Taste for TikTok turns Brisbane bakery into a blockbuster overnight

With no marketing budget but a taste for TikTok, a single day in her life was all it took for a struggling Brisbane dessert-maker to whip up her bakery into a social media sensation.

Former travel writer Brooke Saward opened her Fortitude Valley dessert emporium in May 2022, but attracting customers was a challenge.

Brooke Saward from Brooki Bakehouse.Credit: Brooke Saward

Months passed and she decided to start sharing content on TikTok.

The first video Saward filmed, a “day in my life”, ended up going viral with more than 3.2 million views.

Customers arrived the next day, saying they had seen her bakery on TikTok.

“I had tears in my eyes the first time it happened, it was a pretty surreal feeling,” Saward said.

“In all honesty, the bakery was not successful before I started sharing these videos, so to see people come in-store saying they loved the videos and then translating into customers, was a real pinch-me moment.”

Working as a solo travel blogger for 10 years before her career change, Saward had spent a lot of time by herself.

After the pandemic, she made the move from Tasmania to Brisbane and turned her love of desserts into a career.

Now, she opens the doors of Brooki Bakehouse on Marshall Street to a line-up of customers waiting to get their hands on one of her cookies, cakes or macarons.

“The biggest shock was when I opened the store on Good Friday by myself, to a line that stretched the entire street and started to wrap around the corner.

“Until that point, I hadn’t really registered how popular the bakery had become.”

Saward isn’t alone in her experience, as businesses throughout Australia have put their success down to the video-sharing app, which has attracted 8.5 million users nationwide.

The fitout of Brooki Bakehouse took four months. Credit: Brooke Saward

The baker said her mission to find the perfect space for her business was like hunting for a home.

She decided a 42 square metre space inside the Stewart and Hemmant building was perfect, as it had an industrial appeal with high ceilings and exposed pipes.

To contrast with the raw aesthetic, Saward added more refined elements of burgundy marble and brass finishes.

Her design brief was “Paris meets New York’s East Village”.

She has shared much of the process on her social media profiles, where she has grown a large community of followers.

“Social media can be such a positive force for small businesses out there who don’t have big marketing budgets,” Saward said.

Saward’s next goal is to have her products on supermarket shelves.Credit: Brooke Saward

“It really feels like there is so much encouragement from our local community to support businesses here in Brisbane.”

The team of seven women often serves tourists from across the world and was gearing up to launch international shipping for online orders.

“Leading a team of girls who are just as passionate about baking as I am really feels so special, it feels like I am a part of something bigger than myself,” Saward said.

“To be a business that is Brisbane born and bred feels like such a privilege and no matter where the business journey takes us next in our continuing growth, we will always be that little bakery that opened in an unknown street.”