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The bakery industry in Morocco is a competitive market, but still attractive and profitable for investors who dare to enter it. Today, to be sure to perpetuate one’s activity in the bakery sector, it is not only necessary to have adequate financing, but also the appropriate personnel. Let’s take a look at the elements to be taken into account for the creation of a small bakery in Morocco and the means to quickly make the investment profitable.
It is therefore in the spirit of mutual assistance that this guide has been designed. It aims to help each reader to take the appropriate steps to successfully open a medical practice in Morocco.
The bakery sector has been flooded in recent years by the arrival of many large French brands that have established themselves and positioned themselves. These brands have succeeded in delighting the hearts of customers with new pastries, viennoiseries, speciality bread and luxury pastries. As a result, the customer’s palate is no longer focused solely on standard bread, but rather on many other types of pastries. There has also been a change in the consumption habits of the population. Gone are the days when only the upper class would buy pastries.
Today, all strata of the various middle classes demand them and must be satisfied in one way or another. In the face of stiff competition, you have to know how to stand out and position yourself to get customers. Thus, to be sure of positioning oneself, it is necessary to know the needs of the customers to whom one is addressing oneself and to master the entire production chain of the products that will be sold in the bakery. Similarly, to avoid losses and save money, it is important to know how to choose raw materials. In short, to open a new bakery in Morocco, one must be prepared to face stiff competition and have a detailed programme to distinguish one’s offer from that of the competitors.
The Moroccan authorities have not established any rules or specifications for setting up a bakery in Morocco. Similarly, the profession itself is not governed by any law. However, there are basic safety and hygiene standards that must be respected by all owners of establishments in the catering sector. These are the standards that must be respected.
For a good layout, the future bakery should be in a space of about 200 square metres. It will be possible to set up a space for the kitchens, the installation of machines and ovens, as well as a space for displaying the bread and pastries for sale. However, before fitting out the shop, it is important to think about the clientele that you plan to welcome in order to adapt the layout accordingly. In other words, the decoration of the premises should be adapted to the quality sought by the clientele or simply to the neighborhood.
For example, a bakery located in a residential area should have a neat layout, elegant finishes and luxury decorations to attract customers. On the other hand, a bakery located in a working-class area would be satisfied with the bare essentials in terms of interior decoration (display window, fridge, a few decorative elements and nothing else).
The number of people passing through the area each day should also be taken into account. It is recommended to have an average of 300 passages per day in order to be sure to have traffic in the bakery. It is also important that the premises have a street frontage, i.e. that its main façade is visible from the busy street. This way, the bakery will not have too much trouble being spotted by passers-by.
A good way of managing costs is to rent the premises of the future bakery in the first instance. Renting would be cheaper than buying in the first place. Similarly, if it is possible to take over premises that have already been equipped by a previous bakery, this would reduce the cost of fitting out as much as possible. However, it is necessary to plan for approximately 600,000 dhs for the equipment of premises measuring an average of 200 square metres.
The layout of the premises must be separated into a kitchen area, and a storage area for raw materials (cold areas for butter and dairy products and ambient areas for flour, sugar, oil, etc.). The installation for the different temperatures must also be provided, as well as the space for displaying the showcases. As regards the counter and display area, it is recommended that you plan for no less than 20 square metres, if not more, in order to have more space to welcome customers. It is also necessary to provide ventilation ducts so that the smoke released during cooking does not come to embalm the clothes of your customers.
As far as equipment is concerned, a nice envelope of 1 million dirhams would be enough to have everything needed for the start-up. The first thing to think about is a mixer that will be used to mix large quantities of bread dough and a dough divider for equal parts. These two devices cost 90,000 dhs and 50,000 dhs respectively. A shaping machine is also an important machine that will help you to shape your bread quickly. This machine costs about 50 000 dhs. Depending on whether you opt for a deck oven or a rotary oven, you should plan on between 200,000 and 300,000 dhs. It should be noted that the floor oven takes up more space than the rotary oven.
Moreover, to have a good temperature of the water that will be used to make the bread, a cooler is needed that costs 20,000 Dhs. For the pastry section, a laminator for puff pastry at a cost of 50,000 dhs and a storage freezer costing about 20,000 dhs must be added.
For the pastry shop, at least two turntables cost 50,000 dhs (for both), a mixer costs 25,000 dhs and an oven adapted to special pastries costing 80,000 dhs. And, for the utensils to be used on a daily basis (baking trays, moulds, cutters, work table, air conditioner, whisk), a total of 200,000 dhs is required. Finally, for the proper accounting management of the bakery, it is recommended to prepare an amount of about 50,000 dhs for the accounting software, cash machines, computers, surveillance cameras, etc.
As far as working capital is concerned, for the first 3 months, a balance of 400,000 dhs is needed to ensure a good start. With all these expenses related to equipment, it is better to opt for second-hand equipment as far as possible in order to reduce costs as much as possible.
Once the premises are well equipped, it is time to recruit qualified human resources for the entire production cycle as well as for the day-to-day management of the sale. Experts in the field agree that qualified resources are scarce on Moroccan territory. Thus, a good salary is required to hire a head baker, a pastry chef and assistants. It is recommended to have an average of 20 employees including a cleaning lady and two salesmen for premises of about 200 square metres.
However, if you have a smaller space or if the space is not located in a busy area, you can afford to have fewer people as a pastry or bakery help. You should also consider the monthly rental costs, which vary according to the area in which the premises are located. Gas or diesel consumption as well as electricity consumption should be added to the budget for the first few months. For 200 square metre premises, an envelope of 240,000 dhs should be provided for electricity and about 60,000 dhs for fuel.
As far as raw materials are concerned, experts in the field recommend around 2,500 dhs per day for the purchase of chocolate, butter, flour, sugar, cream and other useful ingredients. And, one cannot forget the packaging, and the dress of the team members, especially those in contact with the customers. All this can be charged at around 6,000 dhs per month. Then comes the depreciation of the equipment, which means that you have to set aside a monthly amount to be ready for each renewal of the depreciated equipment.
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