has a keen eye for small details. Nothing will miss their eyes. And any typos and spelling mistakes might make them undermine your credibility as a baker. So, before you give the soft copy of your menu for print, take a close and final look at it. In fact, you can even have others take a look at your menu and let them see what’s working and what isn’t.
Once you have seen the menu through and through, it’s ready to get printed. Pass it on to your printing service provider and get the required amount of bakery menu printed. Remember to take the service from someone professional in the field. Always ensure that high-quality menu pages are printed on good-quality papers. With that, you are done designing the bakery menu that’ll help you boost your business growth.
Conclusion
Now that you have your menu, it’s time to take some photos of it and post them on your website and the social channels of your bakery. You can take the help of a professional photographer for this. But, if your budget is tight, your iPhone will be just fine. A clear and vibrant photo of your menu is all that you need. Also, ensure to place them strategically on your website.
A clear and attention-grabbing bakery menu is not only a necessity for your bakery, but it’s also a part of your marketing strategy. Your customers buy what they see on the menu. It’s a substantial part of your bakery website and the in-store table where customers walk in for a plate of delicious croissants and coffee. So, be sure to pay as much attention to this menu as you can. Also, do follow the steps provided in this article to craft the best bakery menu there is.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:
