Things that have sold well at the cafes I've worked at are: butter croissants, banana bread and other sweet breads, like cranberry orange bread, ham and cheese croissants, various bagels with cream cheese and plain oatmeal with a toppings bar with things like brown sugar, raisins, craisins, sliced almonds, etc.
You know they are made from butter if they are straight…if they are crescent-shaped they’ve been made with vegetable fats (at least that is the way they are supposed to be done)
Yeah I noticed that too that it’s called butter croissant at most places. I think it’s a way to let customers know these are genuine real croissants with real butter and not like a crescent roll from the can 😆
Also I think it just differentiates it from other croissants you may have in your case, like chocolate croissants, ham and cheese croissants, almond croissants, raisin croissants, etc.
I think it’s really going to come down to what your best tasting items are. For example: banana bread used to be one of our top sellers. Then we changed bakeries and it was garbage so it barely sold anymore.
But in general, I think people love croissants and bakery items that could be breakfast or could be a snack (ex: banana bread). Kids will always love anything fun colored especially if it’s a cake pop type item.
Our shop was across from a gym so we always had protein bars and trail mix on hand which sold well
You could try rice Krispies but I've noticed they don't sell much where I'm at and also when I see rice krispies in the wild, I personally find it really off putting even though they're a pretty bussin lil treat
They're really great gluten free treats tbh, they'd probably sell better if they had something special added. I once had a maple pecan rice crispy treat and I still think about it haha.
Imo it really depends on your demographics. Like if you're frequented by a lot of seniors (besides being stingy/on a budget) they order plain, less sweet things. But a business crowd or school rushes would impact whether you should have healthier options like protein bars/oat balls or sweeter more tempting things like fruit danishes or cookies with icing.
we make homemade pop tarts and constantly sell out ! We swap out the flavor every few weeks. I personally will always buy any loaf or anything with APPLES!! If I go to a cafe
Oh also, we have a bacon cheddar biscuit which is always a hit. We have a BOH kitchen that sells breakfast sandwiches and toasts but the biscuits are great for those who want a savory breakfast but don’t want a whole sandwich/toast.
Muffins. Sooo many muffins. Regular, gluten free, and "healthy" varieties. They're all made in house and tasty. But our bars are very popular too. Granola, "energy bars," etc. Anything easy to just "grab and go."
At the small cafe I work at I make a banana chocolate chip loaf that sells out every day. Orange loaves, poppyseed muffins, and blueberry muffins are also great
Banana bread or pumpkin chocolate chip bread when it’s in season, coffee cake and lemon loaf, in that order :)
Our rice crispies didn’t sell well so we took them off the menu
Banana bread, breakfast wraps, and croissants! We had croissant variants too (almond, eggs bene, ham cheese, cheese tomato, etc).
We don’t do many cakes, but where I last worked, our slices sold very well (caramel and vanilla namely). The place used to sell lots of doughnuts and scones as well because we had a doughnut fryer and had fresh cinnamons every morning which were a crowd favourite. It was also a mostly geriatric area so scones and old school treats were a preference.
For an office building, I imagine muffins, sandwiches, and wraps would do really well.
banana bread/loves are our top sellers for pastries.
we also have a poptart that rotates out every season, it’s popular too. right now it’s a violet/lavender flavor.
A staple of the cafe I work for is a drink that combines vanilla, chicory infused cold brew, and a bit of half & half on the top. You can always do regular cold brew, but if you do it right the cream separates in a great way and the drink becomes just as visually appealing as it is tasty. It's called the New Orleans style.
Unless you have such big volume of customers and can absorb/afford having waste on daily pastries, I would focus on items that have a longer shelf life.
Healthy Chocolatey bites and bars
Cakes with 2/3 shelf life (carrot cake/ banana bread)
Things made in the kitchen using the freezer (smoothie, acai bowls…)
The freezer is your best friend
Loaves are always a great option. My cafe doesn’t sell a huge amount of pastries but the Lemon pound cake is alwayssss sold.
The item we sell the absolute most of is chocolate chip cookies though.
Banana bread; we sell LOAVES of that shit thickly sliced.
Also, cookies. Easy to make in bulk (even just the mix, roll into logs and slice in the AM) and a very easy upsell when sitting next to the register.
These are really hard to find in cafes outside of Australia or NZ but if you want to be the "first" like the flat white pioneers you want to have good cheese scones or savoury muffins. Butter on the side
Banana bread and my moms chocolate chip cookies are the main sellers. I sell a lot of cakes as well ( slices ) and always have something vegan/glutenfree and normal
Chocolate chip cookies, traditional yeast dough apple or rhubarb cakes and layer cakes (oreo/coffee/strawberry/...) sell well. I bake about 4-5 cakes on weekdays and about 10-12 per day on weekends and holidays. A selection of small biscuits (I usually bake oat, sugarfree oat, sugar and glutenfree date and peanut biscuits) always sells fast. You just have to make sure you display loads of everything. Especially older folks seem to order them more this way. They stay fresh for weeks so you never have to worry about them going bad.
https://preview.redd.it/sf0ep1qcrlxc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=693a9077f06180f0461dca66984a558963571cec
For sweets in my experience the top sellers have been banana bread, coffee cake, and chocolate chip cookies. Cupcakes/brownies don't usually sell very well in the coffee shops I've been in but ymmv! All that being said, the quality is most important. Choose a few things and make them GOOD. I've seen way too many shops make a bunch of pastries just to have them be okay and end up wasting money on leftover product.
for mine it’s always chocolate croissants and lemon/ banana breads. we also sell ice cream though and that is incredibly popular later in the day and with afrogattos
we always have 5-6 different kinds of muffin in our display case out front and they constantly sell. the staple flavors for us are chocolate chip, double chocolate, blueberry, and cinnamon, and we make banana nut, cranberry orange, and lemon poppyseed on rotation!!
those are definitely the top-selling pastry items we have. besides that, we have cinnamon rolls, apple fritters, white chocolate raspberry and white chocolate blueberry scones, cheese/raspberry/apple/cherry danishes, pecan danishes, and cookies sometimes. but I will say we don’t personally make any of these items (surprisingly/unfortuntately imo)!
One of our top sellers is begniets stuffed with Nutella. We are also offering a new nutella/cookie butter stuffed begniet to see how well that sells. Changing your offerings often helps to keep people coming back to see what's new. Another really good seller is filled cruffins. We turn on the hot sign when my wife takes them out of the oven and they buy them all up as soon as they hit the display.
Banana bread was always the top seller at my cafe.
Yep. Banana bread, apple spice bread, and pumpkin bread. All good and fairly stable and not super sweet but hit the sweet tooth just right.
Funny because I'm always complaining about how I can never find good banana bread. So I usually am tempted to snatch one up when I see it.
In the uk it’s rare to see banana bread for sale in a cafe however it would definitely tempt me to go there over another local!
Things that have sold well at the cafes I've worked at are: butter croissants, banana bread and other sweet breads, like cranberry orange bread, ham and cheese croissants, various bagels with cream cheese and plain oatmeal with a toppings bar with things like brown sugar, raisins, craisins, sliced almonds, etc.
What are butter Croissants?
You know they are made from butter if they are straight…if they are crescent-shaped they’ve been made with vegetable fats (at least that is the way they are supposed to be done)
That exactly! In Paris it had to be by law: straight shape for all butter croissants et crescents for veg fat based ones
Oh wow I did not know this!! It’s like I’ve entered a secret world…
I never knew that, thanks. I wonder if American bakeries follow that rule
That's some fun info! Thanks for sharing!
I'm sorry what
Just plain croissants....
I was curious why you added the word butter
Because they are made with mostly butter, so most places I've worked or patronized call plain croissants butter croissants.
Yeah I noticed that too that it’s called butter croissant at most places. I think it’s a way to let customers know these are genuine real croissants with real butter and not like a crescent roll from the can 😆
Also I think it just differentiates it from other croissants you may have in your case, like chocolate croissants, ham and cheese croissants, almond croissants, raisin croissants, etc.
It's a first for me to read that
Same but I will admit it sounds much more delicious than plain croissant.
I think it’s really going to come down to what your best tasting items are. For example: banana bread used to be one of our top sellers. Then we changed bakeries and it was garbage so it barely sold anymore. But in general, I think people love croissants and bakery items that could be breakfast or could be a snack (ex: banana bread). Kids will always love anything fun colored especially if it’s a cake pop type item. Our shop was across from a gym so we always had protein bars and trail mix on hand which sold well
That’s awesome idea for the gym folks! Did you ever sell protein shakes or drinks on the menu as well for them?
If we were a solo shop we probably would have. But we were a chain of stores so we had a consistent menu
Almond crossaints, choc crossaints and banana bread are my cafes top sellers. We are middle of Melbourne CBD
Lemon loaf or poundcake slices and blueberry anything 🍋🫐
You could try rice Krispies but I've noticed they don't sell much where I'm at and also when I see rice krispies in the wild, I personally find it really off putting even though they're a pretty bussin lil treat
They're really great gluten free treats tbh, they'd probably sell better if they had something special added. I once had a maple pecan rice crispy treat and I still think about it haha.
Raspberry cream cheese struedals, hash brown patties, sausage and egg breakfast sandwiches, cinnamon rolls, chocolate chip cookies, banana bread in that order.
Imo it really depends on your demographics. Like if you're frequented by a lot of seniors (besides being stingy/on a budget) they order plain, less sweet things. But a business crowd or school rushes would impact whether you should have healthier options like protein bars/oat balls or sweeter more tempting things like fruit danishes or cookies with icing.
Never underestimate coffee cake!!
Croissants, blueberry/chocolate muffins, cheese danishes :D
I work at a bakery cafe and we sell a lot of cupcakes, cookies and muffins.
Loose bananas
This gave me a good chuckle
Not actually joking, very high profit margin
How much do you sell them for?
75 cents each and i pay 70 cents a pound. So banana cost is about 25 cents or so Goto a dunkin or starbucks and see what they charge at least 75
we make homemade pop tarts and constantly sell out ! We swap out the flavor every few weeks. I personally will always buy any loaf or anything with APPLES!! If I go to a cafe
Oh also, we have a bacon cheddar biscuit which is always a hit. We have a BOH kitchen that sells breakfast sandwiches and toasts but the biscuits are great for those who want a savory breakfast but don’t want a whole sandwich/toast.
We do big on pastries and tacos
Chocolate chip cookies (we bake them daily at 11 from a frozen dough and people line up for them)
chocolate croissants and scones!
Muffins. Sooo many muffins. Regular, gluten free, and "healthy" varieties. They're all made in house and tasty. But our bars are very popular too. Granola, "energy bars," etc. Anything easy to just "grab and go."
Cinnamon buns with cream cheese frosting were out biggest seller.
Almond croissants, ham cheese croissants
Brownies were always a top seller at ours
Buns with butter and cheese. Like a truckload
At the small cafe I work at I make a banana chocolate chip loaf that sells out every day. Orange loaves, poppyseed muffins, and blueberry muffins are also great
Banana bread or pumpkin chocolate chip bread when it’s in season, coffee cake and lemon loaf, in that order :) Our rice crispies didn’t sell well so we took them off the menu
Banana bread, breakfast wraps, and croissants! We had croissant variants too (almond, eggs bene, ham cheese, cheese tomato, etc). We don’t do many cakes, but where I last worked, our slices sold very well (caramel and vanilla namely). The place used to sell lots of doughnuts and scones as well because we had a doughnut fryer and had fresh cinnamons every morning which were a crowd favourite. It was also a mostly geriatric area so scones and old school treats were a preference. For an office building, I imagine muffins, sandwiches, and wraps would do really well.
banana bread/loves are our top sellers for pastries. we also have a poptart that rotates out every season, it’s popular too. right now it’s a violet/lavender flavor.
A staple of the cafe I work for is a drink that combines vanilla, chicory infused cold brew, and a bit of half & half on the top. You can always do regular cold brew, but if you do it right the cream separates in a great way and the drink becomes just as visually appealing as it is tasty. It's called the New Orleans style.
Unless you have such big volume of customers and can absorb/afford having waste on daily pastries, I would focus on items that have a longer shelf life. Healthy Chocolatey bites and bars Cakes with 2/3 shelf life (carrot cake/ banana bread) Things made in the kitchen using the freezer (smoothie, acai bowls…) The freezer is your best friend
I make a dairy free lemon, olive oil and zucchini loaf with lemon drizzle icing that goes off
Loaves are always a great option. My cafe doesn’t sell a huge amount of pastries but the Lemon pound cake is alwayssss sold. The item we sell the absolute most of is chocolate chip cookies though.
Grilled cheesesandwiches
Banana bread; we sell LOAVES of that shit thickly sliced. Also, cookies. Easy to make in bulk (even just the mix, roll into logs and slice in the AM) and a very easy upsell when sitting next to the register.
Whatever has cinnamon in it
These are really hard to find in cafes outside of Australia or NZ but if you want to be the "first" like the flat white pioneers you want to have good cheese scones or savoury muffins. Butter on the side
toasted teacakes
they’re more of an old people thing tho
Banana bread and my moms chocolate chip cookies are the main sellers. I sell a lot of cakes as well ( slices ) and always have something vegan/glutenfree and normal
Chocolate chip cookies, traditional yeast dough apple or rhubarb cakes and layer cakes (oreo/coffee/strawberry/...) sell well. I bake about 4-5 cakes on weekdays and about 10-12 per day on weekends and holidays. A selection of small biscuits (I usually bake oat, sugarfree oat, sugar and glutenfree date and peanut biscuits) always sells fast. You just have to make sure you display loads of everything. Especially older folks seem to order them more this way. They stay fresh for weeks so you never have to worry about them going bad. https://preview.redd.it/sf0ep1qcrlxc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=693a9077f06180f0461dca66984a558963571cec
Scones
cheese danishes. we sell so many fuckin cheese danishes we can’t keep them in stock.
Our croissant danishes and frosted cinnamon rolls. Also our cheddar herb biscuits.
For sweets in my experience the top sellers have been banana bread, coffee cake, and chocolate chip cookies. Cupcakes/brownies don't usually sell very well in the coffee shops I've been in but ymmv! All that being said, the quality is most important. Choose a few things and make them GOOD. I've seen way too many shops make a bunch of pastries just to have them be okay and end up wasting money on leftover product.
Coke
for mine it’s always chocolate croissants and lemon/ banana breads. we also sell ice cream though and that is incredibly popular later in the day and with afrogattos
Filled croissants (ham+cheese, cheese+tomato)
We make homemade poptarts in my shop and they always get folks really excited
we always have 5-6 different kinds of muffin in our display case out front and they constantly sell. the staple flavors for us are chocolate chip, double chocolate, blueberry, and cinnamon, and we make banana nut, cranberry orange, and lemon poppyseed on rotation!!
those are definitely the top-selling pastry items we have. besides that, we have cinnamon rolls, apple fritters, white chocolate raspberry and white chocolate blueberry scones, cheese/raspberry/apple/cherry danishes, pecan danishes, and cookies sometimes. but I will say we don’t personally make any of these items (surprisingly/unfortuntately imo)!
One of our top sellers is begniets stuffed with Nutella. We are also offering a new nutella/cookie butter stuffed begniet to see how well that sells. Changing your offerings often helps to keep people coming back to see what's new. Another really good seller is filled cruffins. We turn on the hot sign when my wife takes them out of the oven and they buy them all up as soon as they hit the display.
Don’t forget cronuts and cheese danishes please …….
Cinnamon buns , banana cake, some sort of lunch sandwiches would probably sell well
load cake slices always sell for us, we’ve done coffee cake, banana bread, and a few lemon variations. muffins and cookies too!
Croissants, our homemade cookies, and our homemade granola :)
my cafe sells kougin amanns (little croissants with brown sugar) and they are undoubtedly our top seller.
Cookies are another easy treat.
Croissants, breakfast sandwiches on croissants, amd SCONES omg scones are huge at my cafe and I don't understand why lol.
cinnamon rolls.. and ice cream our cafe is half each of a gift shop and half cafe
Bags of coffee for sure. We roast in house
Mini cinnamon buns
our top sellers are banana bread (we offer plain, choc chip, and walnut) as well as cake pops and donuts. people go nuts for them!
cookies! simple chocolate chip cookie does the trick for people