Co-founder of BakePilot
Patryk Kowalski
Patryk Kowalski is a co-founder of BakePilot.
Since May 2018 he has been running PyziPyzi, a craft pastry shop in Kalisz, Poland, together with Kamila Kowalska. The ideas behind the app came from the everyday work of that pastry shop.
He writes about the confectionery and bakery market, ingredient prices, pricing, running a business, technology and KSeF (the Polish e-invoicing system).
Articles (11)
How to run a bakery: night shifts, wholesale, deliveries and the numbers to watch
A bakery runs to a different rhythm than a pastry shop: the night shift, regular customers, the morning route and crates that come back or do not. Eight areas you need to keep under control, and a routine for the day, week and month, from a Polish perspective.
Cream, egg, sugar and cocoa prices in Poland in 2026: what a pastry shop pays
Cream down 5%, sugar for bakeries and pastry shops down 12%, eggs back to last year's level after the Easter peak, and cocoa getting more expensive again after falling by two thirds. Polish ZSRIR and GUS data, European Commission and ICCO figures for October 2026.
How to run a pastry shop: 10 areas you need to keep under control
Orders, costs, prices, ingredients, production, team, takings, break-even point, food safety and invoices. What to check in each of these areas every day, once a week and once a month, from the practice of our pastry shop in Poland.
KSeF for pastry shops and bakeries in Poland: receipts, invoices for businesses and wholesaler invoices
When pastry shops and bakeries in Poland must issue invoices in KSeF (Poland's National e-Invoicing System), what happens with receipts and invoices for receipts, how to receive invoices from wholesalers and what changes on January 1, 2027. Based only on materials from the Polish Ministry of Finance.
Pre-orders in a pastry shop: why orders in advance are your ally
Baking “blind” is a loss you never see on an invoice. How to start taking orders in advance, so you throw away less, have cash flow from deposits and a calmer schedule.
Margins on ice cream and desserts: why “cheap to make” is misleading
A scoop of ice cream looks like a gold mine, until your first summer of bills. The real cost is not just milk and sugar, but equipment running all year and sales lasting only a few months.
The confectionery market in Poland 2026: data, industry debt, ingredient prices and niches
How many businesses there are and what the industry is worth, how much sugar Poles eat, how indebted bakeries and pastry shops are, and what happened to cocoa and butter prices. Every number has a source, plus niches for craft pastry shops.
Why craft pastry shops in Poland are winning customers back from the chains
In-store bakeries at Lidl and Biedronka took over everyday bread in Poland, but small pastry shops are winning back cake customers. An analysis with data and examples.
Butter prices in Poland 2023-2026: analysis, trends and forecast
Why butter in Poland is more expensive than ever, what drives the price and what to expect in 2026. Data from GUS, KOWR and the European Commission.
Raspberry prices in Poland 2026: grower prices, wholesale markets, strawberries and blueberries
What Polish buying stations paid for raspberries in 2026: from 9-12 PLN/kg at the start of the season to 19.50 PLN/kg for autumn raspberries. Plus wholesale market prices, strawberries and blueberries in 2026, and what it means for pastry shop costs.
How to price cakes in a pastry shop so you make money: the markup formula and a case study
Most pastry shops price by eye and earn 5-10% instead of 30%. Here is the markup formula used by craft bakers who really make money, with a worked example of a cake.
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