Local bakeries grapple with low sales this Christmas

Bakery kitchens

would be buzzing with excitement at this time of the year as confectioners would scramble to meet the demand for cakes and

Christmas sweets

. However, this

year bakers

have lost around 40% of their business as there are not many takers due to
the pandemic.
Almost all bakers have seen a drop in Christmas goodies, says Gletta Mascarenhas, who runs a bakery at Fontainhas. “Since the

lockdown people

have started baking cakes as it was trending on social media. Almost every household was baking and this is the confidence that many have got over the last few months. We are now going back to the time when families would bake cakes at home, which is a good thing.”
With many seafarers returning to Goa, and job losses, families are buying fewer Christmas goodies. Reginald adds, “People have lost jobs and the spending capacity is now low. Before the pandemic, people wouldn’t bring exact cash when they wanted to buy items which would cost around `100. I used to have a lot of problems with change, now people buy less and will give us exact change. This shows that people are now cutting costs,” says Reginald.
No takeaways this time round
Reginald tells us many

Goan

families would pre-order their Christmas goodies to send to their families abroad and to other cities in India. “I used to get people who would order the rich plum cake to send to their folks abroad, but this year since there are not many flights plying, people are not sending sweets. Though there are some orders that we received to send to Pune, but the numbers are few as compared to last year.”
With fewer tourists too, Benson D’Souza, who runs a bakery in Vasco has felt the pinch in sales. “We would get tourists who would love to take Goan Christmas sweets like dodol, bebinca, doce, among others, but since the pandemic there is not enough sale. I’m not sure if people will come last minute to buy the cakes, but I will definitely bake 20% less than what I usually prepare every year. I have reduced my staff – from 35 helpers I now work with only 12.”
40% less sale on cakes this year
By mid-November, orders would pour in for Christmas, but this year things are not the same. “This year, I have incurred a loss of almost 40% as compared to last year. By this time, we would get a lot of orders as of now we have received only 60% of the order,” says Reginald
Antao, who runs a bakery in Loutolim.