Field notes · Issue 14
The quiet economics of a corner bakery
Every morning at four, the ovens come on before the street lights go off. Flour costs rose eleven percent this year, yet the price of a loaf moved only once, and the owner can tell you exactly why.
Margins in bread are thin; margins in coffee are not. The croissant is the argument that gets you through the door, the flat white is the business model that keeps the lights on.