Search the Community

It needs no words. I couldn't pronounce them anyway....

Help a small bakeshop survive these COVID days.... https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/sweet-alfas-cookbook/x/10803452#/ Small Town Family Bake Shop at a Critical Point Sweet Alfas Bake Shop & Kitchen has been serving the Elizabeth, Parker & Aurora communities for 3 years. Melissa & Luigi Casaretto’s journey began in 2012 as a fundraiser selling Peruvian Alfajores for their daughter’s dance event. It eventually flourished into a successful online cookie bakery. In 2017 they bought the kitchen they used to rent in Elizabeth, Colorado and Sweet Alfas was finally a brick and mortar shop. In 2020, the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic started to take shape and as early as February we started to see our sales dipping. We improvised and started serving curbside and specialty meals to survive. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough to save the bake shop and kitchen after all. Our business survives primarily on our wholesale efforts and our biggest accounts had to cut their orders by 50%. After reviewing our options we had no choice but to temporarily close and halt our 5 person operation. After mulling over what to do next, we decided we were not giving up without a fight. In order to raise funds we are opening our kitchen publicly to the world in the shape of a bakery and kitchen cookbook(as well as other unique perks we are offering). All of our secrets, techniques and ideas will now be available in your own home. With your help we can catch up on our lease, payroll, supplies and help navigate these new waters we are traveling through. In 2019 our community stepped up and helped us fund a new mixer when we were struggling. While we appreciated the community effort and love our community we have always wanted to give back. So instead of asking for handouts, we are asking you to help us fund a 100 page cookbook with detailed recipes and photography. What We Need & What You Get By purchasing our cookbook you can help us catch up on our lease, payroll, supplies and help navigate these new waters we are traveling through with some expansion of our kitchen, bakery and staff. You’ll notice we have some tiered packages. We are not only going to offer our cookbook, we are going to include shirts, hoodies, master class videos and gift cards. Our goal is $20,000 which is what we were asking for from the SBA. At this time we’ve received very little confirmation from the SBA about our loan. So instead of asking for forgivable money, we want to fund a cookbook for our most loyal customers and supporters. We would rather earn it and show you some love back. The Impact We have always wanted to make a cookbook and now this opportunity has forced our hand. So on the positive side, we see a win/win situation. We can provide something special globally and save our local bakery, maintain our wholesale accounts in Parker and Aurora, keep our employees and remain in Elizabeth, CO. Many of our customers across the US can not try some of our more traditional baked goods because it’s expensive to ship them. So this gives everyone a chance to try our baked goods. They say restaurants don’t survive after a year of being in business. We’ve survived 3 years and were finally making the right strides. We’re gonna be here for a very long time and we may even continue pressing cookbooks in the future. Risks & Challenges This will not be a short order(pun intended). We will have a long road ahead of us and we are still not in the clear from everything happening globally during this pandemic. We will use the funds to catch up and reinvent ourselves(a 3rd time) in order to adjust to the "new normal" of Covid-19. We are hoping to add a fryer and overhead extinguishing system to provide some fried goods, donuts and churros. We will need to negotiate with debt collectors, property managers and our accounts. We will need to heavily market this cookbook and our bakery. Melissa and I both come from extremely competitive marketing and sales backgrounds in the tech industry. We are capable of overcoming these hurdles and getting Sweet Alfas back on the map. Other Ways You Can Help We are all in a crisis, not just businesses. Many people are out of work, struggling to pay their bills. We understand and wish the best for you and your families. There are non-monetary ways to help us out. Tell your siblings, parents, best friends and coworkers about this campaign. You can share our campaign on facebook and more using the Indiegogo share tools! Tiered Packages $25 Cookbook $50 "This is How We Roll" T-shirt + Cookbook $65 "This is How We Roll" Hoodie + Cookbook $75 Gift Card ($50 value) + Cookbook $150 Video Masterclass featuring Melissa, Luigi & Nadia + Cookbook So what’s in the book? BAKERY Sweet Rolls Cinnamon Rolls Strawberry Rolls Blueberry Rolls Chocoholic Rolls Chai Spice Rolls Orange Cinnamon Rolls Pineapple Upside Down Rolls Chamomile Tangerine Rolls Lavender Honey Rolls Pistachio Marshmallow rolls Sweet Breads & Muffins Banana Bread Zucchini Bread Triple Chocolate Bread Lemon Poppyseed Bread Almond Cranberry Bread Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread Blueberry Muffins Chocolate Chip Muffins Cherry Walnut Muffins Chocolate Cream Cheese Muffins Cookies Nadia's Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Iced Lemon Iced Double Chocolate Chip Snickerdoodle Chocolate Crinkles Chocolate Dipped Biscotti Alfajor Cookies(Alfas) Confectioners or Coconut CinnamonSugar Gingerbread Alfas Chocolate Dipped White Chocolate Dipped Strawberry Chocolate Dipped Scones Cinnamon CC Mixed Berry Blueberry Gingerbread Orange Cranberry Cakes Chocolate Cake Carrot Cake Almond Raspberry Cake Lemon Cake Tarts Chocolate Tart Vanilla Fruit Tart Coconut Cream Tart Lemon Tart Pecan Tart Pumpkin Tart Cheesecakes Traditional Cheesecake Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Strawberry Cheesecake Blueberry Cheesecake Pies Pumpkin Pie Pecan Pie Coconut Cream Pie Mixer Berry Pie Apple Crumb Pie Chocolate Peppermint Pie Croissants Butter Croissants Almond Croissants Pain Au Chocolat(Chocolate Croissants) Kouign Amann Traditional Blueberry & Cheese Kouign Amann Chocolate Kouign Amann Breads French Bread Ciabatta Bread Focaccia Bread Sourdough Bread Honey Wheat Bread Milk Bread Rolls Almond Cranberry Stollen Empanadas Beef Empanadas Breakfast Empanadas Blueberry Empanadas KITCHEN Breakfast Bacon, Egg & Cheese Gordita Italian Sausage, Egg & Cheese Gordita Chorizo, Egg & Cheese Gordita Breakfast Rosemary Potatoes Sandwiches Lomo Sandwich Turkey Melt Pastrami Melt Turkey Mozzarella Pesto Panini Roast Beef & Cheddar Panini Salads Strawberry Spinach Salad w/ Poppyseed Vinaigrette Chef Salad w/ housemade Ranch dressing Greek Salad w/ housemade Greek Yogurt dressing Dressings, Sauces & Spreads Sun Dried Tomato Spread Mama’s Pesto Missy’s Ranch Poppyseed Vinaigrette Hot Salsa Salsa De Cebolla Soups Aguadito De Pollo Sopa a La Minuta Meatball Tortellini Baked Potato Soup Sides Papa Rellena Papa Ala Huancaina Peruvian Causa Meals Lomo Saltado Arroz Con Pollo Tallarines Verdes Unfortunately, all rewards are physical/US Only right now. Also, they've chosen 'Flexible funding', but since they're at 45% already, with 29 days left, they have a decent chance of making it. Me? I'm in it for $5(no perk pledge) because they make cookies...