Sell your bakery business.

Retail case vs wholesale accounts

A bakery is often two companies sharing a mixer. The storefront sells on location, case mix, and morning traffic. The wholesale book sells on contract quality, delivery routes, and whether restaurants and grocers will stay when the founder stops driving the van. Buyers will split those streams. A pretty retail room does not rescue a wholesale book that is really a handful of handshake accounts.

Recipes and starter cultures feel like the crown jewels. What actually transfers is documented formulas, scaled batch sheets, and a production lead who is not you. If the product only exists because you bake at 3 a.m., that is owner labor, not enterprise value.

Equipment, leases, and food-safety transfer

Deck ovens, sheeters, and proofers are real money, but only at orderly-liquidation or in-place value if the lease allows the buyer to keep them. A landlord who wants the space back for a higher-rent tenant can strand a six-figure line. Health-department change-of-ownership inspections, cottage-food vs commercial licensing, and any shared commissary agreement need a calendar before you accept a deposit.

Allergen controls and labeling for wholesale accounts show up in diligence more often than sellers expect. One unlabeled nut issue can cost a grocery account that a buyer already counted in the model.

What to have ready before you list a bakery

Give us retail vs wholesale on separate lines, a customer list with concentration, and which accounts are written vs verbal. Add a simple equipment list with age and last service. If you own formulas you consider trade secrets, decide now what the buyer gets in writing. That package tells us whether you have a transferable bakery or a job with ovens.