Eat Cake Today—yes, you heard it right. This newly launched Malaysian startup is literally doing what its name suggests. You can book an entire cake and get it sent it to you within four hours at the same day, or if you’d prefer, the next day. Think of it as an on-demand cake platform.
Eat Cake Today was founded by an all-girl team—Crystal Tan, Elaine Yuen, and Sue Lyen—who are big fans of all things sugary. According to Crystal, Eat Cake Today took them around one month from conceptualisation to their launch earlier in August this year.
Crystal explained, “A couple of weeks before Raya, I was on a cake-hunt for one of my clients who had dairy-egg-gluten allergies, but of course, with no success. Then it hit me, how do we find the bakers who aren’t widely accessible?”
Moreover, Crystal also told us that this incident have recounted back some moments that most of us could possibly relate to, whereby we have to head out to the bakery to buy a cake at the very last minute to surprise our friends or colleagues.
Crystal told Vulcan Post, “This built up with the recollection of observing my other clients in the office where often, someone had to run out to get a cake from a shop close by to surprise the birthday colleague, who often tends to be well aware when someone scurries out to get the cake!”
During 1337 Ventures’ Alpha Startups event, where startups from the 1337 Accelerator program are given the opportunity to pitch their services/products, Crystal simplified our last minute whole-cake options. When we want to buy a cake for our co-workers/friends on a short notice, we can opt to buy a cake from Secret Recipe, but that is just too predictable and boring. If we decide to go to a café to select from their wide variety of cakes, we are given cool choices but most of the time, those cakes are only sold in slices and not as a whole. This leaves us with a frustrating problem.
Eat Cake Today = Etsy For Cakes
Eat Cake Today serves as a platform that connects independent bakers and customers, like the Etsy for cakes, with delivery components. The cake will be delivered at the same day and the team ensured that the cakes are baked daily by the bakers, and their on-demand service gives it more of a competitive edge.
The baker lineup of Eat Cake Today includes Little Tee Cakes, Jaslyn Cakes, Babycake Sweet Shoppe, The Accidental Baker, and also CakeTella whom we wrote about recently. The cake prices range from RM85 to RM115, consisting of flavours like Banana Chocolate Chip Cake, Orange Poppy Seed Cake, Peanut Butter Chocolate, and more. According to the team, the Salted Caramel Cookie cake is popularly requested by most.
Speaking of how they decide which baker to work with, the team explained that they do try to personally vet through the bakers by doing taste-testing sessions, however Crystal cheekily added, “One can only eat so much cake a day, you know.” Therefore, they also carry out interviews with other users during the Alpha Startup event to find out who are some of the wanted bakers.
Recently the team won Alpha Startups organised by 1337 Ventures, thanks to their convincing pitch, and they were awarded RM 10,000 in funding from the program. One of the models to generate revenue is by marking up certain number of percentage from what the bakers give them.
Eat Cake Today operates from 11am to 5pm on weekdays. Even though they provide an on-demand service, according to Crystal, so far the incoming orders they receive are usually ahead of the time. “It ranges from four hours, the next day, two to three days,” said Crystal.
Verdict: 4/5
It is true that with the blooming numbers of cafés out there, it is not difficult to purchase a cake any time. However, most freshly baked cakes require us to make an order a few days prior to any special occasion. Furthermore, sometimes good things happen without a plan. You may feel like throwing a spontaneous office party or surprise your loves one at the very last minute. But where can you get a freshly baked cake on the very same day?
This is where Eat Cake Today comes into the picture. They are bringing to us convenience by providing a service that delivers quality cakes within a swift delivery time. Meanwhile, the team is planning to grow the platform organically via collaboration with the bakers.
Based on the aspect of social integration, Eat Cake Today is a marvelous idea. In terms of the outcome and sustainability, it might be too soon to judge as that strongly depends on the number of orders per day. Nonetheless, if they are capable to increase the number of orders, then that could lead to the disruption they hope for in the way we order cakes.