A Welsh cake and patisserie business that supplies some of the UK’s biggest hospitality events has just opened a new cake-away shop in Abergavenny.
La Crème Patisserie welcomed customers as they opened their new store on Cibi Walk on Tuesday November 9.
A family-run business, La Crème Patisserie was founded in 2005 by head pâtissier Sian Hindle and husband Ian, and has supplied large commercial customers including the Celtic Manor Hotel, Cheltenham Racecourse, Hampton Court Palace and Royal Botanic Gardens Kew.
An artisan cake and patisserie maker the business specialises in making a wide range of quality high-end products such as cakes, doughnuts, desserts and brownies.
Having built up a strong reputation within the hospitality industry, the business was forced to adapt when the Covid pandemic struck 18 months ago with many major hospitality events and venues closing down leading to a drying up of orders for Sian and her team.
Wife-and-husband team Sian and Ian chose to diversify their business model by delivering directly to customers, firstly using social media to supply individual customers during lockdown.
The model proved so successful, that they decided to open their kitchen unit in Baglan as a cake-away shop in June last year with counters of beautiful patisserie available for customers every day.
Since then the business has grown and grown with Sian opening more shops in Cwmbran and Cardiff as well as the new store in Abergavenny.
Speaking to the Chronicle, managing director Sian said: “We are really looking forward to opening or shop and offering our service to the residents of Abergavenny.
“After 15 years of hard work building our family business into a leading manufacturer of bespoke high-end patisserie, the pandemic could have been devastating for us.
‘‘We knew we had to move quickly to survive, and it made sense to allow customers to buy directly from us for the first time.
“We actively used social media to reach out and engage with individual customers and we had such great response and feedback that we decided to branch out and open our shops.”
La Crème Patisserie also offers a delivery service delivering to customers between Newport and Llanelli every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. As an independent cake business, La Crème Patisserie prides itself on using local producers and suppliers for their ingredients.
Speaking about the impact of the last year on the business, Sian added: ““We have been overwhelmed by the support our shops have received since opening over a year ago and we are very grateful to our customers for helping us not only sustain our business but grow also.” The Abergavenny store on Cibi Walk is open from Monday to Saturday 8:30am to 5pm and on Sundays from 10am to 3pm. For more information on La Crème Patisserie products and delivery service please visit their website www.lacremepatisserie.co.uk