Gawler cake maker Skye Baillie reveals staggering rising costs for baking and running small business

Butter costs how much?! A baker has revealed the eye-watering price hikes of basic pantry staples since 2020, showing you just how much cakes cost to make.

A Gawler cake maker has revealed the staggering rise in costs for basic ingredients that’s pushing her business to the edge, making it impossible to save up for comforts such as heating and cooling.

Along with the extreme costs of keeping the fridges and ovens running – and for simply putting her name on the lease – Skye Baillie isn’t sure how much longer she will be in business.

Ms Baillie, 38, told The Advertiser for the first time in 15 years she has to crunch the numbers of what brand of eggs, sugar and butter she uses for each cake – with 5kg of flour rising from just $4.39 to $17 in four years.

Butter has doubled to $9, 3kg of caster sugar has increased from $2.49 to $9 and higher priced ingredients such as mudcake mix has spiked from $50 to $120.

“I’m just trying my hardest to ride this out in the hopes that things will change,” the mum of two said.

“All my income at the moment is pretty much spent on replenishing stock and it just seems a never-ending cycle you can never get on top of, because there is always more money to spend.”

It comes as dozens of SA hospitality and small businesses have closed this year, citing the cost-of-living crisis, rising costs and taxes on alcohol, amid warnings of more.

Ms Baillie started Skysies Cakes 15 years ago in her Evanston Garden kitchen when her hobby became a rapidly growing business venture, and moved into a Gawler commercial premises last year.

The move came only after the council told her she couldn’t have her six staff working from her home, and the regular costs to operate have become a constant financial blow.

“I feel like I was forced in to this position … I couldn’t do it all by myself,” Ms Baillie said.

“The commercial lease was a bit of a shock. We were subleasing the space before … and just putting our name on the paperwork upped the rent by $700 a month.

“Plus we have different utility bills like electricity, which is $3000 a quarter, minimum.”

The power bill covers just the fridges, freezers and ovens in the heritage-listed property on Murray St, making comforts such heating and cooling and much needed lighting updates unattainable.

Skye Baillie, owner of Skysies Cakes in Gawler, said her business is her passion - but the difficulties make it hard to be optimistic for the future. Picture: RoyVPhotography

“For us to be able to see the tiny bottles of food colouring, it’s quite hard by the end of the day and it will be like that through winter too … in summer we had to close early because the building was too hot at three in the afternoon,” Ms Baillie said.

“You’re at the end of your week pretty much scraping through, and you don’t have any extra to be putting towards doing those extra updates.”

Last week, Gawler’s “unofficial mayor” Milton Vadoulis announces his three-generation-old garden centre was closing, saying red tape and regulations had made it virtually impossible to operate a small business – and warned they would become extinct in five years without changes.

Ms Baillie said state and local governments could do more to help small businesses.

“I think the council could help with the heritage and building side of things, and I think the state government could help with wages and things like that,” she said.

But despite the stress and fear, Ms Baillie is resolved to keep operating for as long as she can.

“I’ve thought about it in the past, that working for someone else would be easier, but following my passions and goals is important to me,” she said.

“It feels like we still have that excitement of being a new business … so we will keep going as long as we can.”

Small and Family Business Minister Andrea Michaels said the government had released a $14m small business strategy last year, including a “fundamentals” program designed to assist small-business owners with financial management, strategic planning, marketing, cyber security and more.

Originally published as Gawler cake maker Skye Baillie reveals staggering rising costs for baking and running small business