A patisserie in Bath has recently celebrated its first anniversary – despite opening a week before lockdown.
Owners Fang-Yu Lin, 34, and Neil Edwards 37, opened Sugarcane Studios on Grove Street on October 22, 2020, but had to switch to takeaways and online orders within days because of the second government lockdown.
Fang-Yu Lin has said despite it all, the year has seen them grow as a business.
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The store does French patisserie but with an Asian twist and is best known for their delicious macaroons and choux buns which are filled with fresh cream every day.
Fang-Yu said: “There have been ups and downs, we opened at a tricky time just before a lockdown.
“We still have days where we need more business and it’s hard to support a whole household but over the last year, we have grown a lot.
“We used online ordering and now see our macarons go all over the place.
“Everyone struggles but I have to remember how far we have come. Our location in Bath is tucked away so that can be a challenge, people don’t seem to explore new places, they’d rather go to the same place but we have a lot of loyal customers.
“We had so many people congratulating us for making it to our one year anniversary and we feel so lucky to be so well-loved by our community.”
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Despite the progress made to stop the coronavirus pandemic, international travel is still a headache for many and Fang-Yu said the shop is aware they are missing out on tourist trade.
The experienced pastry chef said: “We are missing the international tourists now, tourists are back but not nearly in the same way they were before.
“There is also the cancellation of the Christmas market. But for us we don’t actually know if that would have made a big difference to our business, as it wasn’t on last year so we have nothing to compare it to, we just know there may be less footfall.
“But we’re being positive and hoping that locals will be out more instead.”
Fang-Yu Lin opened Sugarcane Studios with her husband Neil Edwards last year right before lockdown (Image: Fang-Yu Lin)
Miss Lin said she has had to learn some tough lessons in their first year of business including that people’s favourites change.
She said: “I have had to learn that even though people are your regulars for a time they won’t always come in because they naturally want to go other places.
“It doesn’t mean they don’t enjoy your food. I used to think that, but it is just people want variety.
“I think we are very lucky to be in Bath where the community really appreciates its independent businesses and we would want to thank our customers for our first year.”
To find out more about Sugarcane Studios click here.