The Bakery Red Flag You Can Spot As Soon As An Employee Starts Talking

Visiting a new bakery can be an interesting experience, but there are undoubtedly a few things to be cautious about. Overly wrinkly baked goods are a major red flag to watch for in the food itself, but the staff's knowledgability is also a make-or-break quality of an independent bakery. While you shouldn't expect the workers to know every minute detail of every product in the shop, in the same way that unhelpful employees can worsen your shopping experience at a grocery store, a complete lack of knowledgeable staff members can be a major issue when it comes to getting the items that are best tailored to your wants and needs. 

We discussed this bakery red flag and its nuance with Mimi Council, the cookbook author behind Mimi's Organic Eats. Council said it's not a "huge red flag" when one individual worker doesn't know certain details about the bakery and its items immediately; the real problem is when they don't have resources or coworkers available to fill the knowledge gap. If there isn't anyone who can jump in to answer your questions or take the initiative to figure it out, Council said it's "a sign of poor customer service." 

Needless to say, bakery staff who know and love the items they sell are a major sign that you're in a good bakery, but you can't completely write off a shop with a front counter employee who doesn't know the answers to all your questions immediately. Ultimately, it comes down to the likelihood that they might be new or gaining experience when you ask them. Mimi Council made a point to differentiate these situations, saying, "Unfortunately, it's impossible to ensure that new staff is memorizing the menu in time before their first week or shifts ... And, usually the front counter staff are the least knowledgeable because their job isn't to bake the goods, so they simply don't have the baking knowledge up front."

With this in mind, the former bakery owner also noted the handful of things that are vital for a customer-facing bakery worker to know as soon as possible after starting the job. "I think in today's world of allergies, special diets, etc., that every bakery should be able to tell you the ingredients in a baked good if you need to know," Council began. "Aside from ingredients, they should be able to tell you pricing, how far in advance you need to place an order, and minimums for ordering."

Beyond that, however, Council says that expecting more in-depth analysis or input regarding the process of making the baked goods from a front desk worker is generally too high of expectations. "[They] shouldn't need to be able to tell you baking techniques," Council said. "That's not something a front-of-house employee should have to know or even have to tell a customer."