How to react if someone steals your recipes?

[DC200]

I hope this is in the right category... I'd like to ask your advice on how we should handle a situation that just happened to us.

Someone broke into our dessert bakery and stole our recipe book. Now, we have the recipes on backup, and so we won't lose them, but we are in a pretty competitive market, where new dessert bakeries are popping up all over the place (Like the rest of the country I guess)

We are pretty well established, have a good name and reputation, and can't help but be furious--yet a little paranoid about all of our best kept recipe secrets getting out. I know it's only a matter of time before they end up on some blogs--but I thought it'd happen by someone reverse engineering.

So what should I do? Is it worth worrying about? Does recipe theft usually hurt a business?

Here are some of the things we have thought of doing:

1. Launch a pre-emptive, proactive approach--perhaps contact the local media and see if they would report on it (we've been featured a few times on the news, because of our unique atmosphere)

2. Perhaps offer a reward?

3. Put a sign on our marquee saying "Our recipes are so good, someone broke in to steal them"

There is the more vindictive side--which wants me to have the police bring in any previous employee who was disgruntled, and run a full investigation (we did file a police report)--but that's probably because I've watched too many detective/crime shows.

Anyway, it may not seem like a big deal, but to us, the creation of our recipes is our prized position. So we feel quite angry and violated that someone would break in. How do you recommend we react?

Thanks,

Doug

[Broken English]

That really sucks.

There's not much you can do about it though, I'd just take it as a compliment. Also, remember that if you give twenty chefs the same recipe, you're still going to get twenty different dishes.

Perhaps in the end it will be a positive, like you said, if word gets out that you had your recipes stolen in a break in, it could be a massive boost to your profile.

[ScoopKW]

That really sucks.

There's not much you can do about it though, I'd just take it as a compliment. Also, remember that if you give twenty chefs the same recipe, you're still going to get twenty different dishes.

Perhaps in the end it will be a positive, like you said, if word gets out that you had your recipes stolen in a break in, it could be a massive boost to your profile.

+1

Nobody is going to make your recipes like you -- they likely don't have the same equipment. More importantly they don't have the same technique.

When I was making beer for a living, I'd give my recipes to anyone who asked for them. No chance in Hades they were going to finish with the same product. It's nothing more to the thief than a good starting point.

And I would use this as a marketing tool up the wazoo. Offer a minor reward for the book. Don't mention you have backups. Do this in such a way that your clients will find out about it, without going all cheesy and photocopying "Have you seen this book?" leaflets. Take an ad out in a local newspaper. Run it weekly for a month. Include a coupon to see if this drives any business your way.

[andiesenji]

I agree with Scoop.

Especially, don't whine! Invite one of the local media folks who does "specials" on the prime time news shows and present it as an ironic or funny story. - Your stuff is so good that someone is willing to steal to duplicate it.

It will get you good press and other stations may pick it up, it might even go national. It has happened before and garnered more business for the place that was victimized.

Edited November 5, 2011 by andiesenji (log)

[Lisa Shock]

I agree as well. Honestly, a good pastry chef could probably reverse engineer your stuff if they really wanted to. And, there isn't that much out there that is totally unique. (it's not like you're the only people on earth who know how to make macaroons...) Like people have pointed out, most of us give recipes away all the time. I have a collection of gold medal winning recipes from various world-level competitions given to me freely by some of the best chefs in the world. Whoever stole it is, IMO, an inexperienced and incompetent shoemaker. Even if they open up next door and just sell stuff made with your recipes, they won't do it as well as you.

That said, it's perfect for publicity, and if you can get the news to run the story, that's excellent free advertizing. Hopefully you filed a police report. This is exactly the sort of story news outlets love, and it might get regional or national attention online.

[jrshaul]

I wouldn't worry about it. Unless you have something really wild, odds are that your work was stolen by an amateur; the difference between a successful bakery and a flop is, after all, mostly a question of efficiency, good planning, and marketing. I could probably replicate your macaroons if I spent a day or two in the kitchen, but there's no way I could do a thousand a day, and it's flat-out impossible I could match the cost. I'd also profile your employees - theft happens most often from those who know you best...

And I would use this as a marketing tool up the wazoo. Offer a minor reward for the book. Don't mention you have backups. Do this in such a way that your clients will find out about it, without going all cheesy and photocopying "Have you seen this book?" leaflets. Take an ad out in a local newspaper. Run it weekly for a month. Include a coupon to see if this drives any business your way.

"BEWARE: You may have received an inferior copy of our products. Please do not confuse with the genuine article...."

[Alex]

I agree with the previous posters, but only up to a point. Using the incident for publicity is a great idea, and it's good you made a police report, but a recipe book being stolen (anything else?), as jrshaul wrote, certainly points toward a former (or current) employee -- possibly disgruntled, possibly wanting to start his or her own business, possibly both. Not to mention that breaking and entering is a felony -- a 10-year one here in Michigan -- and I'd hate to see anyone get away with one. However, unless there's not much else crime going on in your area, I suspect that your local police would place a pretty low priority on investigating a B&E where the most valuable stolen item was a recipe book. Still, I'd give them some names and keep my eyes and ears open.

[raybeezbabee]

I'll post in here just so I can be hilariously reminded when you find your recipe book that slid behind the desk or was shelved with old equipment manuals on an unused shelf.

[Lisa Shock]

I'd also be suspicious of employees, current and former. Having been a business manager for a long time prior to my culinary career, I can attest to the fact that a great majority of thefts are from internal sources. Don't be too surprised when someone suddenly quits and you shortly thereafter hear news of a new business they are running, featuring a menu eerily similar to yours.

[DC200]

I really appreciate the feedback and responses.

We've filed a police report, are combing through surveillance footage, and hope to catch whoever did it. I agree with what has been said, my top suspects are two people we had to let go. The only reason I wouldn't think it was a current employee, is they could steal them at any time--so I'd wonder about why they'd just do it suddenly. But we've talked to each of them, and it seems that they all check out ok.

We're going to contact the the news and try to pitch it as an ironic, funny kind of spin--rather than the jilted ex type of whineyness.

We do desserts--specifically baked desserts. We aren't a cupcake only place, but offer all kinds of pastries, cakes, pies, etc. Our concept has caught on because of our fun employees, ambiance AND our quality desserts--but it is a very competitive, and weirdly jealous market. I didn't expect so much jealous, almost cattiness between customers of different bakeries--but I guess that is just one of those things I didn't know about before launching a business.

Again, I really appreciate the insight. This is exactly the quality of responses I was hoping for by joining this association.

[Edward J]

I really can't add anymore to ScoopKW's advice, it is spot-on. All I can say, is: Milk it baby, milk it for all it's worth!

If you ever get the time, look up an old fight between Demel and Sacher on who had the orginal Sacher torte recipie

[Txacoli]

Take it as a compliment....and move on. If you are any good, the recipe is the least of your assets: staff, facility, ambience, etc all score way more.

In 1989 I "stole" a recipe from a now defunct place in Seattle...a wild rice salad. We adapted it, deleted the apples because they rot so fast, deleted the pecans because of allergies and replaced them with pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds....

Now, three or four of my competitors have "stolen" "my" wild rice salad recipe. Go for it, guys. Do you have my same supplier? Do you know to soak the rice a day in advance? Do you use fresh strawberry juice from the Champion juicer instead of stock cranberry juice? Do you have my source for the balsamic that we finish it with? And.....we don't even use it very much anymore, anyway. Hey, that was 1989......Milli Vanilli had two hits in the Top 20 in 1989.

I figure a recipe is good for about 90 days.....

If you need a wild rice salad recipe I will be happy to send it to you.....