Cake Kits Are On Trend for DIY Bakers

Few things beat a home-baked cake made with love, but let’s face it: They often fall short in the looks department. To meet that need and more, a new company called Cakerate is offering a curated selection of predesigned cake kits that promise to turn a simple homemade or store-bought cake into a work of art, with no special skills necessary.

Cakerate wants to help retailers carve out new space for growth within the in-store bakery by capturing the DIY shopper who doesn’t want to pay the usually exorbitant price of a specialty bakery cake or who would prefer to achieve a designer look at home. Additional benefits include reduced labor expenses, increased kitchen space with less inventory, and plenty of variety  through customizable kits that capture seasonality and regional preferences, according to the Jasper, Ga.-based company.

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As well as creating opportunity in the bakery department, Cakerate allows room to grow in the center store bakery aisle, thanks to its innovative approach to cake decoration. By including all of the necessary decorating tools and products in each kit, the company can reduce the amount of shelf space and SKU counts.

“We are actively engaging grocery retailers that are looking to capture the space between cakes currently offered at in-store bakeries today and cakes designed from a specialty bakery,” explains Keera Brooks, CEO of Cakerate and its parent company, Wholesale Sugar Flowers. “We know in this economic time, consumers will continue to spend on indulgences, so Cakerate offers a way for them to save on costs at a specialty bakery without compromising [on] design and quality. Cakerate is also a great way for grocery retailers to attract the hobbyist baker that currently shops in large craft retailers for baking products.”

Endless Possibilities

The company currently offers six predesigned cake kits for various occasions, with retail prices starting at $19.99.

“Each cake kit is designed to include all the decorations for a cake,” explains Brooks. “An example cake kit may include sugar flowers, petal dusts, sugar pearls and edible glitter flakes. The kits do not include ingredients for a cake or icings. Ideally, the customer purchases an iced cake from the bakery, along with our decoration kit.”

According to Brooks, the kits were previously “available through Wholesale Sugar Flowers for years but sold under a generic name and not widely known in the grocery industry. When I acquired the company in 2018, I saw a potential with this category but needed to focus on other areas. The pandemic brought it to the surface again, when the at-home baking surge began and labor challenges surfaced. We are able to help grocery retailers that want to grow their in-store bakery sales but have trouble finding skilled labor. Our kits have detailed instructions, enabling any associate to easily assemble [the cakes] on site. We have spent careful time rebranding and curating new designs for retail, and since the Cakerate launch, customers have found the kits to be easy to follow and decorate.”

Brooks believes that her company’s cake-decorating kits have an unlimited future.

“The great thing about Cakerate is that the possibilities are endless,” she notes. “We are looking towards expanding the line to include more kid-friendly, seasonal and holiday [options], as well as wedding kits. And Cakerate will also offer kits that span the bakery, such as a Halloween kit for decorating cupcakes, cookies and brownies, or a football kit with sprinkles in regional team colors and custom images. Cakerate can be designed to fit a grocery retailer’s market needs and consumer demographics.”

Additionally, for families that want to bake together but could use a little guidance, Houston-based I’m the Chef Too! has come out with a Transformers Treat Pops baking kit. The item offers step-by-step instructions as well as everything would-be home pastry chefs — regardless of skill level — need to transform Optimus Prime, Bumblebee and other iconic bots into tasty cake pops. So far available only on the STEM-based baking kit company’s website, the 2-pound kit retails for $36.95.