Baking is a competitive multi billion dollar industry. Companies that make fresh and frozen doughs enter the market in different sectors and can compete against single use bakeries like cake shops, cupcakeries, and doughnut shops. Baking can be just a hobby but it is also a way to make a living. According IBIS World, “The US bakery products and commercial bakery revenue combined is about $36 billion dollars”. Also stated, “The commercial side of the baking industry contains 50 of the largest companies that generate 75% of the total US bakery revenue”. The power houses include Nestle, Keebler, Ms. Baird’s, and other strong competitors. The starting costs of a bakery can be anywhere from over $1,500- $5,000. A typical bakery can match this in one month. However, special holidays that are celebrated like Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas, baked good sales surge, dramatically increasing profits. Two different production styles are used to create baked goods. Mass production, allows for massive amounts of product with specific machinery, non-skilled labors, and production lines. This is most operative business form when everything flows together to create a smooth production. Laborers will do one task, and one task only, to mass produce one type of item as soon as possible. Batch production is producing a set quantity of one product at a time. For instance, creating 1,000 chocolate chip cookies all at once, and then producing 1,000 oatmeal raisin the next. Most of the industries use these methods to create huge quantities of quality products.
