THE OWNER of Wokingham’s only independent bakery has won an award for her scale-up success.
Elena Jenkins, who founded Blue Orchid Bakery nine years ago as an at-home bakery, opened shop last May.
Over the past year her client base has soared, with more regular visitors than ever before.
Celebrating her business growth, the 22-year-old was awarded the Berkshire title for Up-scale Bakery of the Year, as part of the SME UK Enterprise Awards.
“It makes it all worth it,” said Ms Jenkins. “We’re such a small shop, it’s so nice to get that recognition.”
The award also analyses online presence, something Ms Jenkins has seen grow during lockdown.
“Because we started a delivery service straight away, more people started interacting with us. We went from 400 likes on Facebook to 4,000.
“When we reopened, we had so many new visitors that have now become regulars.
“One family even drove three hours to come visit our bakery because they follow us on Instagram.”
Now, she’s making plans to display the award in-store — on a high shelf away from the bowls and mixers.
Ms Jenkins added: “Everyone thought I was mad opening a bakery in the town centre last year, but we have so much support from customers. People know who we are now, which is really nice.
“We couldn’t be more thankful for all the support Wokingham has given us over the past year and a half.
“It means the world to all the team here at Blue Orchid Bakery — keep shopping independent.”
She said the Eat Out to Help Out scheme helped boost visitors to the bakery over August, but Mondays to Wednesdays are slower now the autumn has arrived.
The bakery offers an extensive lunch menu including sandwiches, toasties, quiche, soups and sausage rolls, with a range of vegetarian and vegan offerings too.
And for fancier treats, Blue Orchid creates bespoke celebration and wedding cakes.
For more information search for Blue Orchid Bakery on Facebook
