As more and more independent bakeries do away with bricks-and-mortar stores and instead set up shop on social media platforms, Joyce Yip explores what makes their bakeries resonate with their thousands of Gen Z followers. We are investigating.
Tomato Fan started her own bakery after scouring the streets of Hong Kong and not finding the birthday cake she wanted. At that time she didn’t even have an oven.
Three years later, Huang and her boyfriend are running a full-fledged bread-making workshop in Kwun Tong. Unlike traditional brick-and-mortar stores, Tomato His Bakery does not cater to customers. Instead, orders are placed directly through his Instagram account.
Tomato Bakery currently has over 11,000 followers. Huang attributes Tomato’s success to the intricately designed cartoon characters hand-painted on the cake’s surface. The cakes are popular with the bakery’s Gen Z fans, who also appreciate the relatively affordable pricing. Four-inch (10-centimeter) cakes start at his HK$410 ($52.30). The couple makes an average of 11 custom cakes a day, up to 30 when demand is high.
“We’ve designed more than 100 variations of Anya, some for our customers and some just to try out new versions,” said Huang, who is famous for the pink-haired character from the Japanese animated series Spy x Family. I mentioned the character. her customers. However, because they are handmade, no two images are exactly the same, and customers who want to order exact replicas of the images of anime characters featured in Tomato Bakery’s online catalogues, say “you shouldn’t order from us.” Bakers warn.
“This is why we keep our prices affordable,” she continued. “If we raise the price, the expectations of our customers will increase. Baking is my hobby, so I want to continue doing it.”
This free-spirited attitude is common among Hong Kong’s growing number of Instagram bakery owners. After months of social unrest in 2019, followed by three years of living under strict social distancing rules and travel bans, people like Huang are stepping up to hone their skills and pursue their passions. given time to develop a strategy for The result is a slew of new boutique businesses celebrating handcrafted baked goods made with love and sold exclusively on social media platforms.
By not having a physical store, bakery owners can avoid exorbitant real estate rents in Hong Kong. Freed from these worries, you can be more experimental when choosing ingredients, trying out new recipes and designs, and finding creative ways to run your business. . The Instagram baker often shares her own backstory on her social media pages. This can be a bonus for your customers to serve a cake topped with an episode. It gets even more appealing when it involves a young local couple trying to keep their dreams alive.
at the request of the public
The Instagram bakery isn’t just limited to virtual worlds. Since 2021, Sheung Wan’s Nanfong Place has served as the venue for an annual food fair open to only independent businesses, including Instagram Bakery. Amanda Lee, Nan Fung Development’s deputy general manager of marketing and communications, said the event is usually sold out, sometimes even before halftime.
“Each company has its own booth. Due to limited space, we obviously cannot have a lot of inventory at the venue. In the first two hours of a four-hour event, up to 400 Some vendors sell individual cakes,” Lee said. Customers leave work early or spend their lunch hours waiting in line just to get the treats they saw and loved on their Instagram pages.
Tina Lam, founder of Instagram bakery Moono, first attended a pistachio-themed food fair at Nan Huong Place in June. Lam’s business started as a small business offering only his cookies for Christmas when he launched his digital shop in 2018. By 2021, the self-taught baker will be selling a variety of vegan his pastries, including millefeuilles, macaroons, roll cakes and cream cakes, in store. Located at K11 Musée.
Lam says Instagram pages have a more creative flair than pop-up stores. “Unlike brick-and-mortar stores, where random passersby and tourists come in, Instagram customers sign up because they already like my products and my ethos. “I’m interested in reading my story about the process,” she says.
Many business owners see Instagram bakeries as a stepping stone to reach the real deal. And Ram is no exception.
“Every baker wants a brick-and-mortar store or a cafe, but with restrictions like rent (that they can’t afford), they have no choice but to rely on social media,” she says.
always online
Julien Zampieri, co-founder of French patisserie Le Dessert, has taken the opposite path from brick-and-mortar to online-only business. In 2019, he invested HK$1 million to open an online shop and opened five pop-ups with different tenancy periods in Admiralty, Central, Tsim Sha Tsui and Taikoo shopping malls. By mid-2022, the pandemic forced the closure of physical stores and downsized the business to digital only. Luckily, by that time he had amassed a loyal following of around 10,000 online customers.
Zampieri says his digital shop is still significantly more profitable than his physical store, despite fewer orders. Online orders cost an average of HK$500 more than brick-and-mortar stores, as customers often ask for larger, more elaborately decorated cakes to meet the criteria for free shipping. By comparison, most of the customers visiting his brick-and-mortar stores were passers-by interested in small products.
“During the pandemic, we were losing money in retail. Having it also meant that we had to spend a year.” We put a lot of energy into making sure the space looked perfect, not to mention staffing it.” the veteran baker added.
Le Dessert currently accepts orders through its website or WhatsApp, and also offers pick-up from its kitchen in Chai Wan. The company uses dedicated trucks for deliveries. Zampieri keeps in touch with his customers by regularly sending out newsletters and his WhatsApp messages with plenty of photos and videos about new products and promotions.
He’s not worried about competing with Instagram bakeries. Zampieri feels his store is better equipped logistically for organizing timely pickups and deliveries. Plus, home businesses often don’t have the resources to ensure quality control worthy of a big celebration, he added.
Cherry Wong, a former Hong Kong food and beverage journalist, agrees that Instagram bakeries are at a disadvantage in terms of the short pick-up window they can offer, but hurries that loyal customers will find a way out. added. avoiding such problems. What she loves about her Instagram bakery is the wide range of flavors to choose from. There’s also fresh creativity and seasonality in their products, which she doesn’t often find in more known brick-and-mortar confectionery stores.
Today’s new and fresh can quickly become banal and boring when hits are imitated and mass-produced by peers. One example is the now ubiquitous mochi, cakes and pies made from Japanese glutinous rice. Wong points out that it was Instagram bakeries such as Mosiphon and Moshimochi that, until a year ago, had only redeemed points for lychee cooks and introduced the idea to the market, starting a widely-supported trend.
“Because online shops can produce products in small batches, they are aggressive in offering seasonal and fun products. Online shops are healthy competitors to bakers who can afford to pay their rent,” Wong said. say.
“I usually choose a bakery based on how far the pickup location is from the venue I host. Of course, if I have a tight deadline, I don’t mind going to a brick-and-mortar store instead,” she said. added.