Focusing on the customers coming through the door—or the ones you’d want to patronize your stores—is key to defining a bakery program.

“There are a lot of great ways to build a bakery program,” said Jeff Keune, principal consultant for 4910 Consulting, noting baked-in-house, commissary and third-party programs.

To get started, “I would recommend thinking about the store trends and daypart traffic patterns,” said Keune, a former retailer/QSR leader who was instrumental in developing food programs for Thorntons, American Natural, Fazoli’s and others. “The greater the store traffic and transactions are in the morning, the more opportunity there is with a bakery program.”

Tapping that opportunity requires commitment and investment, said Elizabeth Sommer, customer marketing manager at Rich Products.

“The promise of fresh offerings and increased customer engagement is appealing, [but] operators must navigate a range of operational, financial and logistical hurdles to make the program successful,” she said. Three are key:

• Space and infrastructure. “Most convenience stores are designed for efficiency and not food production. Introducing a bakery program often requires rethinking the store layout, investing in equipment and ensuring compliance with food safety regulations. For stores without a kitchen or prep area, sourcing fresh baked goods from a commissary or third-party vendor becomes necessary—adding complexity to supply chain management.”
• Labor and training. “Baking, even at a basic level, requires skilled staff and consistent execution. Convenience stores typically operate with lean teams, and adding bakery duties can strain existing resources. Training employees to handle food preparation, maintain quality standards and manage inventory adds to the operational burden.”
• Product freshness and waste. “Bakery items have a short shelf life. Balancing supply and demand is critical. Overproduction leads to waste, while underproduction risks missed sales and disappointed customers. This requires careful forecasting and a deep understanding of customer behavior, which can be difficult to achieve in the early stages of a program.”

Keune said bakery is a driver of store traffic primarily in the morning, and he thinks of it as equivalent to a bag of chips at lunchtime.

“Bakery is best leveraged as an add-on, as our guests generally want to get something substantial like a breakfast sandwich,” he said. “Bakery can be leveraged to complement that sandwich or coffee with something sweet.”

Continue reading “Winning with Bakery” in the February 2026 issue of NACS Magazine.