Bakery business is presently a lucrative business in Kenya. If it interests you to start one, read on to know how to start a bakery business in Kenya.
People require food on a daily basis and a bakery business is a type of food business that meets that needs.
Infact, the food business in Kenya is one of the fastest-growing industries in the world hence, the reason why bakery business in Kenya is becoming popular.
In this article, we’ve detailed all you need to know about starting and running a successful bakery business, the entrepreneurial knowledge, planning involved, and startup costs for equipment, materials, labor, and lease.
Generally, evaluating the startup costs, includes the cost of the following below:
- Public Utilities
- Marketing
- Licenses
- Lease
- Furniture
- Staff
- Design and Repair
- Equipment
- Miscellaneous expenses
How To Start A Bakery Business In Kenya
Below are the necessary steps to starting a bakery business in Kenya:
- Decide The Type Of Bakery You Want To Open
- Register Your Business With The Right Authority
- Draft A Business Plan
- Rent A Space For Your Bakery Business
- Research The Relevant Licenses, Permits And Regulations
- Hire Staffs
1. Decide The Type Of Bakery You Want To Open
Bakery business has a number of niches. There are bakeries that have to do with the sale of baked bread, others focus on cake baking, sandwiches, etc. There are two types of bakeries;
a. Retail Bakeries
Retail bakeries sell baked foods directly to their customers.
Some of the retail bakeries you can select from include:
i. Traditional Bakeries
These bakeries specialize in baking biscuits, bread, etc. You can make different types and flavours of bread; from coconut to butter or chocolate bread.
ii. Specialty Bakeries
These types of bakeries focuses on a particular type of baked food e.g cake bakeries. In Kenya, there are always birthday parties and these celebrations can never be complete without a cake.
This is because cake symbolizes celebration and most people want to get a cake for their events. So, cake baking is a good niche with a ready-made market to begin your bakery business in Kenya.
iii. Pastry Shops
Pastry shops specialise in the baking of different types of snacks; meat pie, egg roll, chicken pie, puff puff, doughnut, sausage roll, etc.
This type of bakery business can be started with a little capital, in fact you can get a brick and mortar shop and set this kind of business up.
iv. Home Bakeries
The world is going digital so it’s simply easy to start a bakery at home, carry out all baking procedures in your kitchen and sell them off online.
You don’t need to spend so much on setting up this bakery business because it’s cheap. You simply need to purchase the needed ingredients to bake your delicacies.
vi. Bakery Cafe
A bakery bakes a variety of baked foods like bread and other pastries. In a bakery cafe, there is a dining table where people can sit to have their meals, coffee and tea may be added to customers’ baked foods.
vii. Wholesale Bakeries
The wholesale bakery is another type of bakery that caters to a larger customer base and unlike the retail bakeries, they sell directly to retailers who in turn sell to the final consumers.
2. Register Your Business With The Right Authority
The second step to structuring your baking business in Kenya is to get it registered with the right authority. If you don’t register your business, some of your customers may find it difficult to build trust with you. With $50, you can get your bakery business registered and build more trust with your customers.
3. Draft A Business Plan
The third step is to draft a business plan in which you will state the goals and objectives of your baking business and how to achieve them. Basically, a good business plan should contain the following:
a. Executive Summary
b. Enterprise Description
c. Product or Service Description
d. Industry Analysis
e. SWOT Analysis
f. Market Research
g. Financial Projections
h. Appendix
More importantly, a solid business plan can help you secure funding from investors or venture capitalists
4: List Out The Equipment You Need To Start Your Bakery Business
If you don’t have any prior knowledge of bakery business, hire someone who is trained in this field.This is important because prior experience with baking is needed before starting this kind of business. So it’s either you have been trained or have worked in a bakery or you find someone who has.
A bakery should have the following items:
Mixers
Oven
Dough proofer
Bakeware
Refrigerator
Wood Top Work Table
Proof boxes
Racks and baking sheets
Sinks
Flour Sifters
Trays
5: Rent A Space For Your Bakery Business
A large space is needed for a bakery business but it still depends on the type of bakery you are starting. A good example is if you are starting a van bakery, you’ll need to purchase and drive a van or probably hire a driver to do it.
If you are starting a home bakery, you may not need a large physical space. Your home kitchen or a small space is enough. You can then sell through social media and a delivery company will help to get your product to your customers.
If you are starting a traditional bakery or pastry shop, you should get a big space. You can rent a property, a warehouse e.t.c and get the necessary lease agreement signed.
Lastly, ensure you choose a location that brings you closer to customers.
Below are other important things you need to consider when renting a space;
- Accessibility to space
- Demographics
- Competition
- Health regulations
- Safety and crime rates
- Size and space requirements
- Proximity to customers and suppliers
Most importantly, take note of the following when choosing a place for your baking business.
- Your Bakery should be far away from any drainage and high pollution factories
- Your bakery should have a cloth room where your workers can have a change of clothes.
- Your bakery should have heat extractor to expel heat from the kitchen
- There should be a storage, and administrative section
- Fire extinguishers and emergency exit for safety purposes.
- Your bakery should also have smoke detectors
6. Research The Relevant Licenses, Permits And Regulations
Apart from business registration, there are other necessary licences, permits and regulations needed before starting a bakery business in Kenya. You will need to register with relevant associations such as the Association of Master Bread Bakers (AMBB) in your local government area.
Also, the Association of Master Bread Bakers and The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) will carry out a thorough inspection of your location.
Inspection from the Association of Master Bread Bakers is continuous for as long as the bakery exists while the inspection and approval of NAFDAC takes between 6 months to one year but the.
Also, details of your suppliers should be provided to NAFDAC and AMBB because they want to ensure you are using standard equipment for your productions.
7: Hire Staff
The number of staff you employ depends on the size of your bakery. If it is a small bakery, for instance, you will need to employ a front-end personnel that will accept orders, then two or more persons with formal training or bakery experience to do the actual baking.
If you choose to, you can hire some personnel to handle the dishwashing, mixing of ingredients, product packaging, and other menial jobs in the bakery.
Cost Of Starting A Bakery In Kenya
The cost of starting a bakery in Kenya solely Depends on the scale of business you are planning to start, whether small scale, medium scale or large scale. A standard bakery business can cost about $2500.