Calculate how much a homemade macaron costs to make and figure out how much to charge in your home baking business. This posts lists different ways to cut down on production costs and bring more value to your customers without discounting.
How to price homemade macarons is a question some of you who have been making macarons for a while now have probably thought about. This may be especially true after receiving admiration and requests to buy your macarons from those who have seen your work at group gatherings and family events.
In this guide, I incorporate what I learned from my post-secondary studies in business with what I experienced baking batches upon batches of great and sometimes not so great macarons in my home kitchen. I will provide you with a worksheet to calculate how much macarons cost to produce (accounting for those not too great batches too), describe the difference between variable and fixed costs and what that means to your bottom line, give you ideas on how to provide more value as a small baking business, go above and beyond without discounting, determine what your time costs and ultimately set a price for your macarons in a way that offers your customers value while getting paid fairly yourself.
Most of the ingredients for macarons are inexpensive, outside the almond flour and any premium filling ingredients. If you already have a decent collection set of baking tools, whipping up macarons at home is less expensive than buying them.
So How Much Should I Charge for My Macarons?
First off, for those who are taking orders I cant stress enough the importance of a minimum order. Dont think so much of how much you should charge per macaron but how much you should charge per order and you will need to set a minimum amount for this. I once had a request for 5 macarons, each one bearing the resemblance of a different animated character. GASP! I know, all you macaron bakers out there must be in shock. The time it would take to prepare all the different colored batters to pipe 5 different characters requiring 5 different templates… its doable but more as a passion project. Making only five would take so long that the price would be unjustifiable to a customer.
The moral of the story is to set a minimum quantity per color, per flavour, per design, per order. Per color because each new color will require the creation of a “new” batter and this takes time. In addition, each new color/batter adds another element of “risk” to the success of the macarons development. Per flavour because it requires time and supplies (piping bags etc.) to create each new flavour. Per design because each new design requires a new template to be made. Per order because your time, supplies and ingredients should be accounted for. Well talk more about that below.
Minimum Charge For Your Time and Fixed Costs
I highly recommend setting up a minimum charge for each order. A retail store operation has the ability to spread out their fixed costs among many walk-in customers so they have the ability to sell macarons by piece. For a home operation, you will need to account for the minimum amount of ingredients (e.g. a dozen eggs, a package of almond flour) youll need to buy and the time you will need to invest to get an order started. If a customer requests a special flavor that you dont already have the ingredients for, you will need to buy a minimum amount of it and you might not be able to break even let alone profit by making small quantities of that particular flavour. Lets go over how economies of scale will help you.
Its important to take advantage of economies of scale to help you recoup your costs and make a profit. Economies of scale is a term used in economics to describe the cost advantages that occur when the scale of the operation is increased. For example, variable costs (ex. ingredients) is directly linked to the production of each macaron and this cost per unit increases with every extra macaron you make. More macarons = more ingredients = more variable costs.
On the other hand, your fixed costs (ex. table rent, facebook ads) per unit decreases with each additional unit you make because you pay the same rent and marketing costs no matter how many macarons you make. These fixed costs can be spread among a larger quantity of macarons, resulting in each unit being less expensive to produce.
Ways to Take Advantage of Economies of Scale: – Bake all your orders in one day. Cleanup and pre-heating your oven to just the right temperature takes time so its more efficient to do all your baking in one day instead of spread out. If it takes half an hour to clean up each time and you end up baking on 4 separate days, thats 2 hours of cleanup instead of a half hour. Time equals money. You can freeze a fully assembled macaron or the shells by itself until you are ready to deliver or assemble them. READ: How to freeze macarons and make in advance. – Do one task at a time to maximize efficiency. Just like workers in an efficient assembly plant, one worker is usually in charge of just one step in the assembly of the complete unit. This helps each worker stay focused and proficient doing that one vital step. In your case, you are probably working alone in your home kitchen, completing every assembly step by yourself. But if you have multiple orders, it is still more efficient for you to bake, fill and package your macarons all together as a big batch. This will cut down on cleanup, oven pre-heat time, piping bags etc. – Schedule deliveries on the same day. If possible, try to schedule non-event related deliveries on the same day to save gas/public transportation costs. Dont forget about the time you need to get ready each time you leave the house too. – Buy in bulk Once you have enough orders. Consider buying your essential ingredients in bulk: sugar, eggs and almonds. In most case, making almond flour yourself will be cheaper and provide more consistent results. READ: How to Make Your Own Almond Flour for Macarons. Watch that you dont overspend for rarely used ingredients. Exotic flavorings might not get used as often and might even expire before you can recoup the costs for them. If you do need to buy them, buy a smaller quantity first, it will cost you less upfront. Later on, if that flavor becomes a best-seller, you can choose to buy more based on how well it does. – Prepare in advance Make as many elements as you can in advance. This will improve efficiency and save you time if anything unexpected happens before a big order. What can be done in advance? Portioning out dry ingredients, making almond flour and sifting it, sculpting fondant elements, pre-building macaron boxes, writing out thank you cards etc. Sculpted fondant elements can be made in advance and remains soft and pliable if sealed with this product. – Offer “discounts” to clients using portfolio designs If a design requested by a client requires the creation of a new macaron template, the cost should be accounted for. You can charge a template creation fee for this. Customers who request designs that youve already made before wont incur this fee. Youll see cost savings in remaking old designs as you already know the best way to execute them and can foresee problem areas in advance. You can download my macaron templates for free here once you become a newsletter subscriber. – Make multiple colors from one batch of macaron batter. This tutorial on how to make different colored macaron batter is very helpful for when you start making multi-colored macarons and character macarons. – Different ways to save time and money For more tips, I wrote another post about how to save time and money while making macarons.
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FAQ
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