How Camerino Bakery used digital to connect with customers when everything was closed during Lockdown

To cope with that terrible year, I started to bake. I’d make brownies in my little flat in Ranelagh til midnight, then deliver them before I started work at 9am. It was crazy. Soon I started selling them at a farmers market. And then other coffee shops asked me to supply them with cakes. The wholesale business started like that. I was able to rent commercial premises in 2013. A year later I opened Camerino Bakery first on Capel St, Dublin, and then another cafe on Merrion Square in 2018. We’re about to open a third shop in IMMA.

Camerino is my last name. There had been a Cafe Camerino in our family back in Rome, where my grandfather Enzo Camerino was from. He was an Italian Holocaust survivor, who escaped on a coffee bean truck. When I opened Camerino, my grandfather sent me the money for my first bag of coffee beans. I feel like it was meant to be - opening a Cafe Camerino back in Europe.

And it really is a family business. When I started my own family, I had to find a way to be less hands on, manage the cafes from home, and look for a steady income stream. Through the Local Enterprise Office and with the help of their 'Online Trading' voucher, I was able to set up my website and online store. Ironically I’d been resisting going online, as I really valued giving my customers the personal touch. I didn’t want us to lose our charm, and that real connection with people. We designed it so that the cakes were customisable on our website, and people could click and collect. They enjoyed the same personalised experience but with the convenience of ordering online. In fact, because we had the website up and running we were prepared when Covid hit.

We have a Google Business Profile, so people can find us. But I can’t read my Google Reviews as I take it to heart too much! At this stage I’d say half our business comes from digital orders. Having the website has allowed me to diversify on the wholesale side too. I’m creating frozen products like our new cookie dough that I can distribute nationwide to coffee shop owners, which is exciting.

I’ve built a business with two cafes, a wholesale cake business, and an amazing team of 26 people who keep it all going. Digital has definitely been a big part of that success.