NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The Baking Notification Project online platform allows hobby bakers to share their excess baked goods with their neighbors for a profit.
"I started baking a lot, and we just can't eat everything. So like, I wanted to try new things like making croissants... I might make a dozen of them, and we can't eat a dozen croissants. They go stale pretty quickly. And so I would text my friends or I would text, you know, a neighbor or two that I knew to try to give them away," explained Jessica Morrison, who founded Baking Notification Project.
Her husband is a software developer and they worked together during the pandemic to build a platform where hobby bakers could give away their extra baked goods to a network of subscribers or followers.
"[The subscribers] pay $10 a month to get the text messages. And then I send out an offer. So like last night, I sent out an offer for the croissants that we have today. And I had 10 of them. So people text back and say ‘claim’ and that holds theirs," explained Morrison. "Then once 10 people claimed, the offer closed. So those 10 people are the people who are coming this morning [to my house] to like pick up, and so they don't pay anything extra for that."
Morrison said she never wanted to be a baker but enjoys making something for her family about once a week.
"People share food right? This isn't like we're not innovating on sharing food. I had an actual problem, which is that I couldn't spend all day sending texts trying to get rid of a few cinnamon rolls, right? I might have like four extra cinnamon rolls, or I might have eight extra chocolate chip cookies. And this was just more efficient," said Morrison.
Once the platform started working for her, Morrison added other bakers in different neighborhoods to the network.
"It's definitely more of a passion project or I guess it's more of a getting some compensation for something that you'd already be doing," explained baker Alison Carden.
Carden had been experimenting baking with cookbooks brought to her by friends from all over the world for about a decade before she joined the Baking Notification Project in March.
"You can't just make like a huge cake and then just get rid of it very easily. So this is a way to kind of, you know, be able to at least bake like once a week and not just have tons of stuff like sitting around," Carden explained. "Because really before this I didn't really get to bake more than like a few times a month just because you know, there's only two of us here and like I said, you can't just make like 30 cookies, you know? What are you supposed to do with them?"
Morrison said the project surprisingly formed a community during a time during the pandemic when she admitted she was feeling very disconnected.
"It's allowed me to feel more connected and grounded here. And then by opening it up to other people like to other bakers, I'm seeing the same thing happen for them. Like they're just feeling more connected with people in neighborhoods like maybe for whatever reason, they hadn't met them, and they're starting to meet more people just feel more connected," explained Morrison. "It's pretty awesome."
"You bake because you like to take care of people and do nice things for them. Whether that's your family or people at work. And, you know, this is I think it's like nice to think that this is making like positive moment in people's day you know, 'I get a piece of cake today. Great!'" Carden said.
Morrison said her subscribers say they like the element of surprise.
"I think it's just like the spontaneity of someone offering you something that they have a few extra of right?" said Morrison. "Like, I'll make a dozen blueberry muffins and we'll eat like, six or something. And then we’ll give away the other six. And so I think it's just, you know, it's the spontaneity, it's a little little bit of joy in your day."
To become a baker or to subscribe to a baker in your neighborhood, visit the Baking Notification Project's website.
