12 hours Ago
With rising grocery prices , including the hot topic of the cost of eggs in the US right now, it's not a shock that Walmart's cake drew in a lot of people who don't want to shell out $100+ for a trendy custom birthday cake in this economy. She clarifies that the bone she has to pick is with Walmart itself, not the bakers, who she believes are "extremely underpaid" and "should demand more." Although Walmart did not get back to us when asked to comment, baker positions on the company's Indeed page show a salary range of about $17–$30 an hour, depending on the location.
MK goes on to say that bakers who are selling a high-quality product "shouldn't be worried" and believes that what she charges is worth the quality of her work. For reference, MK's 8-inch heart cakes start at $120. Bri also doesn't view big stores like Walmart as her competition.
"I'll never be able to price anything at the same price that they do," she said. Once selling cakes to merely break even on ingredient costs, Bri now has a spreadsheet where she calculates the cost of everything from ingredients to the electricity and gas used during baking to her labor. "It's more than just flour and sugar that goes into pricing," she clarified for those who believe smaller bakers overcharge.
Bri told us she often has her oven on for 12 hours a day, and it takes her about four hours to decorate a layer cake. Once the labor is taken into account, she said that her cakes are not even her most profitable item. So, what do you think of the Walmart CakeGate? Are home bakers rightfully angry, or was the whole thing blown out of proportion? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
BuzzFeed reached out to Walmart for comment but didn't hear back from them at the time this was published..
