Sweetie Pie by Savie Taking Asian Infusion into Baked Goods, Weddings, and the Community
By Liza Goodlett
In Bangkok, Thailand, ovens are few and far between. However, that did not deter Savie Arnold from bringing her passion for baking to life. It all began when Speedy Arnold, Savie’s husband, purchased Savie her first oven in Thailand.
“Since day one, I have been 100% supportive. I was the one who bought her her first little stove oven in Bangkok, Thailand. No one in Thailand has ovens. Most of their kitchens are outdoors with a covered roof. So I have believed in her when it first started as a hobby,” Speedy added.
When the Arnold’s first moved back to Athens, GA, Savie began working at Dondero’s. At the time, she was also baking out of her kitchen at home which she quickly outgrew.
After a little, green, tin roof building located on the east-side of Athens was on the market for two days, Arnold’s husband made a few phone calls and the couple was able to take a look at the soon-to-be-bakery. Arnold knew from the moment she stepped foot inside that it immediately felt like home.
“We knew we had to start small, and this place had the exact feeling that I wanted,” Arnold said.
However, the little building located at 150 E. Whitehall Road, Athens, GA 30605, has caused a few road blocks. With the way the land is zoned, Arnold is not allowed to have a sign or a sit down area inside. Although this posed a new challenge to Arnold, she overcame the signage by painting the building with colorful cakes. She also tackled the sitting down aspect by calling it a to-go bakery.
Sweetie Pie by Savie officially opened its doors on July 6th, 2015 and right from the start, Arnold knew she wanted to infuse her Thailand heritage into her baked goods. Arnold has savory and sweet items ranging from fresh baked breads, scones, croissants, quiche, cookies, pies, and cakes. Along with the common bakery items, Arnold also makes wedding cakes and specialty cakes for special occasions. One will find the asian infusion within the teriyaki oatmeal cookie, or the taro root purple velet cake.
“I knew I wanted the Asian cuisine in my bakery, because that is who I am and where I grew up. In Asia you see a lot of fruit filling, therefore in my cakes you will see lots of fruit incorporated. We have chocolate peach, strawberry surprise, and pineapple sunrise filling just for some examples. We also have a taro root cake which is not found easily,” Arnold detailed about her cakes.
“I like to use turmeric in a variety of our cookies as well. Turmeric is an herb that is good for your health, so I enjoy adding it to our baked goods,” Arnold added.
In the beginning, Savie and her friend Eric Rusecki, put together a goal oriented business concept and ideas that were realistic for a start-up bakery. Rusecki and Arnold worked together at Dondero’s and the two of them took the example of the small town, locally supported, restaurant towards Arnold’s business goals.
“We put together a very complex budget, start up costs, what the realistic hours are that someone wants to eat a cake, and who is the competition,” Rusecki detailed.
In addition to the daily baked goods that reside in the glass window of Sweetie Pie by Savie, Arnold has reached a new level of catering with wedding cakes. According to the American Bakers Association Convention of 2018, they plan to innovate, cultivate, and invigorate baked goods into the economy, which Sweetie Pie by Savie continues to embrace each day.
Arnold takes one wedding cake a week during the spring, along with as many specialty cake requests she and her staff can handle. Rusecki knew that Arnold needed to stand out from other wedding cake creators, and he knew exactly how she would accomplish that.
“The experience of meeting Savie and getting to know her is what makes her different from everyone else. If someone wants a classic red velvet cake, there are only so many ways you can slice and dice a red velvet cake. So what is it that you are going to do to stand out? For Savie, it might be the fact that she throws something crazy in there like one random ingredient in there that you are like ‘What?!’ But it is also the fact that she is so personal and makes your moment, feel like the only moment in her day.”
“The catering business is how restaurants make their large margins. We knew from the beginning that the wedding cakes, speciality cakes, and the catering would bring in the majority of the margin,” Rusecki added.
Arnold is now the recommended caterer at The Georgian Hall, which is a popular wedding venue in downtown Athens. Arnold knew that Sweetie Pie by Savie would always include specialty cakes because those create the most revenue and she enjoys the decorating process.
Along with the success of the wedding cake industry, Arnold has taken her bakery one step further by infusing her business into the local restaurant scene.
Arnold realized the amount of leftovers she would have from the bigger orders, and she did not want them to go to waste. She took them to local restaurants, introduced herself, and one day she received a phone call.
“We started to grow, people started to taste our stuff, and people started to talk about us to friends. That is when Trapeze contacted me first, and I can not even explain how happy I was when they reached out to me about a year ago. The manager who contacted me said I had a good reputation and he had heard a lot about me from other people,” Arnold said.
Arnold delivers to the restaurants weekly, and they let her know what cakes sold quickly, and what they would like to try differently. Trapeze Pub was the first restaurant to take the initiative, but others quickly caught on to the trend.
White Tiger Gourmet, located in the Boulevard district of Athens, collaborated with Arnold on an easier way to consume cakes. Much like Trapeze, White Tiger was in search of a very unique and local bakery that could create something more to-go. That way the venue did not have to serve the actual cakes. Arnold set her creative mind to work, and came up with the idea of ‘Pie in a Cup.’
“They were trying to find a hidden gem in Athens and they heard about us and came and talked to us as well. We became friends and just went from there,” Arnold added.
Shortly after Trapeze began serving Arnold’s cakes, South Kitchen and Bar began to as well. The two restaurants are both owned by Kirby Sims, and South Kitchen noticed the success that Trapeze began to witness.
The front house manager at South Kitchen, Hillary Durr, knew that they wanted to focus on helping other small business’s which was their goal in reaching out to Sweetie Pie by Savie.
“We have seen an incredible increase in our customers ordering dessert. Especially the fact that she is very concerned with dietary restrictions and she is conscious of her ingredients. For example, red velvet cake is a super popular cake. Opposed to using artificial red food coloring, Savie does a taro root cake. It turns out a little more purple, and it is absolutely phenomenal. That is one we have really appreciated because it shows that we care and she also cares.”
“We also always make sure that we have the vegan chocolate raspberry cake in for our client base, but other than that we go off of what is seasonal. When we and Trapeze decided to support her and vice versa, you really get the sense of community that Athens has to offer and how it really is about people caring for people,” Durr concluded.
Rusecki commented that in the beginning stages of the relationships with the restaurants and wedding location, mutual advertising for each other was a must. The restaurants mention that the desserts are from Sweetie Pie, and Arnold makes sure to post via her social media where her treats can be found.
“Savie asked, which you can see in any location, they have a sign that says desserts by Sweetie Pie by Savie. It is a partnership. She promotes them, and they do vice versa. That was the partnership we took on. It was to not partner with massive organizations, but partner with true, authentic local places in Athens.”
Overall, Arnold’s goal is to continue embracing the community through her baked goods, her wedding cakes, and her specialty cakes.
“We want to have great quality, great customer service, and a relationship with the community. Everyone that comes here, I let them know these three main goals,” Arnold concluded.
