An exceptional product is only the beginning. What does it take to manufacture it, get it to customers, and build a business that makes money?

Recorded live at PastryCon, this episode of The Perfect Rise features Chef En-Ming Hsu, world champion pastry chef and founder of Sip! Extraordinary Drinking Chocolate. She joins host Chef Kimberly Houston for a candid conversation about moving from acclaimed pastry kitchens and a successful consulting career into the realities of owning a packaged food business.

En-Ming shares how a pandemic pivot became a business now driven largely by wholesale, and why that growth brings decisions about manufacturing minimums, inventory, packaging, freight, and where to focus her time. She also discusses protecting her product standards, developing multiple uses for a seasonal offering, and balancing customer requests with what the business can realistically support.

For bakery owners considering wholesale, packaged products, or another revenue stream, this conversation offers an honest look at the work behind expansion and the importance of asking for help along the way.

In this episode:
• Moving from e-commerce into wholesale and food service
• Working with co-manufacturers and managing production minimums
• Balancing ingredient standards, costs, and customer expectations
• Using pre-orders to support inventory planning
• Accounting for freight and distribution when expanding
• Finding business support through mentors and small business resources
• Deciding what to stop doing so a growing business gets the attention it needs

Explore Sip! Extraordinary Drinking Chocolate:
https://sipextraordinary.com

Learn more about Retail Bakers of America:
https://retailbakersofamerica.org

Resources Mentioned in the Episode:

SCORE business mentoring SCORE

U.S. Small Business Administration resources and local assistance sba.gov

SAM.gov entity registration

Evergreen mid-roll promoting Retail Bakers of America membership. Highlights RBA’s education, industry resources, and professional community, with a call to learn more at RetailBakersofAmerica.org.

Evergreen closing message for The Perfect Rise. Thanks listeners for tuning in, encourages them to follow and share the podcast, and directs bakery professionals to RetailBakersofAmerica.org to learn more about RBA membership and resources.

What does it take to transform baking skill into a business that can grow, endure, and eventually operate beyond its founder?

Matt D’Agostino is a Certified Master Baker, former president of the Retail Bakers of America, and former owner of La Bonbonniere Bake Shoppes, now Labon Bake Shoppes, in central New Jersey. During more than 45 years in retail baking, Matt worked his way from dishwasher and apprentice to baker, decorator, general manager, CEO, and board chairman. At its height, the family business operated 10 locations and employed approximately 130 people.

In this episode of The Perfect Rise, Matt shares how his family’s baking legacy began, what opening a second location taught him about systems and leadership, and why centralized production became essential to maintaining quality across multiple stores. He also explains how middle management gave him room to lead strategically, why protecting company culture led him to reduce the number of locations, and how reviewing a five-year plan annually kept the bakery moving forward.

The conversation also explores the development of RBA’s Certified Master Baker program, Matt’s early attempt to bring the baking industry into the virtual world, the professional value of industry service, and the role SkillsUSA plays in preparing the next generation. Matt closes with a vital lesson for bakery owners: building a sustainable company requires understanding financial performance, developing capable people, and creating a business that does not depend entirely on the owner’s hands.

Whether you are building your first bakery, expanding to multiple locations, preparing the next generation, or considering your eventual exit, this episode offers hard-earned wisdom about profitability, leadership, succession, and legacy.

Evergreen mid-roll promoting Retail Bakers of America membership. Highlights RBA’s education, industry resources, and professional community, with a call to learn more at RetailBakersofAmerica.org.

Evergreen closing message for The Perfect Rise. Thanks listeners for tuning in, encourages them to follow and share the podcast, and directs bakery professionals to RetailBakersofAmerica.org to learn more about RBA membership and resources.

Millions of social media views may generate attention, but attention alone does not create book sales, sold-out tours, or a lasting business. Coinneach MacLeod, internationally bestselling author and the personality behind the Hebridean Baker, has built a global brand by remaining rooted in the recipes, language, folklore, and everyday life of Scotland’s Outer Hebrides.

In this episode of The Perfect Rise, Coinneach joins host Kimberly Houston to discuss how creators can turn an online audience into a genuine community. He explains why being niche is an advantage, how storytelling moves people from digital content to live experiences, and why consistency and familiarity are essential when building a recognizable brand.

Coinneach also shares what changed when his work expanded from social media into publishing and television, how he evaluates commercial partnerships, and why accepting an off-brand opportunity is rarely worth the money. He even offers an exclusive first look at his fifth cookbook, A Scottish Christmas.

Whether you are building a bakery, developing a personal brand, or sharing traditions from your own family and community, this conversation offers an honest look at creating meaningful growth without becoming broader, more generic, or disconnected from what made people care.

Evergreen mid-roll promoting Retail Bakers of America membership. Highlights RBA’s education, industry resources, and professional community, with a call to learn more at RetailBakersofAmerica.org.

Evergreen closing message for The Perfect Rise. Thanks listeners for tuning in, encourages them to follow and share the podcast, and directs bakery professionals to RetailBakersofAmerica.org to learn more about RBA membership and resources.