This profile was written for the New Zealand Bakers Journal by Mike Meaclem, a baker and bakery instructor in Christchurch, and formerly BIANZ Executive Officer.
Many people have asked me what baking can offer as a career. Nat Cheyne and his wife Talia can answer for me. Nat and Talia own a beautiful lolly business called Sweet. They set it up about two years ago, inspired by what they had seen during their overseas travels.
Nat trained as a baker first with Top Line Foods and then with
Hillmorton Bakery where he completed his apprenticeship and so became a
journeyman baker.
Nat then set off, a journeyman indeed, to extend his knowledge of the
food industry. He began with cooking and baking in several prominent
Christchurch restaurants like the Coffee House and Café Valentino
before heading overseas.
Nat learnt the art of sugar craft in Australia before returning to New Zealand to open the business.
Like most ventures, Nat and Talia’s business began with small steps.
They set up first in a commercial factory supplying a stall at the
famous Art Centre Market in Christchurch. “The Art Centre Market is a
great spot,” says Nat. “It offered our business a chance to grow,
develop a profile and grow customer awareness.”
It was that increasing customer demand that lead them to open their
purpose-built shop. There in Northlands Mall they make the sweets on
site in view of customers.
Nat still loves baking but admits that working with sugar is a much
cleaner job. Instead of going through tonnes of flour, Nat goes through
about 15 tonnes of sugar annually.
Sweet was so successful that it won the Best Shop award in Christchurch
in their category in 2005, their first year in operation. The award has
inspired Nat and Talia to look into opening a second shop in Auckland
very soon.
With the continuing business growth, Nat has taken on a very eager new
store manager by the name of Les Cheyne. Yes, that’s right, Dad has
come on board.
After checking a few samples (purely for research purposes) I asked Nat how difficult it was to learn this new trade.
He said that once you have learnt the basics it is just like baking.
Success depends on what you do with that new knowledge to offer what
the customers want.
Sweet’s customer-base is both domestic and corporate, with custom
designs being made to order. For a custom design you need to order 10kg
of lollies, “about 3500 sweets”.
As I was interviewing Nat he was making some sweets for Arbuckles, the
nationwide manchester chain, who were opening a new shop in Ashburton
and wanted a promotional giveaway. Nat made some beautiful sweets for
them using their corporate colours and with their name cleverly
inserted into the lollies – an excellent idea.
This is a great success story for our industry, a young baker
passionate about food, continuing his learning to improve and extend
his knowledge and grow both financially and emotionally. Watch this
space. Sweet stores might be everywhere soon. Well done Nat and Talia
with this wonderful business.
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