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Gourmet doughnuts and belated chocolate birthday cakes are amongst the city's dessert cravings

Carmina Blewett
baking
For two Christchurch businesses, products are selling like hotcakes since national trading go-aheads  Carmina Blewett

Products are selling like hotcakes for two businesses supplying Christchurch with much-deserved sweet treats.

For a week, Divine Cakes & Desserts have been offering their goods for online purchase and contactless delivery.

The official approval had come as a welcome change for owner Nathan Young, experiencing a steep decline in sales significantly stalling online and physical trading.

"It was horrific... we were tracking about 92 per cent down from what we'd normally do."

Despite the figures, the pre-existing online presence is proving beneficial for business with clientele awareness, and eliminating the need for website establishment.

"Because we've always been online, we've probably got a step ahead of everyone else," Young says.

Unlike Divine Cakes & Desserts, Bree Scott of Glamour Cakes says while things have been rapidly picking up with "overwhelming" support, it has been a challenge to make the shift to alternative traditional trading.

"It's a whole new form of business, but in these times we need to learn to adapt and evolve to the changes that we're in and try and make it work best for us.''

Though the Lyttelton-based bakery is still physically closed, a selection of doughnuts are available for purchase but are being snapped up quickly.

"Currently for the two weeks of Level 3 lockdown that we're in, we have already sold out of all of our contactless pickups and delivery options...I was genuinely surprised how quickly the spaces filled up with one of our order days selling out in just five minutes.

"I think everyone deserves a sweet treat or two for making it through Level 4 lockdown," Scott says.