Lots of us got into baking at the start of lockdown.
Getting flour in the supermarket was even harder than finding hand sanitiser and toilet roll and half the nation seemingly learned the method for cooking banana bread off by heart.
But very few people took the leap of turning that hobby into a business so lucrative it led to them quitting their job and pursuing cookery full-time.
For Rhian Jones, though, that's exactly what happened. And after less than a year she's already rushed off her feet and aiming to open her own cafe – joining the ranks of the businesses that have bucked the trend and thrived during the pandemic.
Rhian set up bakery firm Elyse Bakes from the home she shares with her parents in the Heath area of Cardiff in July last year. She was working in retail prior to this and was furloughed waiting to go back to work.
She decided to make the most of her free time by baking, which she'd always had a passion for. She set up an Instagram account for her business and the rest is history.
She quit her retail role after realising that she couldn't work both jobs due to the high demand of orders of cakes and cupcakes. Rhian now supplies two cafes and she is hoping to have her own premises soon.
"I started posting on Instagram, made a business page, and it grew from there," she said. "I originally worked in retail going through lockdown and being on furlough it was just something to do. I've always liked baking and it kind of just took off to the point where I couldn't do retail and baking.
"It was all to do with being on furlough and going into lockdown really that kind of sparked it. I've always done it in my spare time but working 40 hours a week it just wasn't something I would do full-time. In a weird way the lockdown was a blessing in disguise, having all that free time."
Rhian believes that Instagram played a huge part in her success. "I thought: 'Oh I'll be doing this in lockdown and then as soon as I go back to work it will fizzle out' but when I went back in August I had so many orders.
"This time last year I didn't think I would have left my job and do this full-time instead. I thought: 'Let's use this time and do something I enjoy', not expecting it to grow, but it really took off from there. For me it was a benefit going into lockdown. I tried to use my time wisely and it really worked out for me.
"I'm doing three or four orders a day which can range from big birthday cakes to treat boxes. I'm baking about eight or nine hours a day.
"Instagram has played a massive part for being able to reach out to people. I'm lucky a lot of my friends who did marketing at uni were able to support me in how to reach an audience and it was important for me to get photos that are professional for people to think I was serious about the business.
"I try to post every day or post on a story. It's sometimes difficult when you're baking all day to remember to go on Instagram but I am on there a lot replying to messages," she said.
Rhian started supplying two cafes who contacted her through Instagram. Her goal is to open a shop in Cardiff
"I would love it to be this year if we found the right place. It's enjoyable being your own boss and being in charge of what you do," she added.
She's not the only young Welsh entrepreneur to catch the baking zeitgeist at exactly the right time either. Peter Marezana has been a chef since 2018 specialising in making food for people with special dietary requirements which include vegan, gluten-free, and vegetarian dishes.
The 33-year-old launched Chef Marezana Food, a dedicated food production facility in Bridgend, last May after his work started to dry up due to the pandemic. "The first product was a self-raising flour that hit the market at a time where most people decided to bake in lockdown," he said.
"The particles were finer than what is usually sold to the general public, meaning it can be used in a greater array of foods, and the raising agent was consistently more reliable than what is usually on the shelf," he said.
In June he managed to get his first sale. "The chef work dried up as soon as the first lockdown hit. I was like: 'If I don't do it now then I will never do it'. The first lockdown hit in March and by May I'd sunk all my money into a production facility.
"My first order was with CK's supermarket. Machinery had been purchased to cope with demand but due to the global shutdown it had not arrived in time to meet an order for 6,000 packets from CK Supermarkets in June.
"The people of Bridgend came out in full force to help – neighbours and people from Facebook. I had eight people working alongside me to package and label the orders by hand.
"Although we met delivery it was incredibly evident that the capability to facilitate orders would need to be upgraded substantially to meet demand and to create sustainable jobs," he added.
Peter opened Pembrokeshire's first ever vegan and gluten-free cafe in 2018 however the business closed as it wasn't economically viable. But Peter, who lives in Swansea Marina, said the setbacks helped him to get to where he is now.
But he admitted that the last year has been scary as he didn't think his business would take off. "Not in the way it had," he said. "I didn't think it would turn into the situation where we are now looking at taking on our fifth team member next month and expanding in terms of new groceries.
"In the first year I wasn't making as much of some of these larger companies. This year we are looking at doing about a quarter of a million in turnover."
Ambitious Peter added: "I probably attend 60 sales meetings a month all over Wales. I very much like to get to the £1m mark in five years.
"Everyone always remembers that first sale – play to your strengths and do what you're good at.
"Looking to the future, we’re going to grow our team to be able to make the most of the new capacity to supply.
"Our core focus will be to introduce the brand to independent retailers over the next 12 months. We are also working alongside government-appointed specialists to gain the necessary accreditation to supply supermarkets."
