Something Sweet For You and Others Too
2020 has been quite the year. We are in the midst of a global pandemic, small businesses are closing all around us, and police brutality has sparked nationwide protests and support for the Black Lives Matter movement. At Dessert Goals, our mission has always been to create joyful experiences and to support small dessert businesses. Now, not being able to do what we do best, gather people together for festivals, we’ve had to rethink our business and how we can help those in need. With our upcoming Digital Dessert Goals it’s our hope to create some sweet moments of joy while you stay safe at home and supporting others too. Here’s our plan!
Small Businesses
Supporting small businesses has always been at the root of Dessert Goals. At every festival we showcase dessert vendors who specialize in unique treats, with a fresh line up of businesses at each. In 4 years, across our nine festivals we have spotlighted 180 small businesses at our events. It’s warmed our hearts over the years to hear about collaborations between businesses who met at our festivals, vendors who went on to open their first store fronts, and how the press opportunities and exposure that Dessert Goals facilitated has helped these businesses grow.
When the pandemic hit and we had to cancel our 2020 festivals, we talked with many of our #dessertgoalsalumni on the phone and over email, as they all figured out how to pivot to online sales. We offered help and connections and highlighted them in our newsletters and social posts. We launched Dessert of the Month subscription to feature a different business each month to help provide revenue for the businesses in our network.
With Digital Dessert Goals we wanted to create the sense of discovery that is felt when walking into the festival by rounding up small businesses online that you could order from for nationwide shipping. Logging into the Virtual Vendor Marketplace there are bright colors and delicious looking desserts (now if only we could add smell!). There are now over 30 small businesses on the marketplace, each offering special deals such as free shipping or 10-20% off.
Unlike Goldbelly or local delivery companies who take a percentage of sales and/or charge a fee to customers, all the vendors on the Marketplace are not paying us to be there, and all orders are placed directly with the vendor, who earns the full amount of each sale. We want to bring customers to these small businesses, to help them survive this tough year, without trying to profit off of them. We’re just doing what we do best: curating and creating an experience — so they can do what they do best: make delicious desserts! With your ticket to Digital Dessert Goals you immediately unlock access to the Virtual Vendor Marketplace, so you can start shopping for desserts and supporting small businesses. You’ll have access to the Marketplace until August 8th so you can spread out the dessert shopping, finding sweet treats for yourself or loved ones!
Sneak peek at the Virtual Vendor Marketplace. With your Digital Dessert Goals ticket you will unlock discounts such as free shipping or a percentage off of your order to 30+ small dessert businesses. All vendors are shipping nationwide.
Bakers Against Racism
When deciding who should be the keynote speakers for Digital Dessert Goals, Bakers Against Racism felt like the perfect choice. They galvanized a community of bakers and dessert lovers like never before. Willa Pelini had an idea how to raise awareness and money to fight racism, texted her friend and fellow pastry chef, Paola Velez, and quickly this bake sale went viral. The mission of Bakers Against Racism is to see an end to racism, fascism and the unjust treatment of Black people in America. They shared resources for individuals to host their own bake sales, and between June 15-20, 2020 over 2,500 individuals hosted bake sales that collectively raised $1,859,234.08 for a range of organizations supporting the Black Lives Matter movement.
The keynote conversation of Digital Dessert Goals is between Willa Pelini, co-founder of Bakers Against Racism, and Melanie Lino, co-owner of Lit Coffee Roastery & Bakeshop in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, who participated in the June Bake Sale. They inspire each of us to think about how we can use our individual skills and talents to create long lasting change.
Dessert Goals is known for creating feel-good content with our events, dessert recipes and delicious photos, while building and supporting community is also an important part of who we are and what we strive to do. Figuring out how we could best support this movement felt daunting, but Bakers Against Racism has set an amazing example. They’ve reminded us how desserts can bring people together, and together we can make change. The bake sale, so simple and nostalgic, became a catalyst for individuals to do their part by baking or purchasing baked goods, donating and raising awareness to support the Black Lives Matter movement. We wanted to give Bakers Against Racism our platform to continue amplifying their message to our dessert-loving audience. Their conversation will remind us all to use our skills (dessert making, photography, event production, etc.) to make a difference.
Follow Bakers Against Racism on Instagram
Read the resources from Bakers Against Racism
Podcast suggestions from Bakers Against Racism to listen to while you’re baking
Support Black-owned businesses and bakeries in your city!
No Kid Hungry
We’ve always said that at Dessert Goals festivals we want you to embrace your inner child! Since the very first festival in 2016 there has been a candy bar with free candy, because what makes you feel like a kid more than candy and indulging in desserts? Our festivals are decorated in bright colors with fun music and themes encouraging you to dress up. It’s really the sweetest day ever for all ages. So to honor the fact that we’re trying to embrace our inner child, we wanted to give back to an organization that is helping kids -- which is why we are donating $1 of every ticket sold from Digital Dessert Goals to No Kid Hungry.
No Kid Hungry is an organization working to end childhood hunger in America. Many children rely on the healthy meals they receive at school, and with schools closed due to covid-19, No Kid Hungry is working extra hard to reach children in need with their Free Meals Finder and other initiatives.
One of the demos on the schedule of Digital Dessert Goals is how to make ice cream in a bag, taught by Michael Platt of Michaels Desserts. Michael is 14 years old and is a Youth Advocate for No Kid Hungry. His demo is perfect for kids (and adults!) of all ages to mix at home.
Preview Michaels Desserts Ice Cream In A Bag Demo. Watch the full video at Digital Dessert Goals!
Ticket Scholarship
Digital Dessert Goals has launched a scholarship program that offers free festival access to 200 frontline workers and out-of-work hospitality industry professionals, with the goal of bringing a bit of sweetness and joy to those most affected by the covid-19 pandemic. We’ve tried to keep our ticket prices low at $25, but we know that this isn’t accessible for everyone right now. We want to make sure anyone who is interested in joining our event has the opportunity to do so.
There is a short application for the ticket scholarship and we are notifying recipients on a rolling basis. To apply for a ticket scholarship to Digital Dessert Goals just fill out this application. Please pass along to any friends that might be interested.
Thanks for supporting small businesses, including Dessert Goals. We are an independent woman-owned business and we are doing our best to continue providing joy. Until we can safely gather in person, we’ll work on ways to connect dessert lovers at home and feature small dessert businesses.
Hope to see you at Digital Dessert Goals July 31 + August 1! Access to the Vendor Marketplace and all the video content will be available until August 8th, so you can shop and view at your leisure and extend the dessert party all week long!