How to choose a cake and dessert supplier for your café? 7 questions before your first order

A dessert supplier is about more than the price per piece. It's also about whether the tartlets arrive in one piece, whether you hear about allergens before your guest does rather than after, and how much time you lose every week on emails about your order. We have been baking in Warsaw since 1990 and working with hospitality for more than 25 years - here are the questions we would ask a supplier ourselves if we ran a café.

1. Are the prices out in the open?

If you have to wait for a price list, or every quote is a separate email, it's hard to compare offers and work out your margin. A good supplier shows net and gross prices straight away. With us, you see them in the shop, on every product - no forms and no “ask for a quote”.

2. How do the desserts travel?

Creams, mousses and cheesecakes don't like travelling in an ordinary car. Ask whether delivery is temperature-controlled and whether you can choose the time. We deliver in a refrigerated van, Monday to Saturday, in Warsaw and the surrounding area. You choose the time slot when you order; delivery costs 40 zł net and is free from 1,000 zł net. You can also collect your order at no extra cost from selected Batida boutiques or from our Pracownia pastry kitchen in Wola.

3. How far in advance do you need to order?

This decides how you plan your display. Our lead time is 24 or 48 hours, and you see it on every product. So on Thursday you already know what you can have on Saturday.

4. What is the minimum order?

A high minimum can force a small café to order for stock - and throw food away. Also ask about the minimum per product. Our minimum order is 200 zł net, and for French macarons it's 5 pieces per flavour.

5. What about allergens, ingredients and shelf life?

A guest asks about nuts and you don't have the ingredients to hand - that's a situation you don't want. For each of our desserts you get a product sheet: photo, full ingredients, allergens, shelf life and how to serve. You download it from your client panel and can keep it behind the counter.

6. Does the supplier understand cafés?

Desserts for a café are something different from a birthday cake. What matters is how they look in the display, how long they hold their shape and whether they go with your coffee. For each of our desserts we give a bean and roast recommendation, and the margin calculator shows how much you'll earn per portion at your menu price.

7. How do invoices and payments work?

Check that an invoice will come with every order, made out to the right details. We always issue a VAT invoice, to the details from your business account, through KSeF (the Polish e-invoicing system). You pay online by card or BLIK when you order, and we'll soon offer regular clients bank transfer with payment terms. The discount grows with regular cooperation: 5% after 10 orders, 7% for cooperation over 6 months and 10% for a year.

Bonus: taste before you decide

No table can replace a tasting. Book one with us - we'll bring a cross-section of our range to your venue or invite you to ours. No obligation, with good coffee.

Cheat sheet: what to ask a supplier

• Can I see net and gross prices without asking for a quote?
• Do the desserts travel refrigerated, and can I choose the delivery time?
• How far ahead do I have to order, and can I see that on every product?
• What is the minimum order, and the minimum per product?
• Will I get the ingredients, allergens and shelf life in writing?
• Will the supplier tell me what goes with my coffee and how much I'll earn on it?
• Will the invoice always come, automatically?