One thing I love about mentioning Groupon in a room full of bakery owners is that you are almost always guaranteed a very quick and definitive response.

“What are the panelists’ thoughts on Groupon?” I asked near the end of this morning’s educational session on low-cost promotions to increase bakery traffic–hoping for a little insight into the effectiveness of collective coupon programs.

“No,” replied Mary Gassen of Noe Valley Bakery and Odette D’Aniello of Celebrity Cake Studio in unison.

“We did one,” said Ed Maher of Tilda’s Bake Shop, after the murmurs among audience members died down a little. “But we found that the sales and return rate were not effective.”

Suddenly, a determined voice from the back of the audience chimed in: “Groupon isn’t meant to make money. That’s not how the model works. The only reason we use it is to get the email addresses of people who wouldn’t otherwise see you. Think about how many inboxes get those emails everyday.”

Later, Gassen elaborated on her earlier response. “Groupon just doesn’t fit with our business model,” she said. “We would really rather focus on turning out a quality product.” Plus, new customers who come in to redeem a Groupon often aren’t as interested in high-quality product, she observed. “They’re someone looking for free stuff.”

Just imagine what would happen if I mentioned Groupon during Happy Hour.

At this morning’s educational session about low-cost bakery promotions, panelists offered suggestions and shared stories about how to boost foot traffic without spending a bundle. The most important takeaway for me was the degree to which each bakery’s approach differed based on their location, size and, most importantly, who their customer is.

(from left) Panelists Ed Maher, Tilda's Bakery; Odette D'Aniello, Celebrity Cake Studio; Mary Gasson, Noe Valley Bakery; and moderator Rich Reinwald, Reinwald's Bakery

For Mary Gassen, co-owner of Noe Valley Bakery in San Francisco with her husband Michael Gassen, being a bakery owner has meant adapting to an ever-changing world and focusing on what differentiates the bakery. When Whole Foods opened shop across the street in November 2009, taking 10 percent of business from each category with it, Gassen’s response was to focus on how the bakery could stand out with its handcrafted cakes.

“We focused on the product first,” she said. “If the cakes aren’t good, it doesn’t matter how many coupons you send. We always had a very simple style of cakes, but Food Network has changed everything with those big sculpted and tiered cakes. We wanted to attract the customers who want those kinds of cakes.”

The bakery invested in a fondant sheeter and new staff with experience in sculpted cakes. The bakery started displaying the new cakes in the front window–enhanced by attractive vinyl letters–to capitalize on the neighborhood’s heavy foot traffic and draw in new customers. “It’s like Field of Dreams. If you build it, they will come,” she added, laughing.

Gassen also hired a graphic designer to create a digital cake book, which is now featured on the bakery’s website and appeals to the younger, tech-savvy clientele. She also posts pictures of product on the bakery’s Facebook page. “The number of followers you have grows with the number of postings you do,” she said.

Odette D’Aniello, owner of Celebrity Cake Studio in Tacoma, Wash., rarely uses snail mail or print advertisements anymore to attract customers, likening it to “throwing money in the wind.” She focuses instead on digital advertising and giving away product at community events. She donates cupcakes to local charitable and networking events that also attract her target market of 22- to 55-year-old foodies with disposable income, hoping to simply get the product in their hands. “We did Bellevu’s Fashion Week gratis because it’s attended by well-dressed women who Tweet and Facebook–that’s our perfect market. Plus, it’s fun. I only do promotions with people I like,” she added.

“Speaking to that point,” Rich Reinwald, panel moderator and owner of Reinwald’s Bakery in Huntington, N.Y., added, “you want the person you do promotions with to like you because then they will actually promote you because they believe in your product.”

At Tilda’s Bake Shop on Long Island, owner Ed Maher relies heavily on direct-mail marketing and loyalty cards because of his rural location and older clientele who aren’t as comfortable with email.

“I have no draw, only my promotions,” he said, noting that his bakery gets very little foot traffic because of its location. He buys mailing lists and regularly sends out postcards for free or discounted product, timing the promotions so they don’t overlap with the busy holiday seasons. “The beauty of the card is there’s an expiration date,” he said.

He gets 25-30 percent return on the cards–which cost him about 40 cents apiece. Furthermore, 60-70 percent who come in for their free product end up buying something else. “I’m just happy when they come in,” he said. “Then they see the product, taste the cookies and you take over with the quality of your product and your brand.”

Almost two years ago, Modern Baking’s chief editor Katie Martin predicted that macarons might just be the next cupcake. Taking her hint, I made them a feature of my wedding cake (which Jory Downer of Bennison’s Bakery created in October of 2010). But the macaron groundswell hasn’t quite materialized, partially due to the continued dominance of the trends supporting the cupcake: namely home style and homespun foods, portability and portion control. Not to mention, bakers’ margin for error with cupcake formulation and production is comparatively wide next to the macaron, which requires a lot of technique and precision.

But the macaron hasn’t missed its chance, and if the crowd gathered for Chef Dimitir Fayard’s macaron production demonstration is any evidence, interest in the French cookie is still growing. The seats were all taken and the crowd poured out into the aisles, everyone snapping images and feverishly taking notes as the faculty member from the French Pastry School, Chicago, and former World Pastry Champion taught.

Cupcakes have been slow to relinqiush their flavor-of-the-week status, and though we as baking magazine editors are starving to identify the next craze, the fact is there will always be a place for the simple, portable cupcake in a retail bakery.

But the interest level that the macaron garnered yesterday in a far corner of the All Things Baking show floor reveals that bakers are, like Katie and I, sniffing around new products and ideas. Perhaps we’ve been on a bit of a holding pattern for the last few years thanks to the economy. And that longstanding wholesome, comfort food staple–the cupcake–has fit into that holding pattern perfectly. But bakers are curious and actively seeking out what’s next, which is exciting to see.

Here is a photo gallery and formula for macarons, complete with step-by-step directions.

During this morning’s educational session about proposed legislation to end the “Big Sugar Bailout,” panelists conceded that the topic might be somewhat “dry” compared to others to be covered during the three-day All Things Baking Show, but they also stressed that it is one of the most important in its potential effect on both wholesale and retail bakery owners.

A number of lawmakers are looking to reform the program to allow buyers and sellers to conduct business in a competitive marketplace, without government intrusion, with bills from both the House of Representatives and the Senate looking to reform or remove the program altogether. The current sugar policy enforces a minimum price for sugar in the domestic market, enforces import quotas and market allotments, and mandates that any surplus be resold to ethanol plants at a loss.

“You are currently paying twice what you should be for sugar,” Cory Martin, ABA’s senior manager of government relations, told attendees. “Retail bakery owners are impacted just as much as wholesale. Wholesale operators typically get a discount because of the volume they buy and they often get first run of the mill.”

In addition to the supply-demand imbalance, every job saved for sugar producers under the current sugar program results in three more job losses in food manufacturing.

“That’s why small family confectioners and bakers should get involved,” he said. “If you contact a member of Congress, they will listen. You have an opportunity to change the frame of the debate by getting involved.”

Rich Reinwald, Certified Master Baker and owner of Reinwald’s Bakery Huntington, N.Y., said that given the changes that have occurred in the industry and the world at large, the current policy, which was started in 1934 and last reformed in 1984, is extremely outdated.

“What in this world hasn’t changed since 1934?” he said. “Things have changed. But they keep fighting to keep things static.”

He says that as a third-generation bakery owner who testified before a joint committee of Congress about the sharp increase in wheat prices in 2008, he realized the power of his role as a member of the community. “I got my customers involved. I put out a petition that got 300 signatures. I also contacted local officials. Very often it funnels upward,” he said. “You’re an important part of your community, and your customers realize it more than you do.”

For more information about the push to end the Big Sugar Bailout, click here.