- Title: NYC baker makes 500 loaves of banana bread a week - and sells out in minutes
- Date: 30th March 2021
- Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (MARCH 29, 2021) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF FOUNDER OF ALLIE'S BANANA BREAD, ALLIE CHERNICK, TAKING HER BANANA BREAD OUT OF THE OVEN CHERNICK CUTTING INTO BANANA BREAD (SOUNDBITE) (English) FOUNDER OF ALLIE'S BANANA BREAD, ALLIE CHERNICK, SAYING: "Hi, I'm Allie Chernick, I am 27 years old and I bake banana bread." BANANA BREAD (SOUNDBITE) (English) FOUNDER OF ALLIE'S BANANA BREAD, ALLIE CHERNICK, SAYING (OFF CAMERA): "So good. It's so good. Thanks, grandma." (SOUNDBITE) (English) FOUNDER OF ALLIE'S BANANA BREAD, ALLIE CHERNICK, SAYING: "I never really thought that I'd be just baking banana bread every day and that would be it, but that's kind of what it is. I like to make people happy and I like to watch people eat things that I made and watch them love it." VARIOUS OF BANANA BREAD (SOUNDBITE) (English) FOUNDER OF ALLIE'S BANANA BREAD, ALLIE CHERNICK, SAYING: "It's very homey and it tastes very homemade and I just hope it reminds them of being cozy and happy." VARIOUS OF BANANA BREAD (SOUNDBITE) (English) FOUNDER OF ALLIE'S BANANA BREAD, ALLIE CHERNICK, SAYING: "There are some things I am not going to show you guys because it's a secret." CHERNICK USING MEASURING CUP TO PUT SUGAR INTO MIXING BOWL CHERNICK POURING MIXING BOWL WITH SUGAR INTO INDUSTRIAL STAND MIXER CHERNICK VARIOUS OF CHERNICK USING MEASURING CUP TO PUT FLOUR INTO MIXING BOWL CHERNICK POURING DRY INGREDIENT INTO STAND MIXER VARIOUS OF CHERNICK CRACKING EGGS INTO BOWL AND POURING THEM INTO STAND MIXER CHOCOLATE CHIPS AND SUGAR IN CONTAINERS WITH CHERNICK AT STAND MIXER VARIOUS OF INGREDIENTS MIXING IN STAND MIXER CHERNICK WALKING DOWN HALLWAY (SOUNDBITE) (English) FOUNDER OF ALLIE'S BANANA BREAD, ALLIE CHERNICK, SAYING: "These are the bananas we'll be using, these are kind of perfect for banana bread." TIE-DYE CLOGS / CHERNICK WEARING TIE-DYE HOODED SWEATSHIRT (SOUNDBITE) (English) FOUNDER OF ALLIE'S BANANA BREAD, ALLIE CHERNICK, SAYING: "Everyone would freak out and be like, 'This is the best, can I have the recipe?' And because I always thought I was going to start a business with it, I kind of said, 'No, I don't want to give them it, I'll just make them one.' So that's kind of how it all started. I started to make it for my friends and friends of friends, and then I made an Instagram for it because I was getting so many orders that I couldn't really keep track anymore just through texting. And then the Instagram is kind of what it blew it up and I started to just get so many orders. And then I was in a Brooklyn market December 2019 to kind of test out the waters with people who I didn't know. And it was insane. It sold out. It was great. And that's kind of when I started to take it a little bit more seriously. And I rented this kitchen and I legalized my business and I did all that kind of stuff. Then COVID happened and I kind of had to stop things for a little bit. But it was still my side job, so it was not a big deal. And then once my kitchen reopened, I came back here. My Instagram had kind of blown up a lot more at that point. And I was getting so many orders that I could finally quit my job and do this full time." VARIOUS OF CHERNICK PEELING BANANAS CHERNICK POURING BANANAS INTO STAND MIXER CHERNICK SPRAYING LOAF PANS WITH COOKING SPRAY VARIOUS OF INGREDIENTS MIXING IN STAND MIXER VARIOUS OF CHERNICK CARRYING INGREDIENTS TO TABLE VARIOUS OF CHERNICK SPOONING INGREDIENTS INTO LOAF PANS VARIOUS OF CHERNICK PUTTING LOAF PANS INTO OVEN CHERNICK TURNING ON OVEN VARIOUS OF CHERNICK CHECKING ON BANANA BREAD (SOUNDBITE) (English) FOUNDER OF ALLIE'S BANANA BREAD, ALLIE CHERNICK, SAYING: "At the most 2 minutes, but usually less than a minute. It's pretty crazy."
- Embargoed: 13th April 2021 20:54
- Keywords: Allie Chernick Allie's Banana Bread Instagram banana bread
- Location: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES / INTERNET
- City: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES / INTERNET
- Country: USA
- Topics: Human Interest/Brights/Odd News,Society/Social Issues,United States
- Reuters ID: LVA001E6A0QJD
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Allie Chernick, the 27-year-old photo editor-turned-baker behind Allie's Banana Bread, makes 500 banana bread loaves a week - and sells out within minutes.
"At the most 2 minutes, but usually, less than a minute," she said from her commercial kitchen in downtown Manhattan. "It's pretty crazy."
Chernick had been baking banana bread for years using her grandmother's recipe, and would make it for friends in college.
"Everyone would freak out and be like, 'This is the best, can I have the recipe?' And because I always thought I was going to start a business with it, I kind of said, 'No, I don't want to give them it, I'll just make them one'," she said.
Chernick created an Instagram account for her creations because she was getting so many orders through word of mouth that she couldn't keep track just through texting. She did further testing of the sales of her banana bread through a Brooklyn market in December 2019.
"It was insane," she said. "It sold out. It was great. And that's kind of when I started to take it a little bit more seriously."
Chernick rented a commercial kitchen. Then the coronavirus pandemic hit a little more than a year ago, forcing her kitchen to close temporarily.
"I kind of had to stop things for a little bit," she said. "But it was still my side job, so it was not a big deal."
Once the kitchen reopened four months later in the summer, Chernick's Instagram account had "blown up a lot more at that point," she said. "And I was getting so many orders that I could finally quit my job and do this full-time."
Chernick left her job as a photo editor for clothing maker Ralph Lauren in September.
Of her 500 weekly loaves, 300 currently go to a market on Manhattan's tony Upper East Side and 200 for delivery nationwide.
Her photos of the sweets, some dripping with chocolate and maple syrup, get posted to Instagram each week.
"I never really thought that I'd be just baking banana bread every day and that would be it, but that's kind of what it is," she said. "I like to make people happy and I like to watch people eat things that I made and watch them love it. It's very homey and it tastes very homemade and I just hope it reminds them of being cozy and happy."
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