Bread has been a dietary meal for thousands of years. It is the most eaten local snack in Australia for its affordability and taste.

Bread bakery businesses are businesses that specialise in baking and selling different types of bread to wholesale and retail customers. Most of these bakeries also sell cakes to wholesale and retail customers.

Types of Bread Bakeries

Before you venture into the bread business, you’ll want to know the different types of bread bakeries and the services each type provides to its customers.

Retail Bread Bakeries

Retail bakeries are the most popular type of bakery; they are bakeries that sell baked foods  and bread directly to consumers. Most retail bakeries specialise in a kind of baked goods. Below are some examples of retail bakeries and the services they provide:

• Counter service: These are types of bakeries that offer their services in the front-of-house only. In these bakeries, there’s no dining area. Instead, guests order baked goods and take them home.
• Bakery Cafe: These provide the services of bakeries and cafes at the same time. They sell baked goods like bread, cakes & cookies and also sell tea and coffee. Bakery cafes usually have a dining space where customers can sit and enjoy their meal.
• Bakery food truck: Rather than using a traditional stationery shop, these bakeries sell their products from a mobile truck. Bakery food trucks typically don’t bake their products in the truck due to the small space; instead, they bake the products at home, then pack them in the truck and sell it to consumers.
• Home bakeries: These are the most popular types of retail bakeries, as you don’t need much capital for the startup. Home bakeries usually market their business online and deliver their products through the mail. Many home bakeries sell a specific type of baked good. Some bakeries buy their cakes from wholesale cake suppliers in Brisbane, then market them online & sell to consumers.
• Specialty bakery: Specialty bakeries typically focus on providing a variety of baked goods to their customers, such as wedding cakes, gluten-free bakes. The unique thing about this business is they offer services to customers that they can’t find elsewhere or are better than the ones that they may find.

Wholesale Bakery

The wholesale bakery is another type of bread bakery. Instead of selling products directly to customers, wholesale bakeries sell their goods to delis, groceries, cafes, and restaurants through their wholesale bread supplier.

These are foodservice wholesalers that have to provide services to many commercial customers. As such, they are larger than the retail bakeries. Bread wholesalers don’t have to be in a commercial area and they typically don’t have a front-of-house because they don’t serve a typical clientele. However, they produce baked goods on a large scale and need more equipment for a startup.

Retailers usually buy wholesale cakes, pastries, bread and other baked-goods from these bakeries at wholesale prices then sell them to consumers.

If you want to start a bread business, congratulations, we’ve put together a simple guide to starting your bread bakery business:

Write Your Business Plan

Planning is the first step you’re to take before venturing into any business. It will help you map out what your business needs and provide you with in-depth knowledge of the industry.

Obtain Startup Capital and Loans

Starting a bakery business, especially a wholesale bakery, requires lots of money. You’ll need funds to hire a shop, get insurance, equip your space, hire and train staff, stock your kitchen and pay for utilities. Also, it might take months before the bakery becomes profitable.

Other things to do after getting startup capital are to lease a commercial space, get permits and licenses, design your bakery layout, buy equipment for work, hire and train staff, and finally host a grand opening if you wish to do so.