Image courtesy of Bake Shack
 
Consistently promoting a signature item can be a key part of developing your bakery’s brand. It’s a way to be remembered beyond just a quality menu.

Truth be told, most bakeries don’t intentionally set out to develop a signature item.  Eventually, certain products will become popular with customers, who will then let you know that they value those items.

Take, for example, Bake Shack in Florida. This rising bakery that serves breakfast and lunch at its Dania Beach location has become tied to its popular breakfast sandwich known as the Dough Boy. While Bake Shack specializes in doughnuts of all flavors, it’s the use of dough bread in these unique breakfast sandwiches that has caused the bakery to stand out.

Both locals and tourists now frequent Bake Shack ever since it broke out with the help of the Dough Boy. Its Yelp page is loaded with 5-star ratings from satisfied customers who have either tried the signature offering for the first time or who have made it a regular part of their week.

Owner Keith Freiman creates the Dough Boy using his specialty doughnut bread, then fills it with a mini egg omelet, avocado, and the customer’s choice of ham, sausage, or bacon. The combination of sweet and savory has left customers singing its praises. “I would highly recommend the "dough boy" for something yummy, but different and you will have no regrets,” said a December 2016 review.

The success of Bake Shack is no fluke. Keith Freiman has an extensive culinary resume. He trained at the Culinary Institute of America before working at distinguished eateries in on both coasts, including Picholine in New York and 32 East in Delray Beach, Florida. His passion was to open his own laid-back location, though, so he started Bake Shack in 2016.

“A place like this is my dream: breakfast, lunch, brunch, done,” Freiman tells Miami New Times. “I like to make things that people want to eat. I want you to look at it and say, 'That looks so good!' It’s not an art piece, but it is. It’s an art piece you wanna touch, you wanna grab.”