Often a new generation ushers in a new range of opportunities. This is especially true for leading panaderías in the Salt Lake City area where an increasingly diverse population base is hungry for new flavors and new experiences when they buy products from their local bakeries.

At Cakes by Edith in Riverton, Utah, the two daughters of the bakery’s owners, Jorge Lopez and Edith Gallegos, are now working to expand the family business using their unique sets of skills.

Alma, their oldest daughter, earned a college degree in business administration, and daughter Diana earned a college degree in marketing. Both play an instrumental role in new business strategies that include the ability of customers to order online from the bakery, as well as social media marketing to increase their bakery’s exposure within an ever-expanding community. The bakery delivers directly to customers in the greater Salt Lake City area.

“Our customers can now order their cakes from everywhere,” Alma explains. “We have a connectivity with customers. They trust us.”

And on social media, Diana points out that TikTok has emerged as the No. 1 place to feature trending cakes for potential customers to find.

“You always have to stay innovative,” Diana says. “We make sure that our customers follow us on TikTok. We definitely have a clear vision of what we want to accomplish and how we can help each other through our different roles. In social media, we each have a specialty.”

Thanks to online influences, bakeries in this area are witnessing increased exposure, familiarity, and consumer demand for Hispanic bakery items from a wide variety of origins.

Esperenza Bakery in West Valley City, Utah, emphasizes to its customers online the availability of many varieties of breads and sweets that they offer, including Venezuelan breads with fillings inside, Salvadoran breads with salty cheese inside, polvorone cookies with cajeta filling, and cajeta and cream cheese muffins – among their many top sellers. Creative and colorful donuts are another signature item.

They like to decorate different styles of donuts, says Mariza Duarte, who runs Esperenza Bakery with her husband, Homero Mojica.

Elotes are another specialty here, available in a variety of flavors.

These types of diverse Hispanic products attract an increasingly larger number of customers from a wide variety of cultures.

At Alicia’s Panadería in West Valley City, Utah, tres leches cakes are a specialty here. Beyond tres leches, they offer incredible mil hojas, vanilla pound cake, and pan de queso – among the many favorites.

Their customer base is increasingly diverse with many different Hispanic customers coming in to try many different things. Venezuelan breads, for example, are gaining popularity. And there are other nationalities who are becoming regulars at the bakery like Polynesian islanders who live in the area and love the flavors of the breads.

“We have customers who come from as far as Oregon and California,” explains Alicia Martinez. “They come in and buy big boxes of bread. And many truck drivers stop here and get boxes of bread for their trip.”