During the lockdown, we all have explored new things and most commonly, many people tried cooking. We made many dishes at home and flaunted our skills on social media platforms through pictures! Since some of us shared a common interest of cooking/ baking, we had plenty of ideas and wanted to put our passion into work. So, for our CAS Project, 4 of my friends and I decided to open a home bakery towards the end of the lockdown period (near about July).
The Covid-19 pandemic had left a lot of people resourceless and vulnerable. We decided to help such people with our earned revenues by providing them with packed food, gloves, sanitizers and masks.
LO1: I was never into cooking and baking. Although I had taken up cooking as my learning activity in middle school, I never willingly cooked at my home. By seeing a lot of people working in the kitchen, I tried it too. I started baking muffins and cakes with my mother, and I really enjoyed it. For CASAKES, I decided to take up orders for muffins and cakes because I was good at it. I wasn’t great at icing the cakes, but my mother helped me through it. Also, two of my friends who were good at decorating helped me work through it by video calling. I got better at my work by practicing, and it definitely polished my baking skills.
I also contributed in marketing by using social media platforms. We created a page on instagram, and also forwarded the menu and images to people on other mediums like Whatsapp. Two of my friends worked on making the poster and menu, while 3 of us worked on finance and budgeting.
LO2: As I mentioned earlier, I was not good at decorating and presenting the cakes since I did not have much ideas in mind. My mother helped me physically through it, and my team helped me by forwarding some ideas and videos online. Even though I had signed up to take orders for muffins and cakes, there were times when the orders were switched between the team members due to unavoidable situations. Due to this, we all had to learn all the dishes that were presented in the menu, and all of us had to look after each other. We took up things that we were not good at, and consequently learnt new things and improved our baking skills.
Another challenge was communication. Due to the lockdown, we couldn’t meet physically and had to communicate through texts and calls. Many a times, some of us weren’t available as we all had different routines and schedules. It was difficult for us to work out one time when 5 of us were free and could discuss CAS. However, after sometime, we all adjusted and did conference calls to contribute ideas and be on the same page.
LO3 & LO4: In about the beginning of June we started our discussion, and by Mid-June we were certain about CASAKES and our team members. We started our planning after that. Since it was not possible for us to meet physically, we had scheduled conference calls almost every alternate day (in the beginning) to decide and finalise stuff. It was not really convenient, but we had to manage because we did not have any other option. For us to stay on the same page, we had common groups where we discussed and finalised everything. Starting a home bakery definitely required a lot of aspects to be taken care of. We had to plan our budget by looking at the prices and quantity of all ingredients. As all of us had to work individually at our own places, we would require separate ingredients for each which obviously increased our total costs. Also, we kept on trying new designs and modifications for our food items to please our customers and produce best taste and quality. The entire process of planning was really crucial and helped us a lot in when our venture actually started since we were prepared with all our layout and working.
LO5: Working in a team of 5 made it easier for all tasks to be delegated and done properly. We distributed work amongst each other with accordance to our respective strengths and weaknesses. Working in a partnership, it became easier for us to promote our venture and reach a wider audience. We all came to know our interests and our strengths by working together. We did have arguments due to the difference in opinions, but eventually this project bought all of us even closer than before.
LO6: The global issues that were applicable to our CAS project were good health & well-being and clean water & sanitation. One of the main motives behind the project was to help the people in need after the harsh effects of Covid-19. Since the pandemic was escalating, we decided to give off packed food, gloves, masks and sanitizers.
LO7: Being a global citizen, we made sure to take care of little things that may impact our global in a negative manner. We ensured zero usage of plastic, and hence delivered our products in reusable bags. We also disposed all of our waste properly during the making.
All in all, the CAS project was a great experience for all of us. It brought all of us closer than we were and presented itself as an opportunity for us to learn many new things!
