Oasis Cake and Candy Supply Featured in the 1st Page of the Money Section Bucks County Courrier Times

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America (Free-Press-Release.com) September 5, 2010 -- "JB Bakery in Burlington City recently sold a $700 cake for a child's first birthday party.

"They were having 50 guests. They ordered a cake that could feed 200 people," said owner Stephen Simon, who said the cake reflected the party's castle theme. "It's important to have that picture of the cake because it's the centerpiece of the party."

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Oasis Cake and Candy Supply Featured in the 1st Page of the Money Section Bucks County Courrier Times

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http://www.oasisupply.com

Popular cable shows like Food Network's "Ace of Cakes," TLC's "Cake Boss" and WE's "Amazing Wedding Cakes" are having a profound impact on the industry, say local bakers and their suppliers.

More than ever, they say, the American public wants to have its cake and eat it too.

"I think it's a positive thing for everyone," said Simon. "People are getting new ideas. It's almost like a new industry is blowing up. It's getting everyone else's creative minds boosted. Because of that it's creating momentum in the whole industry."

It has put pressure on bakeries to stay current, adapt to customers' desire for more complicated desserts and hire people capable of making cakes like those that people see on television. That hiring hasn't been too tough since the shows are boosting interest in cake-decorating careers, Simon said.

Kim Heagy, owner of Hornberger's H F Bakery in Bensalem, and the bakery's decorator, Patti Brill, are not nearly as sweet on those shows.

"I can't stand them," said Brill. "I think (cable) has brought attention but, with the amount of grief, I'm not sure how worth it, it is."

Customers are constantly unhappy to learn how much designs like the ones they have seen on those shows will cost, Heagy said.

"They watch and they think it's simple and that's that," Brill said. "They never show what really goes on. They want what they see on TV and they want it for nothing."

For more than 20 years, Bensalem's Oasis Supply Co., a wholesaler, has been supplying decorations, food dyes and other cake-related products to bakeries, restaurants, hotels and caterers across the country.

"It's the little plastic things that no one thinks about that add that sizzle to the top of the cake," said Oasis President Rob Kaneff. "We sell thousands of items, all in small parcels."

Over the last two years, Kaneff said he has focused more and more of his business on the hobbyist and housewife market that is emerging - thanks to the TV shows.

"All these hobbyists are saying 'I can do that' and they're looking for places to buy the stuff and they find us," said Kaneff.

In the wake of the cake craze, Oasis Supply has devoted a small corner of its 10,000-square-foot Ford Road warehouse to the retail customers and has seen its Internet sales to residents begin to spike.

"When I was going through school, I had friends who were becoming lawyers and doctors and there was always a TV show because that was a sexy industry," Kaneff said. "I come to a warehouse every day in shorts. All of a sudden, I'm in a sexy industry."

The shift to the individual consumers has helped offset the loss of business from the bakeries, Kaneff said. While some have gotten a boost from the high-priced offerings popularized by the shows, many others have seen overall sales decline with the recession and increased competition from supermarket chains.

"Bakers are reluctant to buy extra," Kaneff said. "My dad always said this was a recession-proof business, but people who used to by 12-inch cakes are now buying 8-inch or 6-inch cakes. The traffic is the same, but the revenue is less and that comes all the way back to us."

The increase in sales to individuals has helped offset any business lost on the retail bakery side, he said.

Kaneff's father, Arthur, grew up in the Strawberry Mansion section of Philadelphia, where he ran a number of Arthur's Bakery stores. Later, he owned several Donut Towne stores, including one at Street and Knights roads in Bensalem. Now he works as Kaneff's partner.

"When I was growing up, every block had one or two bakeries on it," said Arthur Kaneff.

If given the choice, he said he would rather be wholesaling mostly to bakeries like in the old days.

"I'd rather sell one guy 100 things than one thing to 100 guys," he said.

John Anastasi can be reached at 215-949-4170 or at janastasi@phillyBurbs.com

More information can be found online at http://www.oasisupply.com

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