Meet Becky Clutter | Founder of Fikabröd, Baking Subscription Box

We had the good fortune of connecting with Becky Clutter and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Becky, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
A few months after I graduated from university, I got a basset hound puppy, Preston. He quickly became my absolute best friend. He was a massive part of the first decade and a half of my adult life, and ever since he passed away in April 2018, I have greatly struggled with grief, depression, and suicidal thoughts.

In early 2019 I went on sabbatical from my job as a creative director to focus on my mental health. I have always loved baking, but I had sort of lost that part of myself. So, one of my goals during sabbatical was to bake at least once a week. Then I started baking more and more, binge-watching The Great British Bake Off, reading cookbooks for fun, etc. At the time I was receiving a washi tape and sticker subscription box, and I thought that it would be rather fun to receive a baking-related subscription box each month to help me try out new ingredients, methods, and more. I searched for one, but all I could find were baking kits (premeasured ingredients for a specific recipe), which was a bummer.

For the next couple of months, this idea of a subscription box for adventurous, ardent home bakers kept floating around in my head. Eventually I thought, “Since I can’t find the sub box I want, why don’t I start it?” Not sure if that makes me crazy or smart… or maybe a little of both.

Even though it’s sad and dark, talking about Preston and my struggles with depression are an important part of Fikabröd’s story. Without going through everything that I’ve been going through, I probably wouldn’t have ventured down this path and launched Fikabröd. Plus, there’s such a stigma about mental health issues in this country that I think it’s important to talk about. If I’m open and a little vulnerable, maybe that will help chip away a bit at the stigma or help someone else who is also struggling.

What should our readers know about your business?
Fikabröd is a subscription box for home bakers who love to experiment in the kitchen—from adventurous beginners to advanced pâtissiers. The monthly boxes contain full-size ingredients, along with baking tools, baking decorations, and/or other baking-related goodies. I like to say that our boxes are for the baking obsessed.

Each box centres around a theme with the ingredients and other items corresponding with the theme. We’ve had all kinds of themes in the past: Yippee Pie Yay, Bell’Italia, Hygge, and Love Made Edible, just to name a few.

In regard to the ingredients, I adore featuring artisan products from fellow small businesses, as well as delicious, imported items. For every ingredient we ship, we post recipes on our website to give our subscribers some baking inspiration. Or, since we send full-size ingredients, they can bake whatever they like. We just want our subscribers to experiment, have fun, and bake something yummy!

With Fikabröd, I’m filling a hole in the market. All the other baking subscription boxes out there are baking kits (premeasured ingredients for a specific recipe). Before Fikabröd, there wasn’t anything geared towards more moderate to advanced bakers who already have flour, sugar, and a multitude of chocolate chips in the house at all times. Nothing existed for us adventurous, incredibly passionate home bakers.

One of Fikabröd’s main missions is to seek out exciting, scrumptious, gourmet ingredients. We do the work of finding unique, international, and/or small-batch products. This allows our subscribers to play in the kitchen, even if they don’t have the time to search for or local access to these types of ingredients. The tools, baking decor, and other goodies included in the boxes help provide even more inspiration.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Whenever my husband and I travel anywhere, trying out local cuisine and restaurants is one of our main priorities, so that would also be my focus when entertaining out-of-towners. We would welcome our friends to our home with a variety of doughnuts from Doughnut Dollies, then quarter them so everyone can sample everything. For meals, we’d go to West Egg Cafe, Bookhouse Pub, Chai Pani, South City Kitchen, Lee’s Bakery, General Muir, Gunshow, Farm Burger, and Ginya Izakaya. My husband and I were married on the roof of Ponce City Market, so we’d probably also take our friends to PCM to check out the food stalls and shops, as well as pop up to the roof for some drinks and skee-ball. And of course I would take my out-of-town guests to Little Tart Bakeshop; what kind of baker would I be if I didn’t!?

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I definitely have to give a shoutout to my husband, as he is a constant source of support and encouragement. He’s helped me through some mental health struggles, and he’s always ready to lend a helping hand—whether it’s by packing boxes or taste-testing my recipes or giving me a hug.

Also, I would like to give a shoutout to some of my fellow women founders I have met in the food space since launching Fikabröd. These women are a source of inspiration, community, and support. This includes Monica at The Chai Box, Larissa at Bakey Bakes, Loree at Let Them Eat Candles, Sajani at Kola Goodies, and Megumi at Kankitsu Labo.

Website: https://www.fikabrodbox.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fikabrodbox

Twitter: https://twitter.com/fikabrodbox

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fikabrodbox

Other: https://recipes.fikabrodbox.com

Image Credits
Becky Clutter