BUSIneSS BAKERY REVIEwbusiness is conducive for many women,
as they get the benefit of working from
home; which enable them to manage family
expectations while working on something
they are passionate about. Also, who
doesn’t like to walk into a home that smells
of freshly-baked choco-chip cookies or to
the sights of colourfully sprinkled cupcakes?
The number of women entrepreneurs
in urban India who have taken up home
baking as a career is increasing and many
of them have expanded, or are planning
to do so. Many of them have opened their
own bakeries.
One of them is Janki Paingy, who is
planning to start her own business in early
2018, from Ooty. “I am planning to switch
from using just one oven from my kitchen to
having a dedicated bakery within my home
from where I would love to scale up and
get into mass-manufacturing. We will buy
the industrial ovens and other equipment
locally made from Coimbatore and I would
employ and train locals to assist me in
the various aspects of baking,” she
disclosed enthusiastically.
When questioned about the
reason for selecting Ooty as
her choice of starting her new
venture, she stated, “Ooty hosts
many boarding school students
and also attracts a lot of tourists
from three neighboring states. I wish
to cater to the locals and visitors alike
who I am sure will be looking to feast on
the most delicious, yet affordable desserts
to make their holiday complete.”
Janki, who is a graduate from JJ School
of Arts, began her journey into the baking
world because breads, cakes, desserts
always caught her fancy and cooking and
trying out new dishes is an obsession
with her. “My strength lies in theme-based
fondant cakes as my knowledge from JJ
comes in handy to handcraft intricate
elements made out of edible fondant that
are part of the theme,” asserted Janki.
Speaking about the challenges that one
would face in this profession, she claimed,
“Trial and error are a part of any new
business and I have been a part of the drill
but I have learnt a lot from every mistake.
As I use my home kitchen, hygiene has
always been top priority for me.”
“Since I started home-baking, in 2015,
I have seen a huge growth in the overall
baking business in the country. Nowadays
you can find each city in the country having
a lot of cake artists, and many of them are
doing amazing work,” she conveyed.
Anuradha Chopra Kukreti, from Vizag,
has made a name for herself as she does
not believe in using chemical additives,
preservatives and pre-mixes for her cakes.
She is said to offer the fresh and most
delicious bakes, on order.
Anu, as she is called, stated, “The
bakeries use pre-mixes because they
produce in bulk. I use pure ingredients in
my bakes. All my cakes and cookies are
made from whole wheat and not maida.”
A naval officer’s wife, who lives in the
Naval Base at Dolphin’s Hill, Anu claims
that baking has been a childhood passion
with her and she started taking orders
from home about a year ago. “I used to
bake for my family and friends earlier. It
was they who induced me to start this
enterprise, which eventually grew into
something bigger. My husband has beenmy biggest support in pursuing my passion,”
she declared.
A filmmaker turned baker, Poonam Maria
Prem, the owner of Zoey’s Bakehouse,
Hyderabad, turned into a baker about
nine years ago, but it was only in 2012,
in an attempt to get a decent looking
animal theme cake on her daughter’s thirdbirthday that she realised she should try
her hand at sugarcraft. “How difficult could
it be, was my first thought. And even if it
did not turn all right, it was my cake after
all,” she reminisced.
Baking caught on Poonam yet again
when a colleague asked her how to make
a rainbow-themed cake for her daughter’s
birthday. “It was the most nerve-wrecking
thing I thought I had done and always
wondered how do they make those big fat
cakes they show on television channels!”
exclaimed Poonam.
She gave up her job to start her own
business. Having worked for an employer
earlier and now turning entrepreneur,
Poonam feels both have their pros and
cons.
She iterated that managing the
online bakery is difficult as one has to
systematically keep records of people’s
enquiries and requests, messages on
Whatsapp, phone calls, e-mails, walk-ins
and Facebook postings. “Most of them
do feel we are a team, but it is like
living on the edge each day trying to
figure it all out single-handedly. My
husband is my backbone, without
whose support Zoeys Bakehouse
would have been a distant dream,”
she averred.
“Creating visual effects is
a tough job and our office hours
stretch sometimes beyond human ability.
I remember working for 14-15 hours at
a stretch and not being able to see my
daughter. Even now, I work approximately
for 12 hours in a day but have a better
control over work-life balance,” Poonam
confessed.Bakery Ingredients
One of the problems faced by homeDhiren Kanwar Janki Paingy