Bubby Rose's Bakery

I know, I know - we should live in the moment! However, sometimes we have to face the reality that we may be approaching a rock face! That is what Christmas can feel like in our industry as we strive to produce a line of products specifically for the season while still keeping “the same old” going - with integrity.

Really though, our “rock face” is a walk-in cooler and freezer renovation that will take place next week from Tuesday to Thursday. We will re-open on Friday, January 6 to the public while we attemp to keep our wholesale clients stocked.

So, this weekend we will be running stock from our freezer, paring down the use of the cooler while moving stock from the cooler to a portable refrigerated trailer outside. While this is happening, we will be transferring stock from the freezer to a unit in Esquimalt. The efficiency of our operation will be compromised so this is why we cannot supply the public’s wishes.

Have a GREAT NEW YEAR’S Eve and may we All enjoy a little more peace in 2012. Let’s all work on improving the state of the planet in any way we can. (We have been recycling and compost for years). Less, carbon fuel use, water use and road rage too!

Just uploaded recently to Youtube, this clip has got to remind us what part(s) we play on this planet. Wow! Enjoy this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=hg2hCuDy2wg

Well, when you’re down, you’re down. Now, as I “come back”, it’s holiday season. This is the time of year we dread the most in our industry.

Every bakery strives to provided products that the public wants for the season, and still maintain a full (in our case), or almost full compliment of the usual suspects on the shelves.

Bakers go crazy, front staff have lots of extra duties to take on while we work hard at making goods for only this short period of time without losing our edge that we honed the previous seasons.

So, this year we look at what we’re doing, and admire our wonderful line of goods. Customers continue to proclaim their absolute delight in our efforts. We feel good.

Then, we look at “the numbers”; how are we REALLY doing compared to last year. It’s like looking in the dark closet when we were children, half expecting a ghost to jump out!

This time “it” was there. We feel overwhelmed by the marketing drive of large chains promoting machine fabricated, chemical laden cheap items that beat us on price only. Well, as an independent, small, artisan bakery with real bakers using their hands to put out delicious baked goods with love, there are a few options.

First, try to rustle up a “marketing campaign” next year. Cut back on the product produced, and continue to do our best. Integrity is paramount. No chemicals, preservatives or colouring added. Nobody will ever be replaced by a machine here!

So, for all of you who follow us here, on Twitter and Facebook - THANK YOU for your support, kind accolades and wonderful friendship(s) over the past 9-1/2 years of Bubby Rose’s Bakery.

May this season bring to you, and your loved ones, the best of cheer, health and happiness through the next year.

Bubby Rose’s Bakery & Cafe is looking for a person to deliver our goodies forEVER!

The lucky winner of this position will be able to lift 35 - 45 lbs from time to time. S/he will also be called on to be organized, self-directed, read and write English, understand numbers, wash dishes, understand FOODSAFE, and be a safe, conscientious driver. The person will have to be able to take direction with a respectful, positive attitude regardless of previous knowledge - we have to do things our way! This is a very busy job and we ant you to succeed. The shift runs from 5:30 am. to noon, or up to 1:30 pm. Monday through Friday

If that does not sound like too much, you will earn a starting wage of $10 (training shifts) and $12 after. Also, the right person will be rewarded with a loaf of bread daily as well as free food up to a value of $8 per shift.

Of course, one is expected to have a good time, get along with other wonderful people, drink fantastic coffee, tea and taste incredible delights.
Interested? Please send your resume and cover letter telling us why we should hire you!  If you feel lucky, you can bring it in to our location at 1022 Cook Street after 10:00 a.m. and ask for Valerie or Mark. (Please do not come between 11:30 am and 1:30 pm).

Thank you for considering this position and please understand that we may not be able to respond to all applicants.

We found him! Thanks for writing, everyone. We’re “good” for the foreseeable future.

The cobb and cord wood bench is almost complete. Pillows and seat cushions are being made. The cobbed pillar looks great and the pass-through dish shelving in the kitchen was installed today.

The dish pit is taking shape, and the sound system was being installed today. Torahn re-finished the communal dining table and the outdoor patio picnic table and benches.

It is coming together!

Bubby Rose’s Bakery & Café at 313 Cook Street is closing after nine (9) great years in Cook Street Village. Our last day of operation will be Saturday, July 16.

We want to thank everyone for their ongoing support, patronage, accolades and encouragement. Without your enthusiastic feedback and kind suggestions along the way, we would not have opened our very successful second location at 1022 Cook Street (near Fort).

Yes, folks, the little Bubby that could (and did) is closing.  However, all is not lost!!  The little Bubby is going to grow up and take on a new personality.  We will be opening our new location just up the street at 355 Cook Street in a beautiful new building.  It will be renamed, “Bubby’s Kitchen”. Over the last few months we have been quietly putting together a new look, a new menu (covering breakfast, lunch and dinner) and embraced a new partner.  We’ve put our heart and soul into our new digs and hope to open soon.  If all goes well and the food gods are with us, we’ll be ready to roll the beginning of August.  As you have come to expect, all items will be cooked from scratch with locally sourced and natural ingredients. It will be fully licensed (including a patio with heat lamps) and offer fabulous breads, baked goods and incredible coffee. We’ll even have enough room to fit 50 seats! People have asked whether we will retain the same homey feeling…absolutely, all it takes is a little bubbyessence sprinkled here and there.  We look forward to a new beginning and a new place in a welcoming community that has seen us through our growing aches and pains. 

Until we open Bubby’s Kitchen with Joel Margolus (former owner/operator of Bagga Pasta), please join us at Bubby Rose’s Bakery & Café at 1022 Cook Street.

With heartfelt thanks, till we meet again, Valerie, Mark and Staff (past, present and future).

We went to compostable cups about three years ago. We love the idea. Still, questions are still out there. What IS the ecological footprint of one of these cups as opposed to a regular paper cup, styrofoam, mason jar or whatever.

I found this blog: http://www.sustainabilityissexy.com/blog/?p=9

Now, we sell an amazing travel mug made by Thermos. It is truly leak-proof, and will hold a coffee HOT for two hours. We do not sell these to make our fortune! At $29.95, they are between $6 and $10 less than I have ever seen, or heard of, elsewhere. We sell about 48 every 18 - 24 months!

On principle, we refuse to carry cheap travel mugs - you know the kind. They are often plastic-lined (don’t retain heat. give of gases and chemicals), thin-lined stainless, (not heat efficient and leak). They often sell for under $15, giving the owners a 75% to 100% markup.

We are not only business people. Our conscience plays a big part in what we do so we pay $22.95 per mug (purchasing in small quantities is expensive), and charge $29.95. Don’t do this at home! You cannot make a living this way… you have to sell a lot of other stuff as well - at a price that compensates for the mugs.

Anyway, this all started in my mind because of my week-long efforts to tackle the increased costs of doing business. I stumbled on raising coffee prices. (Beans cost us about 15% more now than the last time we raised prices in Feb. 2010. Milk and cream are up about the same amount). We have been charging 15¢ for a compostable takeout cup that cost us nearly double the price of a regular paper cup. Now we have a new supplier and we are saving substantially so we will start to charge only 10¢.

However, the bigger issue is the environment. Really, the best thing we can all do is buy ourselves a travel mug from wherever and use it! All the time.

On another note: we cannot truly match the price of coffee beverages of cafes that roast their own beans. We can only deduce that roasters pay between 50 and 60% less for their beans than we do. Roasting probably costs another chunk which brings their total cost to about 60-65% of our cost. I am guessing here but I KNOW that for every dollar we pay, they MUST be holding their total costs at 65¢ or less. otherwise, they could not make a living.

Given equal overhead buried in variable and fixed cost as a percentage of goods sold, we have to make up the difference by charging more. Our other products are priced in the more traditional sense: we aim for approximately 33% for material, 33% for labour (we run between 38 and 42) and the rest pays for overhead and, hopefully, profit.

Now, that is the longest piece I have written in years. Thanks for reading. Feedback (gentle, please) is appreciated!

Many of you may know but here’s the scoop: similarly to 2005 when we felt the need to expand out from our small location in The Village, now we are busting out of that site completely!

In partnership with Joel Margolus, formerly of Bagga Pasta, we are building Bubby’s Kitchen, at 355 Cook Street across from Pic-A-Flic. This restaurant will be about 35% larger than Bubby 2 at 1022 Cook, and will be outfitted with the ecological footprint in mind. Using many natural, and local, materials, we are aiming for a very comfortable, inviting atmosphere where we will be serving up wonderful comfort foods from morning until night.

Offering wine and beer, and some meat dishes, we expect to create a buzz with great food, ambiance and “Bubby essence” - the warmth and friendliness everyone has come to expect when entering into Bubby Rose’s Bakery & Café.

We will continue to bake for  Bubby’s Kitchen, including some unique items. Not everything we serve at Bubby Rose’s will be on the menu at Bubby’s Kitchen.

If you have any questions, or suggestion, please feel free to contact us.

As I plough through equipment specs, costing, visions of a new logo (a BIG thank you to Justus at Grass Hut Media), my ears are filled with this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uMGH3kHhzM&feature=related

Enjoy!

The black specks in the photograph of the Lemon Shaker Pie are the vanilla bean seeds. This is one of those pies that you just want to say “THIS is pah!”