Jo,

I think you should have a savory selection. I love a cheese or cheese and ham scone or biscuit with my coffee or tea.

If she is open in the afternoon and evening, lots of people may prefer savory to sweet that time of day.

savory sounds good to me too.

I prefer sweet and that's what I think of when I think of a scone. However, the savory sounds good. I would serve that with dinner, although I'd rather have it in biscuit form.

I'd give savory a try and see how it goes. My son would like them better than sweet, for sure.

Now I am hungry for a scone.

Sweet would be what I would buy.
But then again if people are purchasing the scones for take-out, they may enjoy with soups at home.

Good wishes with your endeavor :)

I'd prefer sweet...for a coffee or tea snack...but for serving with soup or a meal, savory.
Perhaps you could call them something besides scones...like cheese and herb biscuits...or muffins.
One company that I knew of from attending the Fancy Food Show made savory cookies...little bite sized cookies flavored with cheese, or herbs or black pepper to be eaten with a glass of wine.
Give them a try.
Linda C

I love savory scones and biscuits, but I don't think of them with my morning latte. They would be good as an afternoon snack, but I would make the selection of sweet scones more of the focus than the savory. That's just when more people are going to be going to the coffee shop!

My personal favorite is a nicely warmed cheddar cheese, bacon and fresh ground pepper scone. DH likes them, too, but the kids prefer sweet scones.

Sounds good to me but I'm not the Public.
You just have to try everything. Then you will get to know what they like.

It may change from week to week.
Don't know if any one here can help but just give opinions.
More of a trial and error thing.

Maybe the shop owners can get to know what the customers prefer.

I'm not much help. Just do it !!! Do it !!!

It will all work out in the dough.
Lou

Seems to me it would be well worth trying the savory.

Some things to consider (assuming 'she' is the shop owner):

How long has she been in business?
Or, in this case, has she done this type of thing before.

How successful is her business at this point?

Does she seem to know her clientele?

Has she had previous experience in this type of shop?

I can see myself enjoying both savory and sweet scones, depending on time of day, yes, but mostly on my mood and how hungry I am at the time.

So yes, I would buy savory scones.

Rusty

Oh sure-- try a few savory if that's what she wants-- you'll be getting your money up front & if they turn out to be a bomb with customers I'm sure she'll let you know .

I agree with Diane, if that's what she wants, give them a try. I like sweet in the morning with coffee, but some days I'd just as soon have cheese and bacon too, I'm fickle!

The public will "tell" you whether it will be a good seller or not and it's up to the shop owner to decide what she wishes to offer.

Annie

Thanks. Keep the comments rolling. She sells fine cheese and has given me a hunk of cheddar which I plan on using solo. She suggested adding the cooked onions, but I can't bring myself to do it. I think the cheese can stand alone, or, at worst, with a few twists of freshly ground black pepper. For some reason, I think the caramelized onions will not complement this one.
She does supply the cheese.
Jo

Two thoughts:

1. When I had my coffee business, I found that often customers would by something to go along with their coffee, mostly a sweet treat, but would also pickup something for a later snack or lunch. The savory scone would especially appeal to that group.

2. It would be beneficial to you and your customer if you supplied a small, simple but well designed and nicely produced sign that advertised your product and highlight the great ingredients. Many shops don't have room or desire for more clutter so keep it as small as possible with very simple text but still readable without requiring magnification. In my store I made my own signage and it made a significant difference in sales.
michael P

Michael said what I forgot !!!!!
A small well designed Sign. This is important, for selling.

It's like putting a small scribbled note on a Great Painting or a Gold Clad description, of the Artist and his
works.

How did I do., from 1 to 10 ?????
Lou

Jo, I agree with you totally! Carmelized onions turns me right off, especially if you have a good cheese. When you start talking onions I think foccacia, soups etc. , not coffee.

I'd go with straight cheese and some black pepper or even a tiny bit of cayenne....but ham is a nice add in too.

If you go savory I would make biscuits instead of scones. I think the different shape may help distinguish the savory from the sweet. Something about savory biscuits sounds better than savory scones! LOL

and un sweetened herb flavored...
Rosemary/black pepper....and if you want to be snitzy state the variety of pepper.
Basil with sun dried tomato bits
Blue cheese with a bit of cumin
There are lots of possibilities.
Linda C

Those Parmesan black pepper biscotti would be good too.

I don't know, it all sounds good to me. But, I've never had a savory scone, or even knew that was an option, just sweet, but not many of those, either. So, I'm not experienced enough to add an educated opinion, other than I agree with those that say go for it, try the savory to see what happens. Is the shop owner comfortable enough with her clientele to ask them to give her feedback?

Caramelized onions and coffee? Hmmm, I don't know...what doesn't go with coffee? I grew up with a mother that had coffee with every meal, and have learned that coffee just makes food taste good. Or, is it food makes coffee taste good? I just asked Dh his opinion, and he pointed out that onion bagels are served with coffee, aren't they? I know they are quite different, but there's that onion flavor. But, again, what do I know - now that I think about it, I think I've only had scones once, and they were some raspberry scones I made from Ann T's recipe.

Sally

Jo, I like the idea of savory scones, I've seen some recipes but don't remember where....

Here's my suggestion, pat out the scone dough into a rectangle, sprinkle on savory condiments and roll up from the long side....like a cinnamon roll. Then slice. I'd aim for about a 2 or 3" diameter. Not too large.

For combo's think about color and flavors that work well together.
Roasted Red Peppers and goat cheese
Bleu Cheese and pears with a sprinkle of walnuts
Sun dried tomatoes fresh basil and asiago
Olive blend
Mushrooms finely chopped
Roasted Apple and onion

Nancy

I can't do it. I made cheddar scones today and ate one with a bowl of homemade vegetable soup. It was heavenly. I also liked gruyere with onions. Again, a wonderful accompaniment to things like soups or quiche. Not coffee. I will tell her I will make these two, along with the sweet ones. Adding ham to the cheddar scones would be great, for a brunch or such, but probably out of the wholesale budget. For anyone who wants to experiment, simply remove the sugar from AnnT's scone recipe. I added the cheese to the dry mix, and the onions after the cream. Bake as usual.
I appreciate the suggestions, I really do. But my heart just isn't into unusual savory scones.
Jo

I'm in L.A. I've been to a couple of "Tea Houses" They tend to be Victorian & expensive, about $80 for 2!! They offer tiny sandwiches with the tea you've picked & after that if you choose to have the savory ,it is hot & mushroom-spinach or beef-cheese both are very good. It looks something like the Pillsbury cherry pies in frozen foods, you spread out dough & squeezed the cherry filling on & pushed the edges together with your fingers & then baked. It's more piecrusty than like a scone. it's about 6-7 in. long & 4 in wide. So savory means something different here. Dessert is scones & other little things I can't even describe. But the plain scones or blueberry scones with lemon curd are my favorite! DD even had them at her wedding shower. I do think men might go for the savory scones tho. Will be interesting to find out. Good Luck!!

Jo just as an FYI....we have a string of coffee shops in Canada called Tim Horton's. It is by the far the most popular coffee shop around, seems there is one on every corner.

Their cheese biscuits and ham and cheese biscuits are huge sellers, so you never know......agree about loosing the onions. That does not work for me for breakfast!

Jo, there is a little deli type restaurant in Duncan where everything is homemade. It is only open from 8AM until 4PM. The food is really good. She has regular specials Monday to Friday and in the mornings she always has savory scones. My favourite and apparently everyone elses is the ham cheese and herb scones. This one is seasoned with fresh dill and chives along with the ham and cheese. They sell out of those first. If you get there after 10:00 they are gone. But her herb and cheese is very good too.

Sauted onions are fine in biscuits. But I do prefer the flavour that chives offer. And since I always have chives on hand in the garden(8 months of the year) that is what I usually add.

Gorgonzola or Roquefort (or some other blue cheese) with lots of black pepper makes a nice biscuit or savory scone. But my guess is that the masses will prefer cheddar, parmesan or some other milder cheese.

Ann

Jo, I used to own a coffee shop. We tried selling savory items, and had almost no takers. Granted, we were in a part of the country infamous for its collective sweet tooth, but ws stopped carrying savory baked goods after a month of testing various savory options, and no one even asked about them. Had I stopped the sweet ones, I'd have had a rebellion on my hands. :) (Lemon scones were popular, as were raspberry and maple.)

Still, she's the customer. If savory is what she wants and is willing to pay for, then sell them to her. Once she owns them, let her worry about what happens to them after that. :) If she's smart, she'll quickly adjust her orders according to customer demand.

Maybe savory biscuits are a Canadian thing ! LOL

I would be another one who would go for savory.

Shelley

I agree that you need to please the client and do whatever they want. It's not your place to decide the menu.

I spoke with her today. I'll be making 2 dozen onion/gruyere scones, 2 dozen cheddar/sun dried tomato, 1 dozen raisin, 1 dozen choc. chip, and one dozen dried cherry.
I will make the dough, slice it, freeze it and sell it that way with baking instructions.
Jo

Those sound great,let us know how it goes.Good luck.

Shelley

I don't know, Chase, I like them myself. :) But then I drink my coffee black these days. I can't imagine an onion scone with a mocha or Vanilla Hazelnut Cherry Coconut Latte or some concoctions that people used to ask for. LOL! I just eventually learned not to fight it.

Jo, the chedder & sun dried tomoato sound like something I'd love. You're tempting me to bake some tomorrow.