Baking enthusiasts! Whether you are a beginner, very experimental in the kitchen or an advanced pâtissier, the Fikabröd Baking Subscription Box created by Becky Clutter appeals to all tastes and ages. Every month with Fikabröd you have the opportunity to explore new and unique recipes that will take you on a culinary adventure! I couldn’t wait to sit down with Becky to hear more about her company and how Fikabröd got started.
Thank you so much for joining us! Please tell us a bit about yourself.
Hej there! Thanks so much for having me! My name is Becky Clutter, and I’m the founder of Fikabröd, a monthly subscription box for bakers. After graduating from Carnegie Mellon, I was a creative director and designer for 15 years before launching Fikabröd in 2019. My education and previous experience definitely comes in handy, as I do all of Fikabröd’s branding, design, and photography. We small business owners love saving money wherever we can, and we always need to. Nowadays when I’m not baking or working, you’ll find me spending time with my husband and our dogs (Margot and Benne), watching football with my Steelers crew, trying out a new craft (currently it’s beading), rewatching Doctor Who or sampling the goods at new-to-me bakeries wherever I go.
What was the motivation to start Fikabröd and what is the significance behind the brand’s name?
I was inspired to start Fikabröd after the death of my best friend, my beloved basset hound Preston. As I struggled with the loss and extremely deep resulting depression, baking became more than just a hobby, it was an act of healing. During this time I thought it would be fun to receive a baking subscription box full of surprises each month. I searched, but I couldn’t find what I wanted: a monthly box for bakers who love to experiment in the kitchen and already have a pantry stocked with the baking essentials. When I couldn’t find what I wanted, I decided to create it myself. Did I make this bold leap because I was still out of my mind with grief? Your guess is as good as mine, but I’m glad I did.
Regarding the brand’s name some might think of fika as the Swedish coffee break, but it’s so much more than that. Fika is a time to slow down and commune with friends, family, co-workers, or simply yourself while having some coffee or tea and baked goods. It’s a tasty, soothing break from life’s hustle and bustle. The treats eaten during fika such as cinnamon buns are called fikabröd. Since I’m influenced by Swedish baking and simply adore pausing to share my bakes with others, Fikabröd seemed like the perfect name for my business.
How does Fikabröd work, exactly?
Folks may sign up for a month-to-month subscription or a 6-month or 12-month commitment term. We also offer gift subscriptions. After signing up, subscribers can look forward to receiving happy mail from us once a month. Each box has a theme and includes full-size ingredients and other fun, baking-related goodies that correspond with the theme. We also provide a recipe for each ingredient on our website to give some inspiration. Since our boxes include full-size ingredients, subscribers can bake whatever they like. Our recipes are just suggestions, and as I like to say, I’m not your mom, so go ahead and eat that hand-crafted salted caramel with a spoon. Use that small batch garam masala in your dinner recipe instead of a bake. Snack on that candied Japanese yuzu peel. Or bake something! You could describe our boxes as quite “Choose Your Own Adventure.” Fikabröd’s boxes are designed to help folks play and experiment in the kitchen with items that are new, new-to-them, imported, unique, or hard to find outside of major cities. I love seeing what subscribers make with the box items, as they are so creative and sometimes they use the ingredients in a way that would never even occur to me.
How does your subscription box stand out from other brands?
Every other baking box on the market is a baking kit: a specific recipe, pre-measured ingredients for that recipe, and related decor or tools. Those boxes work well for people who are novices or want more direction in the kitchen. Fikabröd is for bakers who love to experiment. From adventurous beginners or seasoned pâtissiers. If you want to play, I am here for you. I will send you amazing versions of your favorite baking ingredients such as Burlap & Barrel’s Royal Cinnamon as well as items you may have never considered using in a bake like pickles. Also, including full-size ingredients in the box is relatively unique, I believe. And all of our recipes are on our website for anyone (subscribers or not) to use. Early on, I debated whether or not the recipes should only be available for subscribers, but I decided that making them accessible to all was more in line with Fikabröd’s core of sharing and playing.
How do you choose which products to feature each month?
It might sound odd, but the themes just sort of…come to me. Sometimes they’re based on a region or country, a season, a holiday, but then sometimes I get a wild hair and run with it such as the Double Yoi box which was football themed. On occasion, I will absolutely fall in love with something, and I’ll come up with a theme specifically so I can feature that ingredient or small business. Each month I spend an absurd amount of time researching and testing different ingredients and goodies, and whenever I can, I attend culinary trade shows to see and taste what’s new. To select the exact items for the boxes, I review my cache of ideas and see what works well with the chosen theme while always keeping budget and size constraints in mind. Fikabröd does focus on gourmet, imported, small batch ingredients whenever we can, and I absolutely love including items from other woman-owned small businesses. That’s really all I can say, as the box curation is definitely part of Fikabröd’s special sauce!
Is there anything else you would like our readers to know?
Sustainability is really important to me. Before I launched Fikabröd, I researched and brainstormed on how I could send boxes each month in the most eco-friendly way. Our cardboard boxes come from an American company that also focuses on sustainability. All of Fikabröd’s packaging is recyclable: the boxes, the packing tape, the shipping labels, the void fill, and even the backing paper for the shipping labels! Also, Fikabröd is a one-woman show. People are often surprised when I tell them that, so it seems worth mentioning. I am regularly tired and stressed, but I am incredibly passionate about Fikabröd and adore interacting with our subscribers. While I obviously love experimenting in the kitchen myself, it brightens my day whenever I see how a subscriber is baking with items I hand-selected with love and curiosity in my heart.
Get your baking groove on at https://www.fikabrodbox.com/
