Recently, numerous foreign chain businesses have made their way into Canada for the first time. In downtown Toronto, Chick-Fil-A and Eataly have been extremely successful, evident through their constant line ups around the block. Naturally, one thing is clear: Torontonaians love waiting in line for the newest food trend. The latest addition to this list is Cake Boss star Buddy Valastro’s vending machines. That’s right, vending machines that sell freshly baked slices of cake, shipped from Carlo’s Bakery in New Jersey! The first of its kind in Canada, Carlo’s Bake Shop is located in three different buildings downtown: the Richmond-Adelaide Centre, Royal Bank Plaza, and Waterpark Place. The question is, is $8.99 for a slice of cake really worth all the hype?
Tasting: Chocolate Rainbow Cake $8.99
The chocolate rainbow cake did taste fresh, despite being delivered from New Jersey. The rainbow layers are all deceivingly the same flavour. The cake was on the sweet side due to the frosting (as cake normally is), so if you wanted to grab a flavour that was less sweet, I would opt for trying the carrot cake. Personally, I could not finish the slice by myself, so splitting the cake and its price with another person would definitely be ideal.
The Consensus: At 9AM on Friday morning, there was no wait time for the vending machine, but only half of the cake flavours were available. For $8.99 a slice, it was definitely worth a try. My advice, split it with a friend. That way, you can drop by another time and even try a different slice.
Fun fact, the vending machine carries 160 slices of cake, so if all three machines sell out in one day, the cake boss makes $4,315.20. That’s what I call profit. One thing I don’t particularly agree with, each slice of cake is kept in individual plastic containers, not the best for the environment. Why packaging that is decomposable or reusable isn’t being used is beyond me. I mean yes, plastic is cheaper for them to transport and produce; however, based on the recent pressure related to human based environmental impacts, one would think that such a big company would keep it in mind as they sell their products for mass consumption. Either way though, whether you try: carrot cake, chocolate cake, red velvet cake, rainbow cake, vanilla confetti cake, or cookies and cream cake, you will enjoy your Hoboken style slice.
