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AyRojgar

Cake and pastry shop

Baking cakes, pastries and cupcakes for the counter and to order. The display case carries the spoilage risk; the decorated order cakes carry the margin.

  • Last reviewed: 19 September 2026
  • Version 1
Cake and pastry shop

Cake and pastry shop

Starting capital
৳2,00,000 – ৳15,00,000
Editorial estimate
Manpower
2 – 10 people
First sale
30 – 90 days
Official source
Break-even
6 – 15 months
Editorial estimate
Kind of work
Shop · Medium difficulty

About the business

Making and selling cakes, pastries, muffins and cupcakes over the counter, and to order. Two different businesses actually run in the same shop. One is the display case - baked every day, and a loss if it does not sell. On Dhaka shelves packaged cake works out at Tk 500-900 a kg: Dan Cake Vanilla Plain 150 g at Tk 80, Marble Cake 300 g at Tk 200, Kishwan Dry Cake 300 g at Tk 150, Swiss Roll 200 g at Tk 180. The other is the order book - birthdays, weddings, office functions. That is where the money is, because decoration can be charged for separately and the cake is sold before it is baked. The input side can be measured: in Dhaka loose maida is Tk 65-70 a kg, sugar Tk 110-115, farm eggs Tk 48-50 a hali which is Tk 12-12.50 each, soybean oil Tk 186-195 a litre, powdered milk Tk 830-960 a kg and whip topping about Tk 669 a kg. The rules bite too: Cakes (BDS 1574) and Decorated Cake (BDS 2008) are both BSTI mandatory products, and bakeries and pastry shops must register with the Food Safety Authority at Tk 1,000 for three years.

Unit economics

ItemRangeEvidenceSuggest a correction
Monthly working capital৳1,00,000 – ৳7,00,000Editorial estimate
Selling price৳500 – ৳900 / kgMarket quote
Variable cost৳220 – ৳350 / kgEditorial estimate
Gross margin56% – 61%Editorial estimate
Time to first revenue30 – 90 daysOfficial source
Break-even time6 – 15 monthsEditorial estimate
Cash cycle0 – 15 daysEditorial estimate
Waste / loss5% – 20%Editorial estimate
Daily capacity10 – 60Editorial estimate

What you need to start

  • An oven (gas or electric), a planetary mixer, scales, baking trays and moulds, a display chiller and a fridge. Decorating kit: 12-piece nozzle set Tk 179, 7-piece Russian flower nozzles Tk 480, 100 piping bags Tk 719, round cake pan Tk 409, muffin tin Tk 379 (Chaldal 16-09-2026). Oven and mixer prices in Bangladesh could not be verified.Equipment
  • Maida Tk 65-70 loose and Tk 75-85 packet a kg, sugar Tk 110-115 retail and Tk 102-103 wholesale, farm eggs Tk 48-50 a hali (Tk 12-12.50 each), soybean oil Tk 186-195 a litre, powdered milk Tk 830-960 a kg (15-09-2026); whip topping 1,100 g at Tk 736 (about Tk 669 a kg) and cocoa powder 150 g at Tk 200 (about Tk 1,333 a kg).Starting stock
  • BSTI CM licence, needed if you sell in your own packaging. Cakes (BDS 1574:2021), Decorated Cake (BDS 2008:2022), Bread (BDS 382:2016) and Bread Rolls (BDS 1074:2017) are on the mandatory list. Application Tk 1,000, renewal Tk 500, annual licence fee Tk 200.Licence
  • Fire safety licence from Fire Service and Civil Defence and environmental clearance from the Department of Environment, compulsory because of ovens and gas cylinders.Licence
  • Trade licence from the city corporation or municipality: form Tk 10, book Tk 50, standard tax Tk 30, stamp Tk 150-300, licence fee Tk 100-60,000, in 3-5 working days.Licence
  • Bangladesh Food Safety Authority registration, compulsory for bakeries and pastry shops under the Food Safety (Registration and Licensing) Regulations 2026: Tk 1,000 new, Tk 500 renewal, valid three years.Licence
  • Getting a sponge to rise evenly and decorating with cream are two separate skills. A good decorating hand lets you charge far more for an order cake, and that is where the money is.Skill
  • A steady supplier for flour, sugar and eggs, a baking ingredients shop (whip topping, cocoa, essences, food colours), and a printer for cake boxes and wrappers.Supplier
  • A separate baking room with a display counter at the front, water, drainage and hand-washing, plus a dry pest-free store for flour and sugar.Workspace

How the work is done

  1. 1Decide between a shop and order work from home. Starting from home saves rent and cuts waste, because you only bake against an order.
  2. 2Take the trade licence from the city corporation or municipality and register for TIN and VAT with the NBR. If you add seating, the 5 percent dine-in VAT applies.
  3. 3Register with the Food Safety Authority - compulsory for bakeries and pastry shops, Tk 1,000 new and Tk 500 renewal, valid three years, with a physical kitchen inspection first.
  4. 4Take the Fire Service licence and environmental clearance from the Department of Environment; with ovens and gas cylinders neither can be skipped.
  5. 5If you sell cake in your own wrapper, apply to BSTI for a CM licence. Cakes (BDS 1574:2021), Decorated Cake (BDS 2008:2022), Bread (BDS 382) and Bread Rolls (BDS 1074) are all mandatory products. Application Tk 1,000, annual licence fee Tk 200.
  6. 6Fit out the kitchen: an oven (gas or electric), a planetary mixer, scales, baking trays and moulds, a display chiller and a fridge. A 12 kg LPG cylinder is Tk 1,585.
  7. 7Buy the decorating kit - on Chaldal a 12-piece nozzle set is Tk 179, a 7-piece Russian flower nozzle set Tk 480, 100 piping bags Tk 719, a round cake pan Tk 409, a heart-shaped pan Tk 299 and a muffin tin Tk 379 (16-09-2026). These are bought once and last.
  8. 8Line up suppliers: loose maida Tk 65-70 and packet Tk 75-85, sugar Tk 110-115 retail and Tk 102-103 wholesale, farm eggs Tk 48-50 a hali, soybean oil Tk 186-195 a litre, powdered milk Tk 830-960 a kg (15-09-2026), whip topping 1,100 g at Tk 736 and cocoa powder 150 g at Tk 200.
  9. 9Push the order side. Birthday, wedding and office cakes are sold before they are baked, so nothing is wasted and the decorating labour can be charged separately.
  10. 10Put photographs of your own cakes on a Facebook page with a price list. Most order customers now call after seeing a picture.
  11. 11Keep the display small and bake in short runs. Cream pastries go first in a power cut, so keep fewer cream items and more dry cake.
  12. 12Line up bakers and raw material ahead of the winter wedding and December-January function season - the year's biggest orders come in those two months.

Seasons

  1. JanHigh
  2. FebHigh
  3. MarNormal
  4. AprHigh
  5. MayNormal
  6. JunNormal
  7. JulLow
  8. AugLow
  9. SepNormal
  10. OctNormal
  11. NovHigh
  12. DecHigh
HighNormalLow

Where it works well

  • Strong fitChattogram · A large city with an old bakery culture - Well Food and Banoful both grew from here.
  • Strong fitDhaka · The most birthdays, weddings and office functions, and the largest online cake order market.
  • Strong fitGazipur · Dense settlement and an industrial belt, with lower rent than Dhaka and customers close by.
  • Strong fitNarayanganj · A dense trading population that spends on functions, with Dhaka's ingredient market within reach.
  • Strong fitSylhet · Remittance households spend freely on functions, so demand for expensive decorated cakes is strong.
  • PossibleCumilla · The university, the cantonment and the highway together give good demand, and there are many remittance families.
  • PossibleKhulna · A divisional city with steady wedding and function demand.
  • PossibleMymensingh · A large population with medical and agricultural universities, giving a good small-order market.
  • PossibleRajshahi · A city of universities and colleges with cheap rent and steady demand for small birthday cakes.
  • Weak fitCox's Bazar · Hotel orders come in the tourist season, but local function orders are thin out of it and rents are high.

Risks and cautions

  • HighSpoilage: Counter cakes and pastries last a day or two, and cream pastries not even that without refrigeration. A power cut can spoil the whole display chiller. A shop living only on counter sales throws something away every day, and by month end that adds up.
  • HighDependency: The margin rides on flour, sugar, eggs and oil. Over twelve months packet maida rose 14.3 percent and loose soybean oil 11.4 percent, while milk powder and egg prices swing. Prothom Alo reported on 31 August 2026 that gas and power shortages plus raw material prices had raised bakery costs by 20 percent. But raising the price of a neighbourhood cake loses customers.
  • MediumCompliance: Bakeries and pastry shops fall under Food Safety Authority registration, and cake and decorated cake are BSTI mandatory products. Registration involves a physical kitchen inspection, mobile courts can fine on the spot for a dirty kitchen, and using expired ingredients brings fines in the lakhs.
  • MediumDemand: Cake sales ride on occasions - birthdays, weddings, new year, office functions. Orders overflow in the winter wedding season and in December and January, and nearly vanish in Ramadan and the middle of the monsoon, while rent, the power bill and the baker's wage still fall due.
  • MediumWorking capital: The oven, mixer, display chiller and advance rent all fall due together while licensing takes one to three months. Big orders need raw material bought up front with the balance paid only on delivery, so a small advance leaves your money tied up in the gap.

Sources

What changed

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Stories about this business

What workedTwo young cake sellers in Patuakhali, in a Prothom Alo report

5,000 taka and a Facebook page, now 16-20 lakh taka of sales a month

Started in 2019 with 5,000 taka and a Facebook page, at first reselling cakes sent down from Dhaka by launch. It now has four outlets across Patuakhali and Barguna, 35 staff and monthly sales of 16-20 lakh taka.

Capital
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