Cakesmiths isn't your average cake supplier. They pride themselves on being the "best" in the business, according to commercial director Chris Giddings, offering delicious cakes, exceptional service, and a commitment to helping independent coffee shops thrive.
Founded in 2005 by a brother and sister team who ran Bristol's oldest coffee shop, Cakesmiths has grown exponentially recently. "We've had explosive growth," Chris said, attributing this success to a combination of factors including high-quality products, a focus on customer service and a commitment to innovation.
“In the last 18 months, our revenue has grown about 165 per cent,” he continued. “I think we've ridden the wave of explosive growth through coffee shops. Coming out of Covid, everyone was at home, so you go to your local coffee shop rather than big chains. We've done the right things as well.
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“We're probably leading the way in the UK for this type of business. There are much bigger wholesale cake businesses, but we are unique in that we serve directly to coffee shops through our e-commerce business and also sell a free food service. I'd say we're the best, although probably not the biggest yet, but we have plans to grow.”
Cakesmiths is based at Kingsland Trading Estate headquarters in St Philips. Its cakes are handmade by a team of 180 skilled bakers in Bristol using high-quality ingredients, including single-origin chocolate. Chris emphasised: "We are at the premium end of cakes."
In addition to supplying others, the company runs its own coffee shop at the headquarters called Bakehouse, which was pitched as a "destination cafe" when it opened in 2021. “It's essential for us to have expertise,” Chris said. “We run our coffee shop. If I told a coffee shop owner, this is how you do it, and we didn't have our own shop, they could tell me to go and sling my hook.
“It allows us to understand the market. We can test products in our shop and then roll it out to the wholesale market.”
He continued: “If we help coffee shops thrive, and by coffee shops, I mean anyone who aspires to be a coffee shop. So it could be a farm shop, a deli, a cafe, a tea room, a soft play centre—anywhere that wants to supply that coffee shop feel as aesthetic. Our job is to help them thrive. This is the essence of building our brand.
“When I joined Cakesmiths, I couldn't quite believe how obsessed we were with customers and their thoughts and feelings. For me, it was about driving authority as a business first, and then if people can trust us enough to buy the product once, we know the product's good enough for them to keep buying.”
That attention to customer service means they offer next-day delivery six days a week and a dedicated customer service team available seven days a week. "We ask for and listen to feedback and then do something about it," said Chris. They even sourced their own vans to deliver cakes during a Royal Mail strike, ensuring their customers weren't left empty-handed for Christmas.
“One guy in Edinburgh needed his cake,” Chris said. "One of our team drove 374 miles up to Edinburgh and then back again the next day. We won't make a lot of money off that because that would just kill us, but it shows the customer that we really care about their business.”
Innovation is another crucial ingredient in Cakesmiths' recipe for success. They constantly develop new products, launching a new core product every other Tuesday and a new limited-edition offering every week. This keeps their customers excited and allows them to stay ahead of the competition.
Chris also spoke of the need to maintain strong relationships. “We're a wholesale business, but we don't hide behind anything,” he said. “We publish all of our pricing on our website. Anyone can see that they don't need to be logged in. Competitors see it, which is annoying sometimes, but that happens.
“We do our video series where we will help customers and their teams care for their cake. It shows you everything from when you get your cake, how to look after it, how long it will last, options for caring for it, displaying it correctly, and showing it off on your counter. There are videos on how to sell and upsell. You can take this slice of cake or a brownie, and then what can you do with it to maximise its value and make a few more pence on the product?
“We want to help cake shops thrive, making it easy for them to sell the cake. The more cake they sell, the more they like to buy from us.”
Looking to the future, Cakesmiths remains committed to its Bristol roots. While it may expand its operations in the future, Chris said: "We are Bristol-born and bred as a business, and that's important to us."
“In terms of workforce, we find that people who stay with us for three months will stay for years and years, and we've got some brilliant stories internally of mums, dads, brothers, and sisters working in our bakery in the Bristol heartland.
“We can also utilise facilities in other parts of the world where we need to. It might mean we can grab some ingredients from France, for example, so we have no plans to leave Bristol.”
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