Baking Supplies Cost Estimate: Dinerstein's Prices Essay Example

Introduction

It is worth noting that ingredients will be purchased in bulk. 1-pound bag of pecans goes for $20, 3-pound unsalted butter will cost $150. Dark brown sugar will cost $5/pound, granulated sugar $5/pound, all the eggs used for the bake sale will cost $50, all purpose baking flour for $200, baking powder for $15. Ground cinnamon for $20, oatmeal for $50, vanilla extract for $30, and kosher salt for $20. Prices are provided by Dinerstein for "Consumer price search and platform design in internet commerce."

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Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 F

Put the pecans on a sheet pan and bake for 5 minutes, until crisp. Place aside to cool. Chop very coarsely.

Beat the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. With the mixer on low, add the eggs, one at a time, and the vanilla.

Sift the flour, salt, cinnamon, and baking powder together into a medium bowl. With the mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture. Add the pecans, raisin, and oats and mix just until combined.

Using a small ice-cream scoop, drop, 2-inch mounds of dough onto sheet pans lined with parchment paper. Flatten slightly with a damp hand. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until lightly browned. Transfer the cookies to a baking rack and cool completely.

Bake Sale Budget

Expected Income

• Packaging $ 11,625
• Cookie Sales $ 36,000
• Total Expected Income $ 47,625
• Expected Expenses Packaging $ 900
• Ingredients $ 1500
• Kitchen Staff $ 630
• Utensils $ 500
• Cleaning Fee $ 250
• Advertisement $ 2,000
• Rental Fees $ 450
• Total Expected Expenses $ 6,230
• Total Expected Net Income $ 41,395

Budget Analysis

From the forecasted income statement, we predict to make total sales of $47,625. This amount will be distributed between the packages and cookies as we will only have one item bake sale. The cookies will sell for $15 a dozen. We expect to make 500 packages per session and sell 96 percent of the cookies. The packaging material is expected to go for $900, while the ingredients cost $1,500. Other expenses include Kitchen staff for $630, rental fees at $450, advertisements for $2,000, cleaning fee $250, and utensils for $500.

The expected net income from the bake sale is remarkable given that we will prominently feature Raisin cookies. However, it is important that we reduce our direct costs to earn even more revenue. For instance, the advertising costs are too high. There is no need to run the ads every time there is an event. A maximum of three adverts should be enough given that the attendees are students who are already aware of the event. Therefore, one advert should be in the school newspaper and two in the local papers to get the local community to attend and be part of our bake sale.

Suggestions

While the bake sale generated a considerable amount of income, there are various recommendations which would significantly boost the net income. For instance, this year's bake sale had only one item, Raisin Oatmeal Cookies. if one item bake sale raised over $30,000, having more items would increase bake sales revenue. A suitable number of items should be at least 5. Additionally, there is need to have a variety of options for the people ranging from cookies, cupcakes, muffins, and chocolate bars.

Offering nutrition information for the products

Patrons are becoming more and more concerned about the nutrient content. As such it would be a smart move to include nutrition information for the breads, cookies, sweets, pastries, and cupcakes. American Bakers Association found that over 60 percent of adult Americans use the nutrients labels to make their purchases decision on food items (Murray 575). Furthermore, many consumers attest that seeing nutrition labelling makes brand trustworthy. While it is not clear how including nutrition information would impact a bake sale, Panera, a bakery chain, reported improved sales after including nutritional information for all their products. Nutritional information can be provided on the packages for products that will be packaged. For other items which will be sold in pieces, the best way to offer nutritional information is by having the seller point out the health benefits of the products.

Feature different portion sizes

This year's bake sale featured one item in one common size. Offering smaller or non-standardized portion sizes will be a great way to get new customers. this is especially because we want to capture even the spectator students as our market. having more customers will increase the net income from the bake sale. A current trend in bake sale fundraiser is snacking. In the bakeries industry, close to 30 percent of consumers say they prefer individual portion sizes. Specifically, 20 percent say that mini or bite size portions would encourage them to buy more because it gives them portion control. In the current consumer-driven bakery industry, bite-sized products are a "must-have" (Joachim 10). For instance, the Raisin cookies should be of different sizes. In future, as we seek to include more products, it will be easier to offer different sizes.

Using Locally-sourced Ingredients

Consumers are becoming more conscious about where the ingredients of the products they buy are sourced. Local ingredients are becoming more important than organic products. As a result, consumers are likely to buy locally sourced products more. Having such ingredients and products is likely to influence the decision of our customers. for our Raisin Cookies, most of the ingredients used were sourced from different places. Only eggs were bought from local farmers.

Let Nostalgia inform Our Offerings

There is a trend where bakeries are remaking their favorite desserts and bakery items. Embracing this trend would mean huge crowd-pleasers for our items. Oreos is famously using nostalgia to improve sales. By offering reinterpretations of classics, we will give old standbys a taste of our personal spin which can potentially attract new and returning customers.

Works Cited

Dinerstein, Michael. "Consumer price search and platform design in internet commerce." American Economic Review 108.7 (2018): 1820-59.

Joachim, Jean. Beyond the bake sale: The ultimate school fund-raising book. Macmillan, 2003.

Murray, Robert. "Snacks, sweetened beverages, added sugars, and schools." Pediatrics 135.3 (2015): 575-583.

Turner, Lindsey, Jamie F. Chriqui, and Frank J. Chaloupka. "Healthier fundraising in US elementary schools: associations between policies at the state, district, and school levels." PloS one 7.11 (2012)