DAN DOES IT
Afamous quote by Irish playwright Samuel Beckett goes like this: “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”
Late-blooming Swiss tennis star Stan Wawrinka has that quote tattooed on his left forearm, and the phrase has become a battle cry for Silicon Valley upstarts and entrepreneurs in general. But it could easily apply to Daniel Vokey, owner/operator of Victoria, B.C.-based Patisserie Daniel, the winner of Bakers Journal’s inaugural Jake the Baker Award. The award recognizes and honours business savvy and innovation – two areas in which Vokey excels. Patisserie Daniel beat out more than 20 other Canadian bakeries and won a beautiful award plaque as well as an all-expensespaid trip for Vokey and his wife, Teresa, to Montreal for Bakery Congress 2015, where Bakers Journal staff members
Brian Hartz, Stephanie Jewell, and Brian Fray – along with platinum-plus sponsor
Ardent Mills – presented him with the award.
Vokey, 50, launched Patisserie Daniel 20 years ago, but not before a few failures along the way.
“When you experience failures in business decisions, they don’t always become failures because you learn
}connect, teach and learn – three things that Vokey prioritizes.
In a wide-ranging interview with Bakers Journal, Vokey told us about a few of his failures and struggles, and how his relationships with people always helped him overcome the many challenges he’s faced in his career. Like many entrepreneurs, he’s had to take risks, like operating at a loss from time to time just to keep the doors open and the lights on.
“One year, I was losing $6,000-$7,000 per month just to keep the business open,” he recalled. “I had two businesses; I’d overextended myself; I was selling wholesale; people were owing me money. I didn’t have two cents to rub together.”
Originally from Montreal, Vokey visited Victoria when he was 19 “as a tourist with some of my buddies,” he said. “I thought it was beautiful but I also noticed that there are very few bakeries.”
At the time, Vokey was studying baking and working in a small bakery on St-Denis Street in Montreal, and he saw in Victoria a place to make his mark as a businessman. However, it didn’t happen overnight. In fact, he toiled for a number of years at Murchie’s Tea & Coffee, a Victoria institution that’s been around since 1894. He got the job after “running into Mrs. Murchie on the street,” he said.
‘When you experience failures in business decisions, they don’t always become failures because you learn something. But if you are like an ostrich and ignore your failures, then they become problems.’
something,” he said. “But if you are like an ostrich and ignore your failures, then they become problems.”
Spend a few minutes with Vokey and you’ll immediately notice he’s the quintessential “people person.” He doesn’t strike you as the type of business owner who’s content to lock himself away in the office and concentrate on the books. Instead, he’d prefer to be in the kitchen with his workers and out front with his customers. That’s how you
It’s that ability to connect with people that saved Vokey’s business when he was in dire financial straits. A regular customer knew he was having trouble with the bank because of the large amount of outstanding receivables he was carrying on the books. This customer helped Vokey get an appointment with a private banking specialist who helped find a solution for his cash-flow problems. After that, year in and year out, the customer’s wife would order a birthday cake for her husband from Vokey, and he never charged her for his services.
From left, Guy Bedard and Elaine O’Doherty of Ardent Mills present the inaugural Jake the Baker Award to Daniel Vokey, owner/operator of Patisserie Daniel in Victoria, B.C.
‘“He believed … and it wasn’t about the money; it was about support,” he says. “I’ve always had a lot of support from people. They come into my life and they stay there. It’s fabulous.”
Vokey told us he had a great time revisiting his youth in Montreal, but that he dislikes being away from his bakery because he misses his employees so much. He stays in touch with them via smartphone when he’s away, as you’d expect, but what’s unusual is that they stay in touch with him when they go on vacation.
He enjoys the fresh ideas that each new staff member brings to the bakery, comparing it to a beehive bubbling with activity and innovation. A staff member might be with him for a matter of weeks or years, he says, but he always learns from them – and vice-versa.
“People go and come back and sometimes they bring some new stuff,” he says. “Sometimes you have a foreign bee who comes in. And if you allow only positive things to enter your hive, only good honey is gonna be made from it.
“You have people who go, they travel, they come back. Or they go through their high school years and then they go to university and then they go and do their career. Then they stay customers. Or when you need help, they come in. Then it’s like a guest appearance, you know? For such a casual little space, we have a very high-quality, diverse group of people.”
These days, Patisserie Daniel is simply a retail bakery – and Vokey couldn’t be happier to keep it that way. He’s given up wholesaling so he can concentrate on making fresh, high-quality products that consistently meet his high standards. Anything that isn’t exactly right goes on the day-old shelf, which is really more of a discount shelf, he explained.
“My employees know what’s good and what’s not. If something is too small, they immediately put it on the day-old shelf. It should be called the ‘not perfect shelf.’”
Vokey’s advice for business success is precipitated on a simple principle. “If you don’t ask, you don’t get,” he said. “And it’s not like I was hustling anybody. I was very sincere. Looking back, it might have been naivety, but it’s a big lesson for anyone to learn: it’s your customers who feed you. You can’t forget that.” / BJ
Jake the Baker cartoonist Brian Fray and Catherine Beddall, owner/operator of Catherine’s Cakery in Ottawa. Beddall created a custom Jake the Baker cake, seen here, for Bakery Congress 2015.
SEEN AND HEARD AT BAKERY CONGRESS
Bakery Congress 2015 at on May 31-June 1 at Palais des congrès de Montréal was a resounding success, with a 30 per cent growth and 20 per cent rise in attendance, according to the Bakery Association of Canada (BAC).
Almost 1,400 highly qualified audience from the industry visited the trade show floor, where more than 43,000 square feet of exhibit space at Palais des congrès de Montréal was devoted to all things baking. The theme for this year’s event was Innovation through Tradition.
“Baking is a mature industry,” BAC president Paul Hetherington told Bakers Journal prior to the show. “The industry is responding to consumers who are demanding innovative products in the area of tantalizing taste buds, but also healthy, nutritious products. We are traditional but also need to be innovative.”
Bakery Congress 2015 was organized by the BAC in collaboration with Le Conseil de Boulangerie Québec (CBQ). The BAC said the exhibitor and attendee participation was larger than the previous Montréal edition in 2011.
Hetherington had nothing but praise for Montreal as a location for Bakery Congress.
“Montreal is one of the premier cities in North America, if not the world,” he said. “It’s a wonderful combination of cultures, with a strong French influence, and the food climate is marvelous. The bakers in the province are part of that culture, a cornerstone of that culture.”
For the 2015 edition, L’Association des Boulangers Artisans du Québec organized the first-ever artisan bakers competition on the trade show floor. The competitors prepared a variety of dazzling baked products on a continuous basis during both show days. The winner of the competition was Gérald Loersch of Première Moisson.
The educational sessions on both show days were presented by industry’s recognized experts; the sessions were very well attended and focused on Innovation through Tradition. The educational sessions during BAC events have grown in popularity year after year, adding solid value to the show.
On the show floor, exhibitors enjoyed brisk attendance on both days of the show. John and Joanne Knoch, owners of the Knock Shoppe, traveled all the way from Westfield, Wis., to exhibit their gorgeous range of illuminated cake display systems. The Knochs have been in business for 15 years and Joanne has been making elaborate celebration cakes for 30 years. It was their first time visiting Montreal and they were having a great time, they said. They pointed out one of their new products called cake push-pops “which are better than cupcakes because they are contained in their own canister,” John said.
At the Satin Ice booth, Catherine Beddall – owner of Catherine’s Cakery in Ottawa – was creating simple yet whimsical cakes while account executives Andrea Granholm and Frank Lewis greeted potential customers. They were debuting several new vibrant fondant colours, including turquoise vanilla and bright green vanilla.
LV Lomas had an eye-catching presence at the show. Staff members said the company is opening a new lab in Brampton, Ont., where they will work on formulations directly with customers. “Call us with your issue and we will help you find solutions,” they said.
German bakery equipment manufacturer Handtman also made its Bakery Congress debut at the show. It
showed off impressive new technology such as its VF 608B divider. Company rep Graham Dalziel was impressed with what he saw and says Handtman will be back for more. “It’s our first time doing this bakery show,” Dalziel said. “We’re interested in doubling the size of the booth next time, and maybe putting in an automated display.”
Detlef Werner was staffing the Lesaffre booth and was eager to trumpet the benefits of the yeast company’s new Rustique Star Bake product. “It has all the essential ingredients combined together,” he said, making it useful in “many different applications, from bread to pizza. It’s an encapsulated yeast, so the salt and yeast don’t attack each other.”
Ardent Mills boasted a full retinue of staff members clad in bright-green shirts one day and bright-orange the next. Alex Brooks, a member of the marketing team, discussed how the company’s range of sprouted grains are “making food alive again,” adding that the sprouted-grain trend is “really taking hold in Canada, especially in the western provinces.” Brooks also noted a couple of other innovative new products: Simply clean chocolate and ultra-grain wholewheat flour, which, he said, produces whole-grain bread with the look and taste of white bread.
Ardent Mills also held an off-site display at its Montreal headquarters. The
company set up its mobile innovation centre (MIC), a converted semi-trailer formerly used by a NASCAR racing team, and invited Bakery Congress visitors to tour it and eat delicious breakfast food prepared on the spot by Daniel Marciani, the company’s executive chef.
“Selling flour is not the most exciting thing,” said Marciani, who trained at Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island, “but you can always show off the great products you can make with it.”
The proof was certainly in the pudding as Ardent Mills’ breakfast guests on the morning of Monday, June 1, gobbled up pancakes made with the company’s Ultragrain White Whole Grain Flour and Robin Hood Pancake Mix; Buttermilk Blueberry Muffins featuring Sprouted Wheat Whole Grain Flour and Robin Hood Buttermilk Muffin Mix; Breakfast Cookies featuring Sustagrain Barley Flakes, Ultragrain Whole Grain Flour and Robin Hood Oats; candied bacon; and summer berry salad.
A new lactose-free, creamy cooking sauce headlined the Bunge Oils display, where Leah Sommerville and Stephane Gilbert stayed busy espousing the product’s benefits to a steady stream of visitors. Nearby, Claude Leblanc, Sarah O’Dell and Lucie Nicholls stayed busy staffing the colourful Carmi Flavors booth.
Mitch Botts of Hero, whose roots
From left, Catherine Beddall created cakes at the Satin Ice booth; one of Beddall’s cakes; the artisan baking competition drew big crowds on both days of Bakery Congress.
The show floor was a flurry of activity throughout both days. A live artisan baking competition (left) kept attendees entertained when they weren’t doing business or displaying their wares.
Deep Inker
The Bakers Journal booth at Bakery Congress 2015 was highlighted by the presence of a very special guest: Brian Fray, the cartoonist who created the popular, long-running Jake the Baker cartoon.
Fray came prepared to entertain, setting up an easel and unleashing his creativity for the enjoyment of everyone who stopped by the booth. Using nothing but a couple of permanent markers, the artist drew sketch after sketch of Jake the Baker in a wide variety of humorous situations.
extend as far back as 1886, created one of the show’s most colourful – and enticing – setups, displaying the company’s comprehensive range of fillings, spreads and sauces. Hero, he explained, is launching a new fruit filling for jelly doughnuts that’s both gluten-free and kosher. It’s also cost-effective, he explained. “You don’t need a lot – it bursts with flavour,” he said.
The gang at Montreal-based Sager Food Products were enjoying Bakery Congress. Vice-president Santo J. Fata and special assistant Jordan Furino did a great job of engaging potential customers with information about their wide range of premium ingredients, such as non-hydrogenated icing shortening, 100 per cent pure peanut oil, canola oil, allpurpose shortening, sunflower oil, and trans-fat-free liquid shortening. / BJ
¦ show events ¦
The next BAC trade show event will be Bakery Showcase 2016, May 1-3, 2016, at The International Centre in Mississauga, Ont. For more information, visit www.baking.ca
Fray has become so skilled at drawing Jake that he could complete a sketch in less than two minutes. His presence at the booth was particularly appropriate, given that Bakers Journal was celebrating its 75th anniversary at Bakery Congress 2015. To commemorate the occasion, the magazine created an all-new competition for bakers, the Jake the Baker Award, that recognizes business savvy and innovation; we also commissioned cake artist Catherine Beddall, owner/operator of Catherine’s Cakery in Ottawa, to create a special 75th anniversary cake featuring Jake himself.
Daniel Vokey, owner/operator of Patisserie Daniel in Victoria, B.C., won the inaugural Jake the Baker Award and was presented with a beautiful plaque during a ceremony on Day 2 of Bakery Congress 2015. Vokey and his wife, Teresa, also received an all-expenses-paid trip to Montreal so they could attend Bakery Congress. / BJ
Click the link below to view a video of Brian Fray drawing a Jake the Baker sketch.
www.youtube.com/user/bakersjournal
The Dawn Foods booth overflowed with delicious, colourful, eyecatching products.
Artist Brian Fray brings Jake the Baker to life for Congress visitors
Above, one of the sketches Brian Fray created for Jake the Baker fans during Bakery Congress 2015 in Montreal.
DRIVING INNOVATION
Ardent Mills made a splash during Bakery Congress 2015 in Montreal with its mobile innovation centre (MIC) - a converted semi tractor-trailer rig that once hauled around a NASCAR team.
The MIC debuted about a year ago, at the IFT trade show in New Orleans, and has been on trade-show floors serving as Ardent Mills’ booth. But at Bakery Congress, the company had it set up at its Montreal headquarters a couple miles from the Palais des congrès de Montréal where the show was being held.
Ardent Mills staff members shuttled Bakery Congress attendees to and from the MIC during the show, which ran May 31-June 1. Visitors were able to check out the food preparation stations set up inside the trailer, in addition to sampling some delicious baked goods and other food made with Ardent Mills ingredients.
Daniel Marciani, Ardent Mills’ executive chef, talked about the MIC’s
origins. “They said, ‘Can you design a bakery’? And I said sure. They said the bakery is going to be on wheels, and I said, ‘Oh my gosh! How are we going to do this?’
“We set it up as a set of stations that we can use to take customers through the baking process,” he added. “We can do training sessions on pretty much whatever the customer wants. That’s the main focus, but it’s also a huge promotional item for trade shows and other public events.”
Ardent Mills marketing manager Elaine O’Doherty explained the mission of the MIC: “The whole idea is to bring innovation to your front door.”
“It’s not that we are trying to teach people how to do something – they’re already working with their own R&D folks,” she explained.
“It’s about hands in dough and starting to understand our products – touching them, feeling them. We call it the baguette module. It’s not about them learning how to make bread. It’s about
them learning with the different doughs, seeing the different colours and water absorption, being asked questions … also it’s fun. It’s an engaging team atmosphere. And we’re showing them the different applications and saying this is how this product works. They get to work with the grains, touch the flour, look at the products. Here’s the bread crumb, here’s what the flour looks like, touch it, feel it. And then let’s taste the product.”
O’Doherty says the MIC will be on the road for about eight months this year at a cost of nearly $1 million. Last year, it visited some of Ardent Mills’ biggest clients, O’Doherty said, including General Mills, Bimbo and Cargill.
A team of contractors called PS Live helps run the MIC, getting it from place to place and then set up once it reaches its destination.
“There’s a driver, and a sprinter van, and all this stuff, they’re on the road constantly,” Marciani says. The MIC’s next stop is the IFT trade show in Chicago. / BJ
Ardent Mills’ mobile innovation centre, or MIC, travels to customers and events all over North America. Prior to becoming a showcase for Ardent Mills’ products, it transported a NASCAR racing team.
FROM THE FLOOR
Knock Shoppe owners John and Joanne Knoch made the trip to Montreal from Westfield, Wisconsin.
Graham Dalziel and Philippe Trepanier of Handtmann Canada Ltd.
Peter Jacobs and Detlef Werner of Lesaffre Yeast Corp.
The artisan baking competition attracted a steady stream of spectators throughout the two days of Bakery Congress 2015.
Claude Leblanc, Sarah O’Dell and Lucie Nicholls of Carmi Flavors.
Frank Lewis and Andrea Granholm of Satin Ice.