Fresholi | Melting Pot Café

We were in a local village today (Dalkey for anyone who knows it) and found they had a new market that I'd not seen before.  We had a look around.. lots of baked goods, ethnic foods, fruit and veg, ornaments etc.  Nice place.  And a soap stall!! The company was called the Soap Bakery and it was the most basic M&P I've ever seen.  Pretty vile stuff to be honest, very roughly made, wrapped badly and no label at all!!! It had the address and that was it - there was a little sticker on the back with the initals of the soap type (like TT for Tea Tree) but not an ingredient in sight! No weight, no batch number, no nothing... couldn't believe it.  They didn't smell that great either to be honest.  Also she had some soaps shaped like kids trains or bears etc... oh my lord, it was raggy as hell, not trimmed or anything.  She was charging 10 euro for 3 soaps and I'm sorry, but I wouldn't have paid that at all.  Nothing extra added, a tiny amount of EO (fading fast I'd say) and minimal basic colour. 

Turns out the stalls are 60 euro and it's a very affulent area so I might check out and see if I can get in on it nearer the Summer.  The only thing is the organiser might not want two soap stalls but I think I could point out the differences between my products and her soap - and I'm betting that she has no SA or insurance ... and was selling cupcake soaps (not the iced kind, the ones in the bun cases) which were all food fragrances. 

That sounds like one of Sean McCardle's, if so, another soaper wouldn't bother him, he is just interested in his 60 euros. Affluent area does always mean better sales. Give it a few visits and watch what people are buying, how much they are spending etc...
What county council area is that under? It could be one of Jackie Spillane's either, that would be DLRCC.
As to the soaper, there is some really bad MP stuff around. One down Cork way, has a bleak website and lots on ebay too. Sell it cheaply cos it's cheaply done. Such blatant disregard for regs is so annoying, wonder how long she has been there. If she's there a while and making enough to cover the pitch fee, production costs and make profit, I reckon you could blow her out of the water.

Eire

She was doing shawls too .. odd stall to be honest.  She did say the name of the organiser and it easily could have been a Sean ... I'll go next week and have a look see.  Seemed a fair few people there when I was there.  I thought if I had my body butters and lip balms going by summer, I might try it ... think that'd be a nice combo and different enough from the other woman's.

Also they had a stall selling face creams etc (didn't check the name, d'oh!)... face creams I could make for 29 euro for 50mls.. eeekkkk!!! Nice printed boxed packaging but I wouldn't pay that.  Also said anti-wrinkle, thought you couldn't state that unless proven? She, at least, did have the ingredients listed. 

It'd be DLRCC but no Coco Market signs up - similar sort of stalls though. I think the Coco one in Dalkey is on on Friday mornings (wouldn't suit me). 

Bleak is a good word - the stuff today was laughable.  Seriously, I was appalled but also rather chuffed cos I know I could do a billion times better!!

29 euros for 50ml is a good sign if she is selling/moving them. It's all about marketing. If you think about that area, put the cream in basic packaging, retail at 9.99, and then hers in good packaging, which do you thing the clientele of that market would buy?
Also, if she wholesales too, then there is a huge margin to be catered for, wholesale and retail.
Marketing is everything, it is just a matter of how you sell it. Was it Green Angel?

Eire

Stop dithering Honey and get yourself out there!!

The longer you leave it the hardr it will be to start.

Not Green Angel... I can't remember the name of them for the life of me though.  Will check again.

EJ  :mwaha: Will do, need to get my SA through and finalise labels for BB's and balms etc before I move on it.  Do have a banner though, forward thinking!

I saw the Soap Bakery at the Christmas market they have at the Custom House (Dublin) a couple of Christmas's ago.  By the sound of things they haven't changed a bit.  I am flabbergasted that it is still in business. 

I had actually seen them advertised on the leaflet and went specifically to have a look.  How disappointing! 

Honey I think you would blow them away.  Their stuff (in my opinion anyway) looks r...ish.   

could we see her bleak web site please??

I would think that Dalky would have a great catchment area  -Bray, Dublin, Killiney and if it is advertised it should do well.  60 euros is not bad either. I would be seriously tempted particularly if the "competition" is a bad as you say.

I have seen a few stalls exactly how your describing Honey and I also wonder how they get away with it...you go and show them how it's done ..properly :buttrf:

Had a look for the website, quite a lot with the name Soap Bakery both here and US but none of them look like the one you are talking about.
Interesting that the name is used so often, yet there is no problem with that,  considering how careful everyone is on here not to use the same as others.

A couple of years ago she didn't seem to have a website.  I remember picking up a leafley off the stand but it as far as I can remember only had an e-mail address.  It is based in Co. Wexford.

I'd like to see this bleak website also! Honey I definitely think EJ is right and you should get out there as soon as possible,your products are a great inspiration for me.Oh to be as good as you one day!  :buttrf:

nosey ness overcomes me...please show :mwaha: us bleak, vile website, please!!!

The Soap Bakery person from yesterday doesn't have a website.. Eire mentioned another similiar dire one in Cork that is Mrs Bleak Website ... not come across her as yet myself, Eire might have the link.

Samantha you flatter me - but if you'd seen the way I was working yesterday, you'd not say that!!! I have found, if you don't soap regularly, you can get out of the rhythm of it.. I was running around like a blue arsed fly yesterday cos I kept forgetting to have things ready.  Didn't help I was doing one of my more labour intensive, "fingers crossed" soaps of course  :mwaha:  And it's all about practice really, the more practice you get the best it gets so practice, practice, practice!!

Lots of people know Dublin more than I thought!!! Yep Dalkey's a really posh area, lots of money... I'm seriously thinking about it.  Need some injection of cash right now but not for this month, we're stoney.  I'm going to do some research and work on it for next month I think. 

Here here  :)

You MUST go for it!  You know your soaps are way far better, and yours certainly arn't dull, sounds like a similar soap maker to the one I had to convince the organiser to let me have a stall - but one very small sample did the trick  ;) 

Take the bull by the horns and go for it...you obviously have much more integrity than the person you saw selling the soaps, which counts for a lot especially to the people buying the products.   :buttrf:

Oh, Go for it Honey. You'll love it. Talking to customers about your own products getting them to have a wee sniff as i, not very elegantly, say (. And if visually they are not convinced (they'd be idiots but ..) then the scents would bowl them over for sure.

I know that a lot of customers probably don't know about labelling and the like, I didn't until I started here, but they do know the difference between something that is quality and well prestented and actually handmade, and something that is half-heartedly done.  When I was first thinking about making soaps, I went to the craft fair in Troon, saw the soap stall and thought 'Is that it?' iT was uninspiring, bland and looked like you would only buy from tescos is you were in a desperate rush for soap and that was all they had.

Your soaps are fabulous, Honey, and truely handmade, Go for it  :buttrf:

Blushes!! Thank you everyone, this is definitely on my list to do - I cannot manage this month or possibly April but I'd like to put it on the calendar for May and work towards it.  Thanks everyone! I'm going back tomorrow for a bit of a spy!

Hey I hope you have taken you 'spy cam' with you...Plus, we want a full report on your return  :mwaha: