We recently connected with Magali Henry and have shared our conversation below.
Magali, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today It’s easy to look at a business or industry as an outsider and assume it’s super profitable – but we’ve seen over and over again in our conversation with folks that most industries have factors that make profitability a challenge. What’s biggest challenge to profitability in your industry?
Our business is an artisan French bakery. We make croissants and other viennoiseries from scratch, and bake fresh batches every day. The biggest challenge to profitability in our industry is the industrialization of baked goods. The French association of artisan bakers estimates that about 80% of bakeries in France do not make their own viennoiseries, but instead bake industrially made, frozen products, often unbeknownst to their customers. We do not have data for the USA, where we operate, but I would venture that the number is even higher, given the lack of pastry art programs that teach viennoiseries in depth. This creates expectations, both in terms of price and availability. Making croissants takes 2-3 days, and a croissant baker makes approximately 350 croissants per day. While this explains why most bakeries have resorted to selling industrially made frozen baked goods, it also makes it quite difficult to charge a significant premium over industrial croissants, and to generate a good profit margin. We have had to spend a significant amount of time explaining to our customers why we charge more than Starbucks and some local bakeries for croissants, and why we don’t have unlimited quantities, and sometimes sell out. We’ve been fortunate that many understand, and value the significant difference in taste, however there are still limits to how much of a premium we can apply, and we would certainly be much more profitable if we turned to industrial, frozen viennoiseries.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My name is Magali Henry. I was born in Chartres, France, which is about 50 miles southwest of Paris. It’s well known for its magnificent medieval downtown and 772 years old Roman Catholic cathedral. Both my grandma (mamie in French) Colette, and the long and rich history of Chartres were an important source of inspiration for me. They helped me realize the meaning of artisan work, and the history behind the know-how and knowledge required to become an artisan chef. As a teenager, I wanted to become a baker, but my parents decided that it would be better for me to study at the University. I studied sales and marketing, and became a good, but professionally unfulfilled sales executive, until I met my now wife, Isabelle, a French American. I left France to live with Isabelle in the USA, which gave me an opportunity to reset my career. I studied culinary entrepreneurship in the US, and bread & viennoiseries baking in France, at l’Ecole Banette. I quickly realized that I was meant for baking, and that my old dream was still very alive. While working for several bakeries in France, the Netherlands, and in New Jersey, baking both bread and viennoiserie products, I developed a passion for croissant dough. I’ve made it my signature and the main component of all my creations. Isabelle and I opened our own bakery in 2022, Mamie Colette, in Newtown, PA. Mamie Colette is an artisan bakery specializing in French viennoiserie. We prioritize taste, quality and health. Our products are made from scratch, fresh every day, with a croissant dough recipe that I developed and perfected, and do not contain added preservatives.
Our mission is to bring happiness to our customers and team members, and serve our community, while offering a superior experience with quality products, and choice. Baking croissants is hard work and isn’t for everyone. This is not a job, but a vocation that requires passion. I get up at 2am and work from 2:30am till mid afternoon. I am lucky that I was able to find my calling, and that I’m truly able to bring a little happiness to our customers, who have become our friends.
Many of our customers have told us that we have ruined croissants for them, because now they can only eat ours. Seeing new customers come in, buy a croissant, leave, eat a bite, and come back running to buy more is one of my greatest pleasures. Helping people get (re)acquainted to tasty, high quality, healthy treats, and seeing their smiles is what motives me to get up in the morning. Industrialization has brought a lot of positives to our societies, but unfortunately, it has also brought unhealthy food that’s dulled our taste buds.
How’d you meet your business partner?
My business partner is my wife, Isabelle. I met her in France, where she was – ironically, because she is a French native – working as an American expat. She has been the CEO of a number of small businesses, in the corporate world, which made her a very complementary business partner for me. She believed in my creative skills and in my ability to make viennoiseries that would be different from what is available in our community. She knew I wanted to have the freedom to have my own business, and we cofounded Mamie Colette.
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?
Funding our business has been quite difficult. There are many resources available to help small business owners acquire the skills to start and run a business. But we soon discovered that lenders, even those who work with the SBA, require that businesses have been in operation for two years, in order to grand them a loan. Even our mortgage company had the same requirement, even though the amount we wanted to borrow was lower than the equity we have in our house. We ended up using some of the funds that we had set aside for our retirement. We invested in ourselves, to fulfill a dream and a belief that good, handcrafted food still has a place in our communities.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.mamiecolettebakery.com/
- Instagram: @mamiecolettebakery
- Facebook: @mamiecolettebakery
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mamie-colette-bakery/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/nRrnXW9Ksa8?app=desktop
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/mamie-colette-newtown