Fully Custom Bakeries to "Custom Enough" Bakeries

The Shift to Higher Margins & Smarter Customization

When you first open your bakery  saying yes to everything is usually necessary—every custom order, every  request, every last-minute panic call from a customer needing a cake that “looks like a spaceship but also has a unicorn.” At the start, it's about survival. Anything to pay the bills, build a reputation, and hopefully eat something other than day-old donuts for dinner.

But as the business grows, so does the ability and realization: fully custom cakes aren’t just exhausting—they’re often profit killers. From skyrocketing labor costs to the inefficiency of one-off designs, many bakery owners are making a critical shift: moving away from hyper-custom orders and toward higher-margin, “custom enough” products that still meet customer demand—without sacrificing profitability.

Why Are Bakeries Making This Shift?

1. Custom Cakes Are Killing Margins

Bakeries often underprice fully custom cakes, failing to account for:

• The skilled labor cost of experienced decorators.
• Workflow disruptions that slow down production and inflate labor expenses.
• Material waste from one-off designs that require special ingredients or tools.

Many bakery owners have discovered they are paying decorators more than they could ever charge customers, ultimately losing money on each fully custom order.

2. The Skilled Decorator Shortage

With fewer trained cake decorators in the industry, many bakeries are struggling to find staff that can produce intricate, unique cakes at a speed that makes financial sense. This results in:

• High labor costs for specialty skills.
• Inconsistent quality when less-skilled employees attempt custom work.
• Customer frustration when the final product doesn’t match their vision.

3. Changing Consumer Trends

Over the past five years, bakery owners have noticed:

• Smaller party sizes—leading to less demand for extravagant cakes.
• A more health-conscious consumer, focused on eating less sugar and smaller portions.
• A growing preference for convenience over extreme customization.

The "Custom Enough" Model: A Profitable Alternative

The key to making this transition work is having a strong reputation for quality. Once a bakery has built customer trust, it can ditch the hyper-custom orders in favor of a streamlined, profitable approach:

1. Online Ordering with Controlled Customizations

1. Colors
2. Inscriptions
3. Flavor, filling, and icing choices

More than 80% of customers are satisfied with this level of customization.

2. Pre-Made Cakes & Freezer Stock

• Keep a selection of pre-made cakes or cake layers in the freezer.
• Capitalize on the growing trend of last-minute cake orders by offering a “custom enough” cake while the customer waits or for next-day pickup.

3. Increased Efficiency & Profitability

• Maintain consistent workflow, reducing costly disruptions.
• Require fewer highly skilled decorators, lowering labor costs.
• Shift toward higher-margin products while still meeting customer demand.

Is It Time to Make the Shift?

• Boost profit margins 
• Reduce staffing challenges
• Improve workflow efficiency
• Allow more online sales and automation

Bakeries across the country are making this shift—maybe it’s time for yours too. The future of bakery success isn’t about saying “yes” to every order; it’s about saying yes to profitability and sustainability.