Why craft pastry shops in Poland are winning customers back from the chains

Why discounters won everyday bread

The spread of in-store bakeries in discount chains in 2015-2022 radically changed the Polish market. Biedronka and Lidl went for the “bake on site from semi-finished products” model, offering fresh bread 30-50% cheaper than a traditional bakery. For a customer on the way home from work with kids, the choice was simple: a loaf for 3.50 PLN instead of 7 PLN.

• more than 8,000 chain stores (Biedronka, Lidl, Zabka) have dedicated bakery areas or bake from frozen dough^[1]
• average price of a baguette in a discounter: 2-3 PLN; in a craft bakery: 5-8 PLN
• the result: thousands of small bakeries closed in 2018-2024 (there is no official aggregate data, but every industry report mentions it)
• our own survey (the Facebook group Piekarze RP, 2024): 68% of bakery owners see the chains as the main threat

But cake customers are coming back to craft bakers

The segment that discounters cannot serve well is occasion baking. A child's birthday cake, a wedding cake for 100 guests, cakes for companies: these are products where the customer needs a conversation, personalization and a quality guarantee. A chain store will not organize a tasting, will not deliver a 3-tier cake to a wedding venue and will not decorate a cake with the birthday person's name.

A customer who buys bread at Biedronka every week will still come to us for their child's birthday. Because a discount store cake will not make the photo they want to send to the family.

What research says about consumer motivation

Euromonitor and CBOS (a Polish public opinion research center) studies from 2023-2024 show that Poles are more willing to pay more for products they see as “occasional” or “emotional”. The mechanism is well known in shopping psychology: bread is a cost, a cake is an investment in joy.

• about 60% of consumers aged 25-44 say they choose craft products for holidays and special occasions^[2]
• average spend on a child's birthday cake (according to pastry shop surveys): 150-350 PLN
• wedding cake: from about 400 PLN for small weddings to 3,000-5,000 PLN for larger ones, depending on servings, tiers and decoration
• 73% of customers say a recommendation (friends, family) decides which pastry shop they choose^[2]
• Instagram and TikTok as places to look for cake inspiration overtook Pinterest in 2023^[3]

Three traits that win customers back

Pastry shops that grew in 2024-2026 despite ingredient inflation show three repeating traits. These are not secrets, they are well known, but most craft bakers have not turned them into everyday operations.

• 1) A story customers can retell: “it is Kasia and Patryk's pastry shop in Kalisz, founded in 2018”. The owner's name builds trust
• 2) Quality in a few bestsellers, not 40 items: better to have 8 things made brilliantly than 40 average ones
• 3) Smooth order handling: pre-orders in advance, an SMS confirmation, order status, no chaos

Case study: PyziPyzi in Kalisz

The founders of BakePilot, Kamila Kowalska and Patryk Kowalski, have run the PyziPyzi pastry shop in Kalisz, Poland since May 2018. In 4 years they went from about 100,000 PLN to about 1 million PLN in annual revenue (as of April 2026). It is the only pastry shop in Kalisz that belongs to the Stowarzyszenie Rzemieślnik association, an elite group of craft producers in Poland committed to a clean label: no chemicals, no preservatives, no improvers. It is one of the more expensive pastry shops in town, and customers still come back, because the quality speaks for itself.

• full pre-orders for holidays (Valentine's Day, Easter, Christmas): customers order a week in advance
• prices start at about 400 PLN for a wedding cake for a small wedding and grow with the scale of the event (servings, tiers, decoration)
• Facebook: about 8,000 followers; Instagram: about 1,000. These are the main channels for winning and keeping customers
• regular workshops and events in the pastry shop, charity campaigns (supporting people, companies and organizations in need)
• a Pastry Chef Academy in the plans: a knowledge portal for pastry chefs and bakers, part of building an expert brand

What this means for a pastry shop owner

If you run a small pastry shop or bakery and wonder how not to close within 2-3 years, do not try to beat the discounter on bread. It cannot be done. Focus on segments where the discounter is useless: cakes, tarts, desserts, occasion baking and B2B. And make sure orders do not get lost and customers know what is happening with their cake. Today that decides whether they come back.

How BakePilot helps

What we describe in the PyziPyzi case (pre-orders, communication, zero lost orders) is exactly the BakePilot feature set. Creating orders in advance, the production calendar as a visual plan of the week, and a customer database (CRM) with order history, so you know what a customer usually orders and when they come back. On top of that, wedding and B2B offers as a PDF for the customer to sign and SMS and email notifications about the order status, so the customer does not call five times asking “is my cake ready?”. A craft baker competes with a discounter on quality and service, and BakePilot gives you a level of service a discounter will never offer.