In early 2010, Pratigya teamed up with Samjhana to bring New York’s cupcake experience to Nepal.[break]
After four years of working and living in New York, Pratigya, born and raised in Switzerland, returned to Nepal with the idea and enthusiasm to start cupcake catering.
Through research, she concluded that there was a dearth of good American pastry service in Nepal. Thus Cups & Cakes was born.
A year in business, the venture has already earned its niche market. Six months back, Cups & Cakes extended their venture to birthday cakes, too. Besides that, a new range of cupcakes for adults has also been introduced recently.
“The line has hint of alcohol in it,” says Pratigya.
The catering receives at least two to three orders in a week, mainly around weekends. Besides, the delicacies are also available in the Cafereena Restaurant at Sherpa Mall, Durbar Marg. The restaurant’s Jawalakhel franchise also caters to orders.
Initially, since many people in Kathmandu didn’t know about cupcakes, the duo spent time explaining to customers why the prices were high in comparison to other bakery items.
“What you see is just the final product. But the process is pretty labor-intensive,” says Pratigya. “Every cupcake is individually decorated by hand.”
Consistency also has always been a challenge for them as finding certain brands of ingredients is difficult. “Sometimes we even have to import them.”
With three assistants for shopping, shifting flours and cleaning, they work in their home kitchen to meet the demand. All baking and decoration are done by the duo. And so far, their highest order has been for 350 cupcakes.
Though most of their marketing has been through word of mouth promotion, they have earned 485 “Likes” on their Facebook page, on which people can be seen placing orders and inquiring about their venture.
“If it’s a big order, that is, 100plus, we should be informed 48 hours in advance. The minimum number of order is six, and the cupcakes come into two sizes— standard and mini (bite size),” informs Pratigya, “We also take custom orders.”
For standard cupcakes, it’s Rs 80 per piece and Rs 35 each for minis. For custom, the price depends on the design and effort.
Opening up an outlet is also in the pipeline.
“Most probably next month, but we still have our option open regarding the venue. Simultaneously, we’ll also train our staffs to prepare the delicacies,” says Pratigya.
Cups & Cakes is a fine example of how one can start a venture from home, utilizing the available marketing resources one has.
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