More rage bait content from you guessed it NYTimes. I’m almost 100% that the author had a different angle for this article but this is some of the most irresponsible reporting I have ever seen on the subject.

First of all, where are the numbers or data for these 6 figure income claims? What is being counted as cottage baking income? These people are outliers and don’t reflect the reality of running a micro bakery in the US.

As someone who use to run a cottage bakery in Austin I am so utterly disappointed with this article.

Also why include this sentence, “Flexible state licensing, digital tools and a hunger for sourdough - which many consumers believe is healthier than mass-produced bread - have created big opportunities for home bakers.“

Of course real sourdough bread made from 4 ingredients is better for you than mass-produced bread!

I did appreciate them spotlighting Hotplate a platform I started using in May of 2020 when they first launched, I was one of the first bakers to use them to sell my baked goods. The team really cares about accessibility and giving not only bakers but all cooks a chance to share their food with their communities. They only got a tiny little paragraph.

Also, a lot of the people interviewed for this article come from a very specific socioeconomic background (tech and finance) which allows them to start cottage bakeries that are vastly different from the majority. Many of them also have huge social media following giving them access to income streams from social media (is that included as part of the cottage bakery income?).

I don’t know any cottage baker be it full time or part time that make 6 figures. The profit margins for bakeries are tiny!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you sell online courses, cookbooks, etc. that needs to be stated explicit which the article doesn’t do.

This type of success is incredibly rare“Her sourdough recipe book alone brought in $150,000 in revenue, and she recently signed a six-figure book deal to publish three cookbooks.”

This article will only hurt cottage bakers who are already struggling to make ends meet.

Really wish this article would have highlighted the reality of being a cottage baker and the Enormity of labor that goes into it.