We were lucky to catch up with Jamaica Crist recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Jamaica thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?

Our current business name, Top Tier Treats, is relatively new in the whole timeline of running the business. We’ve only been using it for about 6 years. We opened our cake shop back in 2005 as Jamaica’s Cakes. We chose that original name because my name is Jamaica, and I do cakes. It makes so much sense if you know me, know what I do. However, after 11 years, we realized that it was a confusing name with people thinking we were a “Jamaican style” bakery. The name was preventing potential clients from coming in as they were not looking for such a specific/Caribbean item. Since we switched our name to Top Tier Treats, we have been getting so many new customers, clients, and even caterers reaching out to work with us. The newer name has also enabled me to share my work with the other amazing decorators on staff and not carry all the recognition on my shoulders.

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?

I grew up with a mom who loved to cook all the big, family meals. Every holiday was at our house with a ton of food so I’ve always enjoyed being in a kitchen. My first job was a dishwasher at a local chowder restaurant (Mo’s, in case you’ve heard of it, in Newport Oregon). A few years later, my mom opened a café/restaurant and went to work for her. I was a waitress, hostess, busser, name it, I helped. When I graduated and moved to Eugene, OR I got an initial job at a drive thru coffee shop. While there, I also took some pastry and baking classes at LCC. I then added a job at a local restaurant working almost every station and then finally ended up at the best bakery in town, Sweet Life Patisserie. I began as their early morning baker and ultimately worked my way up to one of their top decorators.

After working there for about 6 years, I followed my boyfriend, James (now my husband) back to his hometown, little ol’ Los Angeles, CA. That was quite an adjustment. I had a hard time finding a bakery that was along the lines of what I was used to creating.

I had a managerial job at Teuscher Chocolates in Beverly Hills. While working that job, I started doing a few cakes on the side for some family and friends. I ended up doing the baby shower cake of one of James’s bosses. From there it was like a wildfire….the word of mouth spread and before long we were staying up late after our normal jobs to work on special orders. Within 3 years, we found a location that was perfect, gathered our courage, and jumped at the chance to open our own shop. We are now into our 17th year in business and still love it!

While you might be thinking there are a ton of bakeries or places to get cakes, why are we different and I’ll tell you. We want every cake to not only look good but taste good too. Why not have both? We make everything from scratch, using all real ingredients, no box mixes. We use darker chocolate, real butter, real cream, flavors you can really taste. We have a bit of a European undertone to our flavors, not that sweet “grocery store” style at all.

Our design esthetics is also a little different….we love working with fresh flowers on our cakes. The way they give an organic feel to the clean lines we strive for is just beautiful.

In addition to our wonderful regular cakes, we also offer egg-free and dairy-free options that are equally amazing.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

We have a slightly unconventional way of growing our clientele…mostly through word of mouth. We started our business with very little and had to rely on our product almost “selling itself” to get momentum. As mentioned earlier, one cake led to 5 cakes, which led to 15, which led us to where we are now.

We have had a few advertising campaigns over the years but it always comes back to the word of mouth. We never saw much return on our investments.

We have clients call to order a cake saying “I was at a birthday party last weekend, the cake was amazing, now I need a cake for my celebration”. It could be a Childs birthday, their own birthday, a wedding, graduation, you name a reason to celebrate and we’ll help with a cake, or sweet treat.

Because we do rely so heavily on the word of mouth and experiences, we really pay attention to the details and specifics of every order.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

When covid hit a few years ago, we really had to pivot within the bakery. No one was throwing the large parties, the big weddings, no one was gathering. It was a big adjustment. We did find that even though the big birthdays were not happening, smaller family units still wanted to celebrate and create a happy occasion amongst the strange times. We were doing more elaborate, but smaller cakes. We also found that people wanted real food, savory items. For a time, we made quiche and some mac and cheese. We had whole quiche or a slice with a small side salad and homemade roll.
We also sold some raw ingredients: flour, sugar, eggs, and yeast to name a few. We became a “corner market” and a place that folks felt safe venturing out to. We had a few clients tell us that our place was the ONLY place they visited, outside of their home. It made us feel loved, special, and needed.
As we watch the world return to normal, we have stopped making some of these items unless by special request, and have pivoted back to our “normal” routine, whatever that is these days :)

Contact Info:

• Website: www.toptiertreats.com
• Instagram: @toptiertreats
• Facebook: @toptiertreatsLA

Image Credits
Jamaica Crist (self)