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This article was published 17/09/2020 (2022 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
The trim inside the storefront has yet to be finished, but the sweets are stocked and the flooring is done, so Keto Treats Bakery is open for business.
Anna May Van Dyke moved her low-carbohydrate, high-fat baked goods company to 15 Dodds Rd. in Headingley around two months ago. She’d secured the place in March, right before the COVID-19 pandemic caused many Manitoban operations to halt. Because of the virus, Van Dyke couldn’t open right away.
Now, she’s officially moved in and hopes to be done renovations by the end of September. She’s selling her desserts, breads and pizzas at the shop alongside her online sales. The food is made with ingredients like almond flour and coconut oil.
Van Dyke, 42, has 4,000 square feet of space in the new location, which houses her storefront, offices and bakery.
She started the business in November of 2018. She’d already been experimenting with baking ketogenic foods for 13 years. When her now 19-year-old was three, he’d have seizures, but doctors couldn’t explain why. After researching, Van Dyke found that a low-carb, high-fat diet could help. She’s cooked and baked following the diet ever since.
Van Dyke moved from a farm south of Morden to Winnipeg a few years ago. She worked a full-time office job while caring for her six children — she didn’t have time to bake.
“That’s when I started looking around. I thought, ‘A city the size of Winnipeg, there’s got to be something available to buy.’ I didn’t find anything,” Van Dyke said.
She considered selling her own products.
“It’s kind of frustrating when you have to keep up with a diet but you don’t have time,” Van Dyke said. “I just decided to fix that problem. I thought, others probably have that issue if I do.”
She pitched her products — then just a couple of cupcakes — to Vita Health, and within a week, they had ordered from her. She gave notice at her office job and moved to baking full-time.
She hired help and rented different commercial kitchens as her food gained popularity. Vita Health ordered weekly shipments at about $1,200 per order.
“They were, a lot of times, selling out within hours of their week’s delivery,” Van Dyke said. “They blew off the shelves.”
Within two months, Van Dyke was producing four different cupcakes, chocolate chip cookies, pizza pockets and two types of cheesecake. People from other provinces wanted the food, so Van Dyke began an online store and shipped her products in thermal packaging.
Then, in late 2019, Van Dyke moved into a location on King Edward Street with a meal prep service. She used the bakery and storefront; the meal prep service used a different kitchen.
“That’s when business exploded,” Van Dyke said.
In her first full month there, she sold $38,500 worth of product in the shop. The next month, she sold $45,000. In the final month, she sold $53,000. Then COVID-19 hit, and the meal prep service shut the building down, Van Dyke said.
Because of the storefront demand, Van Dyke had quit her online shop — she couldn’t keep up. Once the King Edward Street location closed, she wasn’t making any revenue.
Luckily, Van Dyke had put money down for the Headingley spot before the shutdown. She reopened her online service, but even then, her sales dropped 90 per cent in the pandemic.
However, with the new shop, people are visiting again and Van Dyke is seeing increased sales.
“I do expect (sales are) going to be back to where they were before,” she said.
She said she hopes to open shops across Canada, but for now she’s focusing on her place in Headingley.
The trim inside the storefront has yet to be finished, but the sweets are stocked and the flooring is done, so Keto Treats Bakery is open for business.
Anna May Van Dyke moved her low-carbohydrate, high-fat baked goods company to 15 Dodds Rd. in Headingley around two months ago. She’d secured the place in March, right before the COVID-19 pandemic caused many Manitoban operations to halt. Because of the virus, Van Dyke couldn’t open right away.
Anna May Van Dyke holds a batch of her keto diet-friendly cupcakes outside Keto Treats Bakery on Sept. 15. Van Dyke says the cupcakes are her best sellers. (GABRIELLE PICHÉ/CANSTAR COMMUNITY NEWS/HEADLINER)
Now, she’s officially moved in and hopes to be done renovations by the end of September. She’s selling her desserts, breads and pizzas at the shop alongside her online sales. The food is made with ingredients like almond flour and coconut oil.
Van Dyke, 42, has 4,000 square feet of space in the new location, which houses her storefront, offices and bakery.
She started the business in November of 2018. She’d already been experimenting with baking ketogenic foods for 13 years. When her now 19-year-old was three, he’d have seizures, but doctors couldn’t explain why. After researching, Van Dyke found that a low-carb, high-fat diet could help. She’s cooked and baked following the diet ever since.
Van Dyke moved from a farm south of Morden to Winnipeg a few years ago. She worked a full-time office job while caring for her six children — she didn’t have time to bake.
“That’s when I started looking around. I thought, ‘A city the size of Winnipeg, there’s got to be something available to buy.’ I didn’t find anything,” Van Dyke said.
She considered selling her own products.
“It’s kind of frustrating when you have to keep up with a diet but you don’t have time,” Van Dyke said. “I just decided to fix that problem. I thought, others probably have that issue if I do.”
She pitched her products — then just a couple of cupcakes — to Vita Health, and within a week, they had ordered from her. She gave notice at her office job and moved to baking full-time.
She hired help and rented different commercial kitchens as her food gained popularity. Vita Health ordered weekly shipments at about $1,200 per order.
“They were, a lot of times, selling out within hours of their week’s delivery,” Van Dyke said. “They blew off the shelves.”
Within two months, Van Dyke was producing four different cupcakes, chocolate chip cookies, pizza pockets and two types of cheesecake. People from other provinces wanted the food, so Van Dyke began an online store and shipped her products in thermal packaging.
Anna May Van Dyke pulls out some cupcakes of one of the freezers in her bakery's storefront on Sept. 15. Folks visiting Keto Treats Bakery can grab items from the freezer. (GABRIELLE PICHÉ/CANSTAR COMMUNITY NEWS/HEADLINER)
Then, in late 2019, Van Dyke moved into a location on King Edward Street with a meal prep service. She used the bakery and storefront; the meal prep service used a different kitchen.
“That’s when business exploded,” Van Dyke said.
In her first full month there, she sold $38,500 worth of product in the shop. The next month, she sold $45,000. In the final month, she sold $53,000. Then COVID-19 hit, and the meal prep service shut the building down, Van Dyke said.
Because of the storefront demand, Van Dyke had quit her online shop — she couldn’t keep up. Once the King Edward Street location closed, she wasn’t making any revenue.
Luckily, Van Dyke had put money down for the Headingley spot before the shutdown. She reopened her online service, but even then, her sales dropped 90 per cent in the pandemic.
However, with the new shop, people are visiting again and Van Dyke is seeing increased sales.
“I do expect (sales are) going to be back to where they were before,” she said.
She said she hopes to open shops across Canada, but for now she’s focusing on her place in Headingley.
