Rolling in dough

Entrepreneurs are benefiting from consumers interested in DIY bakeries

It is Zhou Luoni's fourth birthday. But the little girl's mother isn't buying her daughter a birthday cake. Instead, Wang Yajiao, 29, takes her to a DIY bakery store in Chaoyang district in Beijing. "In the past we bought and ate birthday cakes from chain bakeries. But this time we want something special. My daughter has been asking about making one by herself," Wang says. "I think it would make her much happier if she could make her own cake."

Wang isn't the only fan of homemade baked goods. DIY food is becoming increasingly popular among Chinese customers. People are making their own glutinous rice balls during the Lantern Festival and baking birthday cakes for friends and relatives.

As the trend grows, there have been various DIY bakeries and stores emerging as well.

"DIY has been a trend for some time in China," says Liu Wei, 32, the owner of Sweet DIY Bakery in Beijing. "There have been various kinds of DIY products, such as T-shirts, candles, soaps, even furniture. Many people love to make cakes and biscuits, because it is fun and also a learning process."

Liu says that since individuality is valued more now than ever, DIY gives people a platform to show off their talents and innovations. "But they may not have the necessary tools or skills for baking. And that is what we do."

Liu's bakery is located on the seventh floor of Sunshine 100 International Apartment in the Central Business District. Unlike the chain bakeries down below that line the street, this is a family workshop.

Within the 100 square meters apartment that contains three living areas, a long table serves as the main working area in a big sitting room.

The shelves along the wall showcase over-the-top cake examples, such as a Louis Vutton purse and Cinderella's castle in a Disney theme park. There is also a wall full of pictures of cakes made by clients.

Liu worked as a baker for almost five years before he started his own business with his wife, Jiang Yuquan, in 2007.

"You may go to a chain bakery and order a birthday cake and ask to change the pictures or characters on it. But here, clients make cakes the way they imagine."

Quite different from those normally seen in chain bakeries, Liu's cakes are fondant cakes, which originated from the United Kingdom in the 17th century. Most bakeries use cream and jam to make decorate cakes, but fondant cakes are more often used for artistic creations.

Fondant is a mixture of sugar, water and glucose. It is cooked, cooled and stirred until it is an opaque mass. Food coloring can also be added to create different colors. Its creamy consistency and high density makes it much easier to model different shapes for decorative purposes.

Consumers can come empty-handed to Liu's bakery, but reservations are required two days in advance for Liu to prepare the materials. The bakery provides the equipment and ingredients necessary, including two ovens, measuring tools, flour, sugar, salt, butter and eggs.

With hands-on advice, clients can finish a cake within two and a half hours, including 20 minutes for mixing, 30 minutes for baking and about one and a half hours of cake design and decoration. The fee ranges from 14 euros to 22 euros, depending on the amount of materials required and complexity of the baking process.

Everyday, two to three clients come to make cakes, most of whom are white-collar workers and children. Business is busier during the weekends and before festivals or public holidays. The couple often work into the night during peak season.

Their monthly revenue hovers around 2,200 euros. Since business has remained consistent, they opened another store in January in Xidan, a well-known business area in Beijing.

Liu says that there are fewer than 20 DIY bakeries in Beijing, and only three of them prepare fondant cakes.

"For clients, it is the process of baking rather than the cake that gives them fun," Liu says.

"After all, cakes are for special occasions, such as birthdays or weddings. Making a cake for your loved ones is totally different from picking one from the store," he says. "It shows more sincerity between relatives and friends."

Besides DIY bakeries, sales of baking moulds are booming. On Taobao, a search for "cake moulds", delivers more than 5,400 online stores. Some of them have already made a fortune.

Guo Feiyuan, 28, a Taobao shop owner, has witnessed the enthusiasm of baking at home during the past two years. He has been selling bakery tools since September 2009. In the first half of this year, his monthly sales reached approximately 43,800 euros, almost double that of 2010.

The hottest item in his shop is a 16-piece bakery tool set that sells for around 135 yuan (15 euros). His monthly sales volume is about 1,000 units, and in peak seasons of autumn or winter, the figure reaches as high as 2,000.

Guo says that current food safety issue is an important reason that drives people to bake their own cakes. "People are scared by possible additives in bakeries in the street. They feel better eating their own products. Families with children are especially concerned with this issue. Besides, the price of homemade cakes is lower."

Last year, many local companies reportedly added trans fat to their products to prolong shelf life. Research shows that trans fat puts people at a greater risk of heart disease.

When this misconduct was exposed by local media, the sales of an electric mixer in his shop went up sharply.

"The monthly sales volume used to be around 500 units in 2009, but the number rushed to approximately 8,000 at that time."

Apart from safety issues, some experts say DIY also satisfies consumers' psychological needs.

Zhou Junmin, a professor in business culture at the Hunan University of Commerce, says that the current popularity of DIY is a reflection of people's need for certain amount of handicrafts and to get back to the basics.

"Nowadays people are under great pressure at work and life," he says. "They desire to leave the mass production for a while and live a natural life."