Cake & Loaf wins $100K business prize

Toronto – Hamilton bakery owners Josie Rudderham and Nicole Miller have claimed the top $100,000 prize in the sixth Small Business Challenge contest, a nation-wide competition that celebrates Canadian entrepreneurs sponsored by Telus and The Globe and Mail.

The duo founded Cake & Loaf Bakery six years ago as a neighbourhood “from scratch” bakery dedicated to using local ingredients. The company has grown to 23 employees, added a second location at the Hamilton Farmers’ Market and has surpassed $1 million in annual revenue.

“We are excited and truly humbled to win the Small Business Challenge. As a small business we really appreciate the opportunity from Telus and The Globe and Mail to make our dreams a reality,” said Nicole Miller of Cake & Loaf in a media release. “We’d also like to thank our community for their incredible support; this award is going to help us do some great things here in Hamilton.”

The Small Business Challenge opened for entries between March and May of this year, and after more than 3,400 small businesses from across the country applied, earlier this summer, as reported by Bakers Journal,  Cake & Loaf was named among five semi-finalists. The finalists then had to pitch a panel of small business experts on their plans for how they would use the $100,000.

“All of this year’s finalists truly exemplify the amazing things Canadian small businesses are doing and the economic opportunities they are creating,” said Suzanne Trusdale, Telus’s vice-president of small business solutions, in the release.

“Cake & Loaf rose to the top with their incredible passion for operating a socially responsible community-focused business. They have an extraordinary focus on taking care of their customers as well as their team, and have a clear vision for exactly how they will use the $100,000 to take their business to the next level. I’m confident this award will help them continue their amazing growth while maintaining their commitment to their customers, employees and community.”

The Cake & Loaf owners plan to invest the prize money into customer relationship management technology and they are looking to double their current retail space; creating an expanded storefront that will offer a place to sit and eat and where they can offer baking classes, provide retail space for locally made products and host community events.